Madsen is part of a genre of independent poetry that is unique in its association with the New Sincerity movement as well as its use of social media platforms as its main source of publicity.
He is described by The Fader magazine as "a writer who will, with equal enthusiasm, tweet a selfie of his butt and write the sincerest, saddest line of poetry you've ever read.
"[1] The notice of Madsen's poetry began with him posting a photo someone had taken of his 2010 self-published book A Million Bears on Tumblr, which reached over 10,000 notes in the first 24-hour period.
[2] In an interview with Adam Humphreys at Thought Catalog, Madsen said that A Million Bears was out of print at the time of this spike in Tumblr publicity,[3] but he later issued a second edition with a new cover.
[5] In a review at Dazed, Lauren Oyler said "There's a disconnect between the narcissism Madsen and his alt-lit contemporaries have been accused of and the truly original insights you find yourself reading.