Clifton Creative
Clifton Creative · About
I’m Jacob Clifton. I’ve been a professional writer for 25 years.
Most of that time has been spent figuring out what makes content actually worth reading — and building the editorial infrastructure to produce it consistently. Clifton Creative is the business built on that work.
The background
Fourteen years helping to build one of the most-read sites on the internet. Then: figuring out what to do after that.
From 2000 to 2014, I was a flagship staff writer at Television Without Pity — at its peak, one of the most widely read entertainment sites in the country, with audiences up to a million readers a week. That job taught me things you can’t learn anywhere else: how to write on deadline without sacrificing quality, how to build a loyal readership through consistency and genuine voice, and what it actually means to be worth someone’s time.
After TWoP, I spent years as an editor and contributor at Gawker Media, Tribune Media, Tor.com, the Austin Chronicle, BuzzFeed, and Vulture — running content teams, commissioning and editing writers, and learning how editorial strategy translates across wildly different audiences and verticals.
What I found, doing all of that work, is that the same principles hold everywhere: know what you’re trying to say, know who you’re saying it to, and make it worth their time. Everything else is execution.
Career arc
2000 — 2014
Television Without Pity
14 years as a flagship staff writer. Up to 1 million readers weekly at peak. Built a dedicated readership through consistent voice and genuine expertise.
2014 — 2020
Editorial & Contributor Work
Senior roles at Gawker Media and Tribune Media; bylines at Tor.com, the Austin Chronicle, BuzzFeed, and Vulture. Editing, commissioning, and content strategy across multiple verticals.
2019 — Present
Clifton Creative
Fractional editorial leadership, content strategy, and SEO writing for brands, publishers, and founders. Current clients include YouFit Health Clubs and Hilary Kramer / Greentech Capital.
How I work
A small
client roster. real attention for every
one.
I take on a limited number of clients at a time because every engagement deserves more than a templated deliverable. You get someone who actually reads your existing content, asks uncomfortable questions about what it’s accomplishing, and tells you the truth about what needs to change.
→ Honest over agreeable. You’re not paying for someone to validate a plan that isn’t working. You’re paying for a clear-eyed outside perspective.
→ Flexible by design. Engagements range from a single audit session to ongoing fractional work. We start with the problem, not the package.
→ Asynchronous-first. I work best over email and written briefs, which means you get more considered responses and a cleaner paper trail.
→ Editorial all the way through. Strategy, writing, editing — I do all of it, so nothing gets lost in translation between a strategist and a writer.
Beyond the agency
The writing, the teaching, and the other work.
Clifton Creative isn’t the only thing I do — and the other work isn’t separate from it. The same editorial thinking that goes into a client strategy goes into a novel, a writing course, or a card deck.
I run A Rough Trade Writing School, where I work with emerging writers on craft, voice, and the fundamentals that hold across every form. And I’m a published novelist and creator of the Wild Magic Oracular Spectacular card deck.
All of it comes from the same place: a genuine belief that writing well is a learnable skill, and that doing it consistently is one of the most valuable things a person or a brand can do.
Novel
The Compleatly Wasted Beauty
Novel
The Urges: Book One of Halcyon
Novel
Outriding: The Open Line
Novella Collection
Everything All of the Time
Card deck
Wild Magic Oracular Spectacular
Get in touch
The best
way to
start is:
hello.
If you have a sense of what you need, book a discovery call and we’ll figure out whether there’s a fit. If you’re still working out what the problem actually is, an email works just as well.
I’m based in Austin, Texas, and work with clients across the US.
email me
Book Me
Location
Austin, Texas · USA
Hours
by appt.
Writing
Let’s figure out what your content needs.
A 30-minute conversation is usually enough to know whether we’re a fit. No pitch, no pressure.