Substacks recommended by David Gutowski

Recommended by David Gutowski

CRAFT TALK is a weekly newsletter about writing, creativity and productivity from author Jami Attenberg. This is also the home of #1000wordsofsummer, where, once a year, we write 1000 words a day together for two weeks straight.

Known for its #1000wordsofsummer, Jami Attenberg's Substack is always a source for writing inspiration.

- David Gutowski

Lit Mag News

By Becky Tuch

Latest News in Lit Mag Publishing

THE EMPRESS

By The Empress

Dedicated to the art and science of midlife women thriving, THE EMPRESS brings content, community, and agency to millions of menopausal women through our networks of networks and deep partnerships with cultural changemakers.

Oldster Magazine

By Sari Botton

Exploring what it means to travel through time in a human body, at every phase of life.

How does being a certain age feel? Oldster interviews people about their age and shares essays about aging. Edited by the brilliant and magnanimous Sari Botton.

- David Gutowski

So Glad I'm Me

By Amy Key

My personal Substack

Marie Cloutier Writes

A weekly update from a writer, reader, reviewer and nerd living and writing in the NYC area.

Austin Kleon

Weekly art, writing, and creative inspiration from the author of Steal Like an Artist and other bestsellers.

bitches gotta eat!

By samantha irby

judge mathis recaps + milf-on-milf romance

Samantha Irby is the funniest writer writing today. Her Judge Mathis episode wrap-ups are as hilarious as her pop culture recommendations.

- David Gutowski

Hi, it's Whitney

By Whitney Matheson

culture, comix, rock 'n' roll, bananas

Whitney Matheson is our pop culture queen, and her Substack is filled with movie, TV, music, books, art, and much more news. As a bonus, she shares mini-comics that will floor you every time.

- David Gutowski

The Nelson George Mixtape

By Nelson George

Black music, black culture and America.

The Tumbleweed

By Jenny Shank

Every month The Tumbleweed blows in with inspiration, thoughts on art, writing, and creativity, book recommendations, and assorted whimsy.

STAY BRAVE with Leah Umansky

By Stay Brave with Leah Umansky

An interview-series on 'staying brave' in the creative life by woman-identifying writers for woman-identifying writers.

Release McCracken

By Elizabeth McCracken

Occasional notes from Elizabeth McCracken

Adventures In "Journalism" by Sari Botton

Highlights and lowlights* (*mostly lowlights) from one Gen X lady writer's rather circuitous career path.

Submission Sunday

By Chris Daley

Eight curated literary submission opportunities every other Sunday for all genres.

What's Good?

By katie

New York City and sometimes the news

Memoir Land

By Memoir Monday

Four verticals edited by Sari Botton: MEMOIR MONDAY, collab w/ Granta, Narratively, The Rumpus, Orion, The Walrus, Electric Lit, LitHub, Oldster; FIRST PERSON SINGULAR original essays; THE LIT LAB interviews + craft; GOODBYE TO ALL THAT, NYC stories.

CultureWag

By JD Heyman

Culture: High, Middle, and Deliciously Low!

The Culture We Deserve

By Jessa Crispin

The Culture We Deserve

AnEarful

By Jeremy Shatan

Giving you an earful about an omnivorous array of music, from cutting-edge sounds by living composers to new (and old) classics in rock, folk, hip hop, pop, R&B, reggae, jazz, global, and more. Established 2009.

The Audacity.

By Roxane Gay

Writing that boldly disregards normal restraints.

Roxane Gay's Substack. Also shares essays by under-represented writers.

- David Gutowski

Girls on the Page

Reading, recommending and celebrating women in literature.

