🌈 Your Attention is Sacred Except on Social Media — Exclusive Book Preview!
Welcome to off the grid, a podcast for small business owners who want to leave social media without losing all their clients. Hello. Hello. Hello. And welcome to the season six finale of Off The Grid podcast.
Amelia Hruby:I am your host, Amelia Hruby. I am the founder of Softer Sounds. And very soon will be officially the author of my upcoming book, Your Attention is Sacred Except on Social Media. I have been working on this book all year, and it really is the synthesis of all six seasons of Off The Grid so far. And today, as we wrap up season six, I'm going to share a bit of it with you here on the podcast.
Amelia Hruby:I'm doing that because I really hope that you will head to the show notes right now and join the waitlist for this book before it comes out in October. I have been on a journey, my friends. Haven't we all been on a journey this year? I have been on many journeys this year, and one of those journeys has been with this book. I've shared in the clubhouse and a few other places that the idea for this book came through almost fully formed at the end of last year.
Amelia Hruby:It felt like I woke up one day, I knew exactly what the title was gonna be, I knew exactly what three chapters it was going to have, and I knew what it would take for me to write it. And in January, I booked myself into a local hotel and I wrote the entire first version of the manuscript in four days. It flowed out of me so quickly, but then I just hit roadblock after roadblock all spring into the summer trying to actually hold a copy of the book in my hands. And today's episode is not about those roadblocks. I've already shared about them in the clubhouse, and they will be coming to this here podcast feed in the fall.
Amelia Hruby:But I share in brief to say that it has felt like a series of trials and tribulations for me to bring this book to life. And I'm really hoping that you will share in my excitement of it finally being here or almost here. It finally being ready to not only be in my hands, but be in your hands this fall. So in this season finale, I'm gonna read you a few excerpts from the book. I'm going to give you a peek into what it's about.
Amelia Hruby:And I really do hope that you will head to the show notes and join the wait list so that you can be one of the first people to get your hands on a copy. I am self publishing the book, so there's not an official, like, preorder period because I'm not trying to make any sort of Amazon bestseller lists. In fact, the book won't even be on Amazon, which I'll talk about again in the fall. But I want to make sure that if you're excited about this book, you can get a copy of it in your hands this fall. And the only way we could be sure of that is if you get yourself on this waitlist.
Amelia Hruby:So head to the show notes or go to yourattentionissacred.com to get on the waitlist for the book right now. And let me tell you a little bit more about what's inside. Here's the back cover blurb for your listening pleasure. Your Attention is Sacred is a philosophical, practical, and spiritual manifesto for anyone who's sick of liking, commenting, subscribing, or scrolling. If you want to reclaim your fragmented attention, release any reasons you should be on social media, and reimagine your logged off life, read this book.
Amelia Hruby:Inside, you'll find an argument against the attention economy, how to break up with the algorithm, five principles for cultivating your attention like an ecosystem, a step by step plan for leaving any social platform, and my list of 100 ways to share your work and life without social media. And then here's my pitch for brilliant, creative people and otherwise amazing folks like yourself. In a world full of distraction, how do we reclaim our fragmented attention to make the things we're here to create? Your Attention is Sacred Except on Social Media is a rallying cry for artists, writers, teachers, healers, small business owners, and critical thinkers ready to break free from the attention economy and reclaim their creative integrity. If you know your work matters and you're sick of posting to prove it, this book is for you.
Amelia Hruby:Stop letting the algorithm fuck with your creativity, capacity, and cash flow. Let's reclaim your sacred attention today. That's where I insert the air horns for myself because in all honesty, I'm pretty proud of some of the mic drop copy that I have written around this book. But once again, the only way to ensure that you get your hands on a copy in the first printing is to get on the book's wait list. Folks on that list will get the first link to order, and they'll probably even get a link to order before it's officially on sale to the public.
Amelia Hruby:So head to the show notes or yourattentionissacred.com to grab that link to get on the list. And now let's dive in to your podcast exclusive preview of the Your Attention is Sacred audiobook. It's coming to you here first, my friends. Thank you for being a subscriber. Thank you for being a supporter.
Amelia Hruby:Thank you in advance for buying a copy of the book. Let's dive in. This tiny book you're holding in your hands or reading on a screen started off as a podcast called Off the Grid. That show began as a way of sharing my journey of leaving social media and starting a business without it. Then it evolved into conversations with creative small business owners and artists around the world.
Amelia Hruby:At first, I thought the podcast was just about social media. How we got on these platforms, what they did to us, and the ways we could leave them behind. But over time, I realized that Off the Grid was about so much more than social media. It is in fact about attention. The things we pay attention to or don't, the reasons we feel like we can't pay attention to anything anymore, and why we call it paying attention to begin with.
Amelia Hruby:I also realized that Off the Grid is more than just a podcast, so I decided to write a book. In these pages, I'm going to unpack what attention means and why it seems to be the crisis of our times. I want to reconsider the concept of the attention economy and why I think conceiving of attention as an economic resource is misguided. I also want to explore why the pervasive adoption of social media has made attention feel so scarce and remedies for how we can feel better online and offline. Along the way, I'll talk about apps, algorithms, and addiction.
