Do I Have To Fucking Sell It To You That Hard?

a question of Leadership

Let me tell you about a new trend I’ve noticed in the world of social media.

Page-break communications. Communiques.

I can’t deny the appeal. It’s like a real punchy Power Point presentation, and while quality content is optional, there’s often some actual substance included. The woman who writes the Substack Hey, Slick wields this format like a world-class lecturer. Which wouldn’t be possible if she didn’t display considerable erudition and abundant wit.

But much of the intrinsic appeal of the format appears to be ergonomic.

For one thing, it’s easily read on a phone.

The advantage of the presentation is that it walks the reader through the writing. The page breaks work like steps. There’s a vulnerability present in that. The format enhances the “guided meditation” aspect of reading a narrative. The narrative form streamlines, making it easy to follow.

Maybe easier than it should be. Which accounts for why these formats are so often reminiscent of mass-mailing appeals, whether for money, magazine subscriptions, partisan political soliciting, ideological agitprop, or any other sort of marketing agenda. The punchiness adds narrative momentum, akin to monologue. It’s like a well-honed sales pitch.

Which leads me to the topic at hand: Do I Really Have To Fucking Sell It To You So Hard?

Most of what’s really worth reading is not presented with the undertone of drama found in brief page-break punch-ins.

To be clear, I’m talking about the Lists of Recommended Books on my Substack page, Idoloclasms.

I’m not selling these books on my page. I have, as the saying goes, “no commercial interest” in recommending them. I am just trying to increase the number of other people in the world who have obtained insights and perspective from the facts and knowledge to be found inside them.

I have two General Topic Nonfiction Book lists. I’ve linked one of them below. Read them, and you’ll never look at the world and your place in it the same way. Most of you will eventually read one finding or another, about something that actually happened, and be really shook by it. Nonfiction reality is much wilder than a movie. Because you’re in it. The main character, maybe?

In which case, you’d better learn some counterintelligence tradecraft. Beginning with background research. If you read every book on those lists, there’s a whole lot of bullshit that you’ll never be fooled by again. It’s like having a parallel 4-year History degree. Not a replacement, but a supplement you’ll never forget.

But Why Do I Fucking Have To Fucking Sell It To You So Fucking Hard?

Is it because this is a free offer?

Is it because this has been a free offer for several years running?

It’s even worse than that. Because some of you won’t even look up the books yourself to see what’s inside of them—UNLESS I include a link. Along with a capsule review, and a quote. And, for best results, a photo of the cover (?)

Yeah, I’ll get to that some time, maybe. In the meantime, those of you who are faster on the uptake can begin immediately

(The title of this post? An homage of sorts, to the essay style of Substacker Freddie DeBoer.)