573 Comments

The Shoutout Thread has become a favorite part of our month! Thank you for sharing more about what you write and read on Substack!

We'll see you next week at Office Hours and next month at the shoutout thread.

Happy writing and reading!

Katie + Bailey

Expand full comment

This was really helpful! Found so many great new subs. Thanks!

Expand full comment

Yeah, me too! Though my list of subscriptions is starting to become a bit... unwieldy. So much to read, so little time!

Expand full comment

Good for you!

Expand full comment

🙌♥️✌️

Expand full comment

Yeahhhhhhhhh

Expand full comment

shoutout to nobody reads poetry and patti smith! :)

Expand full comment

Hi everyone! I'm Mike and I use GIFs to review books. Books on GIF comes out every two weeks and it features a diverse range of books (fiction, nonfiction, bestsellers, classics and graphic novels) and authors.

I started the newsletter because I was frustrated by the sameness in book criticism: everywhere you looked, from legacy publications to social media, you saw the same books, the same authors and the same style of discussion. I wanted to try something different, highlight the popular as well as the obscure, and maybe bring some fun and fresh air to the book space. I try to emphasize the joy of reading and finding books that have personal meaning over whether a book is 'good' or 'bad.'

A newsletter I just subscribed to today is: https://blgtylr.substack.com. Really excited to read it.

A newsletter that I always open immediately is Dearest. It’s so good! Just look at the crazy baby-face brooch in this edition! https://dearest.substack.com/p/stupidly-huge-diamonds-horrible-baby

Expand full comment

Haaa, Mike, I wrote my post before I even saw this! Thanks as always for the boost, and also for pitching in to further troll the public with that horrendous brooch.

Expand full comment

Monica! If I can't unsee that brooch, than neither will anyone else!

Expand full comment

I'm obsessed with Dearest (and your newsletter.)

Expand full comment

Thanks! I am in awe of your newsletter and how you get to so many books and interview so many interesting people! It’s so good!

Expand full comment

Lurve it, Mike!

Expand full comment

Thanks, Jean! I’m glad you like it!

Expand full comment

I am so glad to find you. Love books. Love innovative ways to talk about them. I'm looking forward to sharing your work with my subscribers who also love books.

Expand full comment

That’s wonderful, Elizabeth! Thanks so much. I hope you (and they) enjoy it!

Expand full comment

What a unique idea Mike!

Expand full comment

Thanks, Rufat!! Appreciate it.

Expand full comment

Such a great idea! Subscribed!

Expand full comment

Thanks, Thor! I hope you enjoy it.

Expand full comment

I *love* this idea.

Expand full comment

Thanks, Barry!

Expand full comment

Hi Books on GIF! Great to have you here!

Expand full comment

Thanks, Bailey!!

Expand full comment

Thank you!!

Expand full comment

I'm Jackie and I write a weekly newsletter about story and storytelling. I'm working up an article for next week on serial storytelling past, present, and future on my newsletter Story Cauldron. I try to make each week's newsletter appeal to both writers and readers, and I think this will be a good one (plus I am sharing the works of a few fellow Substackers!). I also have my own serial fiction called "The Favor Faeries" over on my paid newsletter.

A couple of things I've really enjoyed this week on Substack include "The Master's Trap," a 3-part series about the pitfalls and scammy nature of graduate study over at Culture Study, https://annehelen.substack.com/p/the-masters-trap , and "Conspiracy," a serial novel about a blue-skinned alien crash-landing on earth at Kevin's Creative Corner, https://kevinmoran.substack.com/s/conspiracy

Expand full comment

As someone frustrated by the state of the publishing industry who would also love serial novels, I'm going to have to give this a follow!

Expand full comment

https://discord.gg/UWQcEqNF - you should check out Elle Griffin's Substack Discord channel, lots of us fiction writers in there

Expand full comment

Oooo I love to hear about these serial novels

Expand full comment

I hope you'll check it out!

Expand full comment

Fabulous. I'm in. Signing up in a moment.

(I have serialised fiction & nonfiction plans in my docket, just as soon as I find out what a docket is - and I've been inspired by the serialised work of the "Write. Publish. Repeat." guys at Sterling & Stone for a while now. So I look forward to seeing what you have to say on the topic!)

Expand full comment

Oh yeah, I know Sean and Johnny from there. Did a bunch of Smarter Artist Summits with them and they came to a meet up I hosted once. They can sometimes be a bit much, but they do know the industry.

Expand full comment

Hah, yes - I listen to their podcast and they are very proud of being described as "bloke-ish". :) But yeah, they know their stuff, and I really admire their commitment to it.

Expand full comment

I love these threads!