Made You a Mix

By Hannah

music news, pop culture thoughts, and playlists made in the spirit of mix CDs

Prisons, Prose & Protest

By Prisonculture

This is a monthly newsletter of my rants, musings and some other things. Please support our Giving Circle: https://ko-fi.com/prisonculture

Josh Spilker

A newsletter about online writing, books, creating & culture

Sleepstack

By Lisa Ko

writing in the zombie apocalypse

To a Green Thought

By Garth Greenwell

Books, art, music, movies

Substack Writers at Work with Sarah Fay

Where real Substack growth happens—with leading Substack Strategist Sarah Fay and the Substack DNA Growth Framework™️

The Art of Flash Fiction

By Kathy Fish

Free monthly Flash Fiction Craft Articles & Prompts / Weekly Posts & Community Writing Events for paid subscribers from Writer & Teacher, Kathy Fish

The 7am Novelist

By Michelle Hoover

Join award-winning novelist and writing teacher Michelle Hoover with tips and special guests for your morning writing wake up call, with a range of author interviews and writing challenges to help you get a new project going and keep you in your chair.

Dear Diary

By Michelle Tea

A newsletter about the daily whatever, including art, tarot, movies, the occult, literature, gossip, food, queerness, sex, diary and the rest.

Fluxblog: Music Blog

By Matthew Perpetua

The longest-running music blog in the game! This newsletter is focused on music curation - reviews of new music, playlists for Spotify/Apple/YouTube covering a wide range of genres and moments in history, and links to other cool things.

Counter Craft

By Lincoln Michel

fiction craft, publishing demystification, weird books, other things

Wordness

By Heidi Pitlor

Life, creating, being a writer, and publishing--from the longtime series editor of The Best American Short Stories.

Hangry Ghost

By Lizz Dawson

Exploring heartfelt chaos via personal essays, unsolicited musings, & the drama in the stars. Think pops of confetti that settle into a multi-colored pillow to rest your head. Think winding uncertainty and open-mouthed ghosts.

Lizz Dawson is one of the most talented young nonfiction writers around, her essays are moving and smart and powerful.

- David Gutowski

SubMakk

By Rebecca Makkai

Rebecca Makkai's Substack: mostly writing and books! but also Zillow, true crime, etymology, food, general inanity

No Failure, Only Practice

By Matt Bell

Fiction writing exercises, craft essays, and reading recommendations from Matt Bell, author of APPLESEED and REFUSE TO BE DONE. Publishes monthly.

Matt Bell is a writing teacher who effectively offers craft lessons in his Substack. Read this, then his books. Thank me later.

- David Gutowski

Book Publishing Brick By Brick

By Jeffrey Yamaguchi

Strategies for publishing and marketing your book from an in-the-trenches publishing professional and published author. Always an emphasis on doable takeaways and fostering literary community.

Ready for Nothing

By John Strohm

A newsletter about whatever John P. Strohm cares to write about, mostly music business, culture, technology, and stories from my career as a musician and music professional

Dividual

By Blake Butler

Thoughts about books I read, the work of writing and publishing, and life

The Querent

By Alexander Chee

The person asking a question at the beginning of a Tarot card reading. Or, a newsletter project by Alexander Chee.

Auraist. The best writers on Substack.

By Sean

Trusted by 50K+ readers, we pick the best-written books from US and UK new releases and prize shortlists, and publish articles by world-class authors on prose style and AI writing. Plus the satire The Demon Inside David Lynch.

Brooklyn Girl Books (etc.)

By Randy Susan Meyers

Randy Susan Meyers examines the ‘what if’ and ‘why" of life in her six novels, grew up in a Brooklyn library and still spends at least half her life reading.

Flow State

Every weekday, two hours of music that's perfect for working (no vocals).

Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em Podcast

A podcast from the outskirts of the zeitgeist

Publishing Confidential

By Kathleen Schmidt

News and analysis about the book publishing industry that you won't read anywhere else.

Culture Trip

By Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

Better living through pop culture. A newsletter from NYT bestselling author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong.

CAFÉ ANNE

By Anne Kadet

It's a wonderful world—meet the inhabitants!

THE place to explore the unique places and people of New York City. Chess hustlers? Donut bakers for food carts? Anne gets the inside story with wit and intelligence.

- David Gutowski

Witness

By Robert Jones

Pro-Black, Pro-LGBTQIA2S+, sometimes polemical political and pop culture testimony from author Robert Jones, Jr., formerly known as "Son of Baldwin."

A Writer's Notebook

By Summer Brennan

essays, art, and inspiration from an American writer in Paris

Largehearted Ledger

Recommended by David Gutowski