TikTok, Vine, YouTube, and Instagram are just some of the digital platforms that have changed the business, media, and entertainment landscapes significantly over the past decade. In her forthcoming inspirational book Don’t Wait, Create: How to Be a Content Creator in the New Digital Revolution, scheduled to be released at the end of August, media professional Erica Barry shows readers how they can leverage what she calls “The Golden Age of Content Creation.” 

The new book explores the importance of digital content creation in today’s media and entertainment landscape, while also providing practical and inspiring advice from successful content creators for anyone who wants to begin creating content themselves. Barry notes that “the global pandemic has accelerated transformational changes in the entertainment industry, giving rise to new markets for alternative, self-produced content.”  

Barry’s own career is a success story in itself, beginning with an online food blog that she started in high school. That blog helped Barry learn how to reach an audience online, get brand sponsorships, and draw hundreds of thousands of views to her website. “From that point on, my eyes were opened to the power of digital media,” Barry says. “It’s really only become exponentially more powerful since then.” 

Following up on the success of her food blog, Barry studied economics and media studies at Pomona College and explored ways to harness the power of digital media in various forms, including the creation of a viral newscast on Twitter and TikTok and Instagram content in collaboration with different brands. “Many of us are content creators in some capacity, but most of us have not fully realized our potential or grasped the power, influence, and responsibility associated with this role,” Barry explains. “We’re currently living in the Golden Age of Content Creation, because technology has opened up unprecedented opportunities to engage, communicate, and share our stories with the world.”

Don’t Wait, Create provides a roadmap to digital content creation and finding one’s creative voice, and highlights the journeys of successful digital creators like Bo Burnham, Sarah Cooper, Chloe Fineman, Jimmy Tatro, and others. All of these creators are well-recognized names in Hollywood today, but they started out by creating content online. 

“In the past, you had to fit into a narrow box defined by Hollywood to get your content seen and monetized,” Barry says. “The content that we consumed, the celebrities that we admired, and mainstream pop culture as a whole, were all defined largely by invisible gatekeepers. However, the floodgates are now open for all types of content to enter the mainstream.”

One of the biggest pieces of advice that’s emphasized in the upcoming book is the need for aspiring creators to take action and put themselves out there by making and publishing content. 

Barry notes that an essential part of building an audience online is consistency and drive. She hopes that readers of Don’t Wait, Create will take this advice to heart, start putting their content out there, and then use the other tips from the book to build their own digital media success stories. 

“You have all the power you need to become a content creator,” Barry explains. “No longer do you have to wait to be ‘discovered,’ wait for a callback, or wait to tell your story. You can create a community, share your ideas with others, and entertain the world—no permission necessary.” 

For more information on Erica Barry’s work in the digital media landscape, visit www.ericabarry.com.  Don’t Wait, Create: How to Be a Content Creator in the New Digital Revolution is scheduled to be published by New Degree Press on August 30, 2021.