I write So Relatable, which is about trying to live a creative life and pursue your art even when it feels like the world is conspiring against you! Also: snacks.

The most recent Substack I'm excited about is Showing My Work by Nicole Dieker: https://nicoledieker.substack.com/

I've been following her blog for a while, and am excited to see how she uses the Substack platform to talk about art, productivity, and freelance writing.

Expand full comment

You had me at creative life!

Expand full comment

You also had me at creative life. I'll have to check it out!

Expand full comment

Your post images are making me hungry now! :)

Expand full comment

I live to eat! :)

Expand full comment

I'm the same!

Expand full comment

Sounds wonderful!

Expand full comment

Hi! I write a newsletter a couple times a month -- more or less! -- about "what I'm thinking about" -- which seems to usually be about mortality, grief, hope, making meaning, etc. (the gamut of life emotions). They're pretty personal, and quite different from my other newsletter on Substack, Good Trouble For Kids, which stems out of a project a girlfriend and I did of helping families build racially conscious libraries. I was drawn to Substack because of Heather Cox Richardson's phenomenal newsletter (beats reading the newspaper or listening to the news) and I love Alison Roman's newsletter.

Expand full comment

Subscribed, look interesting, and exactly what I like to read.

Expand full comment

My name is Davina and I am a writer for children and adults. I write Writersphere (https://writersphere.substack.com/) which sheds light on the writer's journey through publishing. I offer tips and tricks into writing and getting published. I am currently enjoying Weirdy Wordy (https://weirdywordy.substack.com/) a fictional weekly newspaper for a fictional town. Perfect for the fans of the Onion and Welcome to the Nightvale.

Expand full comment

Weird Wordy is such a lovely newsletter. It's been fun to see more fiction writers writing on Substack.

Thanks for what you do to support withers, Davina!

Expand full comment

Wait, the Weirdly Wordy is fiction?!??! XD

Expand full comment

Absolutely, thanks Katie for the lovely words. Weird Wordy is brilliant!!

Expand full comment

I second Weirdy Wordy!

Expand full comment

Thanks, Davina. I will venmo you the agreed upon amount shortly

Expand full comment

Looking forward to getting it.

Expand full comment

Hi Davina, great to meet another writer who writes for both children and adults. :)

Expand full comment

Lovely to meet you guys, just literally saw your post and subscribed. Looking forward to diving into your posts.

Expand full comment

And we just subscribed to your newsletter! It looks brilliant! Looking forward to reading it properly.

And thank you for the Weirdy Wordy recommendation - that looks to be great fun too!

Expand full comment

Hello! I write a bi-weekly newsletter, Borscht for Breakfast, about food and culture which includes recipes. I'm just getting started and looking for community.

Some recent favs on the platform are from Psychopolitica https://psychopolitica.substack.com/p/internet-adolescence

and

everything from MOVIEPUDDING

https://moviepudding.substack.com/p/godards-children-and-vegan-pop-tarts

Expand full comment

how am I just finding about this?! just signed up for Borscht for Breakfast; i love it.

Expand full comment

Subscribed and looking forward to reading your newsletter.

Expand full comment

I'm so into this! Subscribed.

Expand full comment

Hi! I write a weekly food and culture newsletter that comes out Tuesday afternoons. I link to recipes, food news, essays about food. I also include craft beer and cocktail news. I also curate a food and cookbook list on Bookshop. https://bookshop.org/lists/nichelle-newsletter-books-on-food

Expand full comment

Hi there! I'm Sarah, and I write a weekly newsletter about children's books, raising readers, and how to build a culture of reading in your home. I've been writing it since May 2020 and it has not only kept me sane during the pandemic but been a source of tremendous fun.

I'm such a fan of Time Travel Kitchen it's almost embarrassing, but Jolene inspires this kind of devotion, trust me: https://timetravelkitchen.substack.com/

Virginia Sole-Smith's Burnt Toast has been rocking my world lately: https://virginiasolesmith.substack.com/

And forever love to my very first Substack subscription (free and paid), Evil Witches Newsletter: https://evilwitches.substack.com/

Expand full comment

GReat to cya, Sarah!

Expand full comment

I LOVE Time Travel Kitchen. It's such a delight.

Expand full comment

I know! I practically clap when I see it in my inbox.

Expand full comment

I just found Evil Witches this week and am digging it, so +1 to that!

Expand full comment

Clair's Evil Witches is one of the best Substacks in existence!!

Expand full comment

It regularly makes me happy.

Expand full comment

Hi Sarah! Great to have you here!

Expand full comment

👆🏻 Seconding Burnt Toast, I'm a big fan

Expand full comment

Hello everyone! Love the idea behind these threads!

