It’s time to drop all the fluff and gimmicks.
My name’s Marc N. Kleinhenz, and I’ve been everything from a freelancer to an ebook publisher to an editor-in-chief overseeing a staff of full-time employees as well as contractors. In fact, over all that time, I’ve had 1,000+ articles published across nearly three dozen sites – some pretty large (such as Screen Rant), and some so small I guarantee you’ve never heard of ‘em (and never will). I long ago learned all the tricks of the trade, how to format titles and stuff posts full of keywords, and I’ve grown disillusioned and exhausted with the whole process.
I got into writing to share information, present some hopefully insightful observations, and to help people enjoy the content that they already so dearly love – stuff like Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Stranger Things, stuff that is already pretty dense substantively. Instead, I usually found myself being admonished to stick to the formula that will guarantee clicks; instead, I usually was told to trim back on actual explanations in order to make things sizzle on Facebook or trend on Twitter.
Now, my editors and publishers were usually very nice people who meant well and who were great conversationalists. I appreciate the time and input they devoted to me, and I still appreciate having them in my personal life. But, professionally, I thought the time was ripe to bid those publications a fond farewell and to strike out on my own, with no middlemen to undermine everything or massive corporations to exert undue influence; I wanted no ads, no formulae, no tricks or gimmicks or padded fluff.
I just wanted good, old-fashioned content.
So I started this Substack newsletter, and I hope you’ll join me for the ride. Every week, I’ll present some pretty in-depth explorations of all the latest in pop-culture nerdom (how does the Disney+ series help further the themes of the MCU while setting up its future? In what direction is the Star Wars universe currently evolving, and why is it going there? What is the perfect reading-and-viewing order for the Stranger Things Extended Universe, and how does it enrich the television show?), without the need to adhere to the clickbait recipe that is as predictable as it is stale and paper-thin.
Does that sound boring and pretentious? Well, it definitely isn’t the first item, and I’ll gladly cop to the second, but I promise it won’t get in the way of having a good time. In fact, I used this very same approach when writing a Star Wars ebook that broke down its storytelling a few years back, and this is a review that it generated (yes, I promise this is real, and, no, I don’t know the person in question):
Check it out! Every Star Wars geeks dream. […] Analysis you won't find anywhere else. Will have you thinking about Star Wars in a new light.
So, buckle in, and let’s see where the stories we love take us instead of chasing after the almighty dollar.
