how do i make money on my writing?

are we human, or are we content

The question of “is this art or is this content” has plagued creative people since the beginning of time.

Sometimes it's easy to tell the difference — take Van Go's cutting off his own ear.

Now that’s a classic case of content. Reality TV style fodder for the internet he knew was coming (even a cursory look at his journals proves this out: "I can't wait for the internet," he wrote just one day prior to chopping off his ear.)

But what about when it isn't so clear. Like Da Vinci's little journals. Art? Or content?

Or The Bible? Even back then the whole thing felt like a cash grab and tbh, good on ‘em. The Bible 1 + 2 box set is the #1 book of all time.

Or what about when it’s a newsletter called Both Are True?

which is witch?

I've been thinking about this art vs. commerce a lot since hearing writer

Leigh Stein

talk about it with good friend of the BAT, Francis Zierer in his newsletter/podcast Creator Spotlight¹.

Here’s an excerpt from Francis’ piece that includes an excerpt from Leigh herself:

One distinction Leigh draws between her writing and her content is effort; her writing is “always professionally edited,” whereas her newsletter has no editor and is written quickly in 1–2 hours. Another important distinction is how the two forms generate income:

“How I make money on my writing: by selling my novel to a publisher; by earning freelance income from newspapers and magazines

[…]

How I make money on my content: by selling more copies of my novel; by enrolling students in my classes; by building trust with writers who become my clients; by demonstrating my expertise which leads to speaking and teaching invitations; by earning income directly from my readers in exchange for offering them special events with book publishing professionals”

Leigh Stein, ‘writing vs. content,’ August ‘24

gobsmacked am i

Gobsmacked is a bit too strong of a word for how I felt after reading this, but it's not far off. I was at least somewhat gobsmacked. Flabbergasted? Flummoxed? Nonplussed?

That last one is insane. I'd get 'plussed,' but nonplussed?

Wait, it turns out people now do use nonplussed to mean 'not confused'. Language!

The same can be said of course about art and content. The words are interchangable and make no real sense, but we’re not talking about sense, are we?

We’re talking about cents.

And dollars.

USD$BABY.

money (pink floyd)

I admire Leigh’s clarity - content is over here, art is over there.

Me on the other hand, I try to make every post feel like art. But is it? Is this post…art?

What about…now?

Right now, my move is something more along the lines of 'write so good that people can't ignore you' and 'once they've stopped ignoring you, they realize you need money and decide to support you.'

But I don't really make that second part clear. Or, if and when I do, it comes trojan horse'd in like, 'hey i don't care about money or anything that'd be dumb but wouldn't it be funny if you guys supported my art lol i know so stupid haha!!"

note to self: figure out why condoms have the brand name Trojan given the whole ‘sneak something in that isn’t supposed to be there’ brand association)

my current strategy

How I make money on my writing: hoping people support me via both are true, not really offering much in return besides the promise that I'll soon offer something new that I won't really deliver on.

How I make money on my content: again, unclear because I don't really distinguish between the two. Maybe I should? Maybe my free-wheeling content like this post is what goes out every week, and then my More Professional Essays go out to paid subscribers? But the good stuff is the stuff that has the highest likelihood of being shared, so why paywall it?

But I am, once more, obfuscating. Hiding behind a ‘woe is me’ facade when really, maybe, WHOA is me.

Cuz here’s the truth - here’s how I make and have made money via BAT:

• people supporting BAT because they love the writing:

• people hiring me for full time work - a fact that has somehow happened TWICE in the last three years.

• people paying me to help them with their writing - something I did at once actually promote before starting at Sublime

• people hiring me for freelance / part time work - again, something that has happened far more than I ever thought possible.

Well, now that I look at it this way, it seems like things are sort of fine? And that I am, once again, turning a molehill of good times into a avalanche-style mountain of hell and dreadwater?

Maybe this is going really well, actually?

And if so, is my problem that I simply refuse to own up to the fact?

Or is that also not a problem?

What if there were no issues?

Then I'd have nothing to hate myself over.

And that, friends, is a scary place indeed.

No but seriously folks

I and my team of well payed lawyers are looking at the numbers now. They assure me that even though 95% of BAT’s costs are legal expenses, I cannot get rid of them.

One idea I’m toying with quite seriously is…workshops. Me teaching people things that I know like how to write vulnerably or write funny or write on substack or grow an audience or hate yourself or mismanage your life or tell a compelling story or write a good list of things that ends with a strong KAPLOW.

Paid subscribers could attend for free etc.

Could be fun!!

my questions for you

1. What would you want to learn from me? What could I help you learn or get better at or really anything of the sort?

2. How do you think about art vs content?

3. Are you doing ok these days? Checking in.

subscribe

If reading this didn’t make you want to pay for both are true, makes sense! But if for some reason it did, here you can.

In other news

1. Today (Tue) at 4pm EST, I am doing a Substack Live

   1. With

      Introvert Drawing Club
      ‘s
      Beth Spencer
      !!! She said she’s going to draw me. We’re also going to try a new format idea I have: IMPROV!! Beth and I will do some improv and we might even have a guest come join us.

2. THE BOTH ARE TRUE INTERNSHIP

   1. Let’s start with the obvious: Both Are True is one (1) social media strategy away from becoming the #1 substack in the world. Everyone knows it and everyone says it, and now its time to do it.

   2. The problem of course is distribution. I have the goods, I just suck at getting them out into the world.

   3. That’s where YOU come in.

   4. I’m looking for someone tryna start their career in social media and ‘growth’ (shudder) who thinks they could help me become Huge and, in so doing, also help their career Flourish.

   5. Maybe you just love BAT, maybe you need a big success story on your portfolio, and maybe you’re just into tiktok, come one come all plz reach out!

   6. Plus I think it could be fun idk.

   7. Anyone ages 18 to 99 can apply. Hell I’ll even fill out paperwork for your uni or job idgaf.

   8. If interested plz reply to this email or contact me at botharetrue@substack.com with a few sentences on why you’re the right one for the unpaid job.

1. Francis profiled me on this very same show - read it here or listen here.