My name is Barry and I write a newsletter called Proximities. Every day I briefly summarize three non-Western news stories and provide links should you want to find out some more. I do it seven days a week and it's free of charge. I'm a journalist and a former foreign correspondent and the idea came from a sense of frustration I feel that most "international" news channels are dominated by Western news even when there are hugely important things happening elsewhere.

My recommendation is probably of most interest to people based in the UK. Conquest of the Useless by Mic Wright is a newsletter about the British media. The critiques are brilliantly written and the quality he delivers every morning without fail amazes me. https://brokenbottleboy.substack.com/

Expand full comment

Great to cya, Barry!

Expand full comment

You too, Katie! Thanks for these excellent initiatives.

Expand full comment

I love that you pick THREE. Limits are good!

Expand full comment

Thank you! Brevity is added value, as they say : )

Expand full comment

Hi: I write 1,500 word essays two or three times a week about current pop music, and rock music criticism as memoir: For more than 50 years, I've been fortunate to never have to do anything else for a living. Tuesday's post was record reviews about the magnificent new music of Korean-American Andrew Choi, who performs as St. Lenox, as well as the Wallflowers, and the Umbrellas. Tomorrow's will go back to my first job after college at CBS Records, one aspect of which I already wrote about in a cross-Substack/response to the writer Ted Gioia about "The Worst Day in Jazz History," which Ted graciously acknowledged on Twitter. My avatar/photo is a back cover headline from a cover story I did for the Village Voice in 1974, headlined "Led Zep Zaps Kidz." On the front cover of that issue is a story Lucian Truscott IV did about uncorrupt NYC cop Frank Serpico, played by Al Pacino in the movie of that name, though in those days I looked more like Pacino than Lucian did. I subscribe to Lucian's newsletter. He's peerless on military and political issues. We're both still at the top of our games. https://luciantruscott.substack.com/p/stark-raving-mad

Expand full comment

Lucian Truscott! Heavens! So happy to hear he's with us!

Expand full comment

Happy to hear you are with us too, E. Jean!

Expand full comment

Hi, I'm a philosophy major in Houston, Texas who writes about the relationship between climate change and political philosophy. My work includes investigative journalism, dispatches from my climate activism, and the research I produce in academia. I'm currently writing a book review on the history of freedom (a concept frequently invoked in debates about climate action) over the span of 3 posts.

One of my favorite Substack blogs is The Phoenix, a newsletter which functions as a forum for conversations surrounding climate change.

https://thephoenix.substack.com/

Expand full comment

You had me at philosophy!

Expand full comment

Wow that sounds fascinating!

Expand full comment

Hello friends! I have a newsletter called Get Busy Living. I'm looking for the answer to "What is a good life?" That's what I'm exploring right now as I'm at a point in my life where I'm looking for change and I share my journey. Please subscribe and say hello. Also the name of the newsletter comes from one of my favorite movies of all time The Shawshank Redemption.

Another Substack I recommend is https://mysweetdumbbrain.substack.com . Her tagline is "A newsletter about facing life’s hardships, all while being kind to yourself". I love the way she tells her personal stories through her voice, tone, and style.

Expand full comment

I love the concept of being inspired by a line from a movie. In fact, I collect these inspirational messages on my blog: https://moviewise.wordpress.com If you would like to write more about what The Shawshank Redemption means to you, I've recently added a "Guest Posts" section to my moviewise newsletter: https://moviewise.substack.com Cheers!

Expand full comment

Will check it out!

Expand full comment

Love it!

Expand full comment

Hi Friends! I'm Ashley and I'm writing words about the world we can't see, the esoteric and the weird. I get really nerdy about tarot, astrology and magick. If you are curious about the occult, come take a peek! https://www.devilsdispatch.com

One of my latests posts deals with the dichotomy between the map and the territory when navigating our reality. Here is a quote about it from Robert Anton Wilson:

All experience is a muddle, until we make a model to explain it. The model can clarify the muddles, but the model is never the muddle itself. "The map is not the territory"; the menu does not taste like the meal.

You can read the full post here: https://www.devilsdispatch.com/p/on-maps-and-territories

I am always reading the lovely and depressing Substack by Luke O'Neil called Welcome to Hell World. You can read it here: https://luke.substack.com

Expand full comment

Fellow Tarot nerd and esotericist here. Didn’t need more than a few sentences to see that your writing is RIGHT up my alley Ashley! Looking forward to digging in more!!

Expand full comment

Yay! I love finding occult friends in the wild!

Expand full comment

Such a beautiful quote! I love this - "The map is not the territory"; the menu does not taste like the meal.

Expand full comment

It's such a small and obvious thing, but it can shift your perspective when you stop to think about it!