Amelia Hruby:I'll also explore creativity, community, and what makes attention sacred. Before you begin reading or listening, it's probably helpful to know that I left social media in 2021 and have not been active on any of the popular platforms since. While this book isn't anti-social media, it is definitely critical of social media. And my critiques are informed by my decade of being very active on social media from 2009 to 2021, as well as by the interviews I've done for Off the Grid and by my academic background. I have a PhD in philosophy, which certainly impacts how I see the world and how I put together an argument, hence why there are so many endnotes.
Amelia Hruby:This book is a philosophical, practical, and spiritual manifesto. At some moments, I lean into critical analysis, and at others, I center on my personal experience. The chapters can be read together or separately in order or not. If there's a section that intrigues you, head there first. If another bores you, skip ahead.
Amelia Hruby:If the first two chapters are academic for your taste, go straight to the third where everything gets spiritual and practical again. I've also included reflection questions at the end of each chapter so you can integrate and implement these ideas in your life. Here's my ultimate goal for this manifesto. I want to explain how the two most prominent ways we talk about our experiences online, the attention economy and the algorithm, actually keep us trapped in this specific experience of the Internet. And to some degree, force us to understand ourselves only as producers or consumers.
Amelia Hruby:Then I want to offer another framework for cultivating our attention online and offline that allows us to reclaim our agency and our place in the world in the process. My hope for you, dear reader or listener, is that you will see some of your own experiences with social media reflected in these pages. I also hope that reading this might inspire you to journey down the path of reclaiming your attention, releasing all the reasons you quote, unquote should be on social media, and taking time to reinvest in other areas of your life. As the title of this book asserts, your attention is sacred. I don't take that for granted as you lend it to me here.
Amelia Hruby:I promise to treat it with the honesty, reverence, and joy that I believe you and your attention deserve. Let's dive in. That's where I have to decide if I'm putting sound effects in my audiobook. But there it is, the introduction of my book. And really just a taste of the thesis statement that I think that right now, the two ways we all talk about the Internet are through the attention economy and the algorithm.
Amelia Hruby:But I actually think when we talk about the Internet that way, it keeps us trapped in this sort of, like, producer consumer cycle of being online. And I think that there are so much more expansive and exciting ways to be online that are not about algorithms or attention economics or extraction or exploitation or so many of the problematic things we find on social media. So in the rest of the book, I unpack the attention economy and the algorithm, and I try to explain why I think these concepts just, like, fundamentally misunderstand something about our attention and the Internet. And then in the third chapter, I offer a new framework for how we can understand our attention ecologically instead of economically. And I share five principles for gardening your attention that are really developed from the, like, broader ecosystem model that I talk about here on the podcast.
Amelia Hruby:But they're not just about a business ecosystem. They're about the ecosystem of our lives and the way that we cultivate our experience of the world. And so just to give you a preview of those principles, here's the list of all five. Principle number one is explore what's already present. Principle number two is start small.
Amelia Hruby:Principle number three is be intentional, then let go of control. Principle number four is embrace biodiversity and seasonal rhythms. And principle number five is linger with what's regenerative. I think there is something in this book for every single listener of Off the Grid and beyond, honestly, because it moves outside of the sort of creative business perspective that I bring to this podcast and more into a general critique of social media for many types of users of these platforms and apps. So I hope that you will get yourself a copy when the book comes out.
Amelia Hruby:And if you love it, I also hope you might gift it to your biz friends and your friend friends, even the ones who aren't in business, but who maybe sometimes struggle with their relationship to their phone or to social media, this book is for them as much as it is for you. So I think that's it for this episode, my friends. We're keeping it short and sweet for part two of this season finale. If you liked what you heard here today, I hope that you really will put yourself on the waitlist for the book. You can find that link in the show notes or at your attention issacred.com.
Amelia Hruby:I cannot wait to bring this book to you this fall. And there are some very fun things that I will be doing alongside this book launch. For folks who buy a copy early, there's gonna be a free virtual retreat that I'm hosting for you that you're definitely gonna wanna be at. I'm also gonna do some really fun book bundles. I have some very cool goodies that are being created by some of my artist friends to go along with the book.
Amelia Hruby:I'm also planning, like, a public sales tracker so we can all see behind the scenes of how the book sells. And I'm still working on my book tour plans for 2026. So please get on the wait list for the book so that you can get your copy early and be a part of bringing this to life. And then please also, like, tell all your friends about it. You can send them to the wait list as well, or you can always just send them to this podcast where they can enjoy the whole back catalog as they wait for book updates.
Amelia Hruby:Thank you so much for tuning in to season six of Off the Grid. I'm always so grateful that you're here, and I am so honored to bring you my very best work here on this pod feed from week to week. We will be taking a break for the rest of August, and then I will be back in September with season seven. We are gonna do some twice a week episodes in September while I talk more about how to self publish a book without social media. And then in October, things are gonna get really sacred, really witchy, really fun as we move into the book release.
Amelia Hruby:So stay tuned for all of that coming your way soon. And until then, I will see you off the grid. Thanks for listening to off the grid. Don't forget to grab your free leaving social media toolkit at offthegrid.fun/toolkit. This podcast is a Softer Sounds production.
Amelia Hruby:Our music is by Melissa Kaitlyn Carter of Making Audio Magic, and our logo is by N'Atelier Studio. I'm your host, Amelia Hruby. And until next time, I'll see you off the grid and on the interweb. Yeah. Let's go off the grid page.
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