Expand full comment

Hi y'all! I'm Caitlin, and I write about pop culture and creativity at PopPoetry. My latest post deals with the lothario poet of the Friends episode with the "empty vase" and considers the "trick" of metaphor. Love to have you check it out and subscribe if you dig! I write explainers, book reviews, and creative prompts weekly and conduct author interviews, too.

I've been loving Neko Case's Entering the Lung (https://nekocase.substack.com/), which is a collection of woozy, eco-centered meditation on life, nature, and the creative spark.

Thanks for reading! I'm so happy to be part of this community :)

Expand full comment

Thanks for coming by, Caitlin :)

Expand full comment

Today is my birthday, so I am hoping to get some extra love for my newsletter. I have shouted out Lyz Lenz a ton, but am always willing to do the same for anyone else! https://lyz.substack.com/p/cicada-season-pandemic-faith-and

https://jhardycarroll.substack.com/p/spontaneous-knotting-of-an-agitated

Expand full comment

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Expand full comment

Also, popped over and read your most recent post. Great poem at the end!

Expand full comment

Happy birthday! I love birthdays. :) I did a birthday post a few weeks ago that felt like a nice summary of what I'm trying to do with my life/Substack/family tree: https://thefeministkitchen.substack.com/p/birthday-wishes-and-grandma-kisses

Expand full comment

Sweet! I'll check it out!

Expand full comment

Happy birthday 🎉

Expand full comment

Thanks!

Expand full comment

HBD!!!

Expand full comment

Happy birthday!

Expand full comment

Hi, my name is Rohini. I am a literary translator and also write for children. My substack is The Story Birds, which I write with Shaiontoni Bose, a dear friend and a fellow writer. Each week we bring our readers a story, which could be original fiction, or traditional tales retold, or even tales specially collected for The Story Birds. We also share our research sources and recommend further reading for those who are interested. Additionally, through our stories, we look at process, the art and craft, of story-telling, story-writing. We also bring original art work and illustrations to our readers. We hope to make this a multi-media, multilingual newsletter in the not too distant future.

I read The Parallel Campaign regularly. It is an extremely well-researched and lucidly written newsletter that seeks to give as objective a view of history as possible, particularly in the context of the current political climate in India. Definitely worth a read for anyone interested in the subject.

Expand full comment

Hi Rohini! I write a book recommendation newsletter and feature Q&As with bookish people. Any interest in partnering?

Expand full comment

I already subscribe to your newsletter and enjoy it.

Expand full comment

Yes! I'd love to! Let's connect?

Expand full comment

This is where I'd love a DM feature. Just subscribed to your newsletter. I'll respond to it.

Expand full comment

Just subscribed to your newsletter too! It is VERY interesting!

Expand full comment

I shall look out for your email.

And yes, I second the DM feature!

Expand full comment

Sounds beautiful! I will check this out!

Expand full comment

Nice, I do original art work as well, super dope!

Expand full comment

That's lovely! My fellow Story Birder, Shaiontoni, is the artist. :)

Expand full comment

Hi there! My name is Juliet and I write The Rafters which is a somewhat neglected fiction and ramblings Substack. I talk a lot about the unanswerable and modern culture and why things are the way they are.

One of my absolute favorite Substacks I've been subscribed to is Culture Study by Anne Hellen Petersen one of my absolute favorite reads on Substack. https://annehelen.substack.com/

Expand full comment

Hey Juliet, the photos on your Substack are beautiful. Are they of places close to you?

Expand full comment

Hey Katie! Yes! With the exception of the sign up screen, I've been to all these spots. Mostly around New England, some from a cross country trip I took last summer.

Expand full comment

YES! Culture Study is so good.

Expand full comment

Subscribed, and I agree, the pictures are beautiful. I hope to visit the New England area in the next few years.

Expand full comment

Hi Everyone! I want to share 5 things that helped me increase my subscribers this week for my two newsletters:

http://www.oddjobsnews.com/welcome

http://www.thefirstyearsofmarriage.com/welcome

1. Posting about topics that are trending / newsworthy: I incorporated the Olympics into the newsletter a lot and people loved that.

2. Hosted giveaways with Kingsum.com (free to use) and that brought in a lot of new subs

3. Shared a promo reel of the newsletter on my Instagram (www.instagram.com/jenglantz)

4.Printed a t-shrit with my newsletter name on it to wear around town

5. Increased my frequencies to 5x a week

What about you?

Expand full comment

Thanks for sharing your learnings, Jen.

Expand full comment

#4 is epic

Expand full comment

Thank you, Ms. Glantz! Marvelous! Congratulations!

Expand full comment

Good morning! I write about eating disorders and how to navigate exercise addiction, pregnancy, being an athlete, and all that encompasses.

Expand full comment