My Top 10 favorite Substack posts for 2023*
In lieu of my usual monthly roundup of links, I’ve decided to highlight 10 of my favorite Substack posts from this year.
These are the stories that I kept in my inbox long after I’d deleted other newsletters un- or half-read…the ones I found myself mentioning to friends or thinking about after reading.
They are essays that helped to shape how I think and write about what I write about here at TBIWTW: namely memoir and nonfiction craft and analysis, the latest in publishing news, essays about writing mindset, and about Jewish writing and books.
I’m focusing on smaller Substacks (less than 5,000 subscribers to my knowledge) since you’ll likely already be familiar with bigger names like George Saunders.
Still, I’m the first to admit this list is completely idiosyncratic (and what list isn’t?). So, hopefully, it’ll serve a conversation starter rather than a monologue.
To that end: Was there a Substack post that rocked your world in 2023? Drop the link and a few words in the comments below.
*NOTE: This list is not ranked — but in alphabetical order according to the author’s surname. Some posts may be paywalled…if so, please consider a paid subscription to receive what I promise will be a worthwhile read!
Top 10 Substack Posts of 2023
Leah Eichler’s “The Replacements”- “Relationships operated differently in the chaotic apartment building we all lived in when I was growing up,” writes the founder of Leah Eichler's Esoterica . In this post she explores the strange experience of being alienated from her twin sibling. It’s just one of the many types of losses accrued when you grow up in a family profoundly shaped by the shadow of the Holocaust.
Ruth Franklin’s “The diaries of Anne Frank” - the word diaries is doing the work here: one sign that what’s under discussion is not the book (or story) we think we know. In the post, Franklin, a (fabulous) book critic and biographer of Shirley Jackson, explores many of the under-reported nuances of Anne Frank’s physical diaries…including the fact that Frank composed them with publication very much in mind. Franklin’s book on Anne Frank’s diaries is due out in early 2025.
Emily Henderson’s “A New Friend I Never Met” - My list features a couple of personal essays, including this one about the death of the author’s young son from a rare form of cancer. On her Substack The Bittersweet Weekly Henderson publishes a memorable flash memoir-in-progress about her remodel of a 1950s California ranch home. But I keep returning to this essay. As one of commenters wrote, “It was hard to read, but impossible not to.” My feeling exactly.
Sonya Huber’s “What is a Bookstore Event for?” In a year when authors posted lots of understandably depressed tweets about under-attended book events, Sonya’s essay captures something else: the hopefulness, curiosity, wonder—the gratitude and magic—of what it means to connect with our readers. Even if it’s just 5 of them. (Don’t forget to order her new essay collection or her brilliant study of narrators, Voice First).
Aviya Kushner’s “A Cure for Writer’s Block in Celan’s Letters” is one of my favorite posts ever about the correspondence between writers. For 16 years, poets Paul Celan and Nelly Sachs wrote each other about their life and poetry. Both Holocaust survivors, these letters “capture the loneliness and bravery of the decision to continue to write in German,” writes Kushner. What must it be like to link yourself to the language of a home you feel forever exiled from? This empathic post explores the way in which this choice both bonded and changed two literary lives.
Kate McKean’s “How to Plan Next Year’s Goal” is probably the most on-brand pick on my list. Are you writing a book? Thinking about writing a book? Stalled out on a book? Scared of writing a book? This pick-you-adventure style post walks you through the next steps no matter where you find yourself, offering concrete, low stakes, and achievable goals. Make “the book you want to write” happen in 2024!
Jeannine Ouellette’s “Eleven Urgent & Possibly Helpful Things I Have Learned About Writing from Reading Thousands of Manuscripts” - There’s so much excellent advice on Jeannine’s substack, I thought it would be hard to pick a favorite post. However, this is the essay I find myself going back to again and again. Her excellent discussion on why memoir writers need to focus more on external details is just one of the reasons this was probably my most forwarded email this year.
On January 3rd, I’m launching the new season of The Book I Had to Write podcast, with the first episode featuring a conversation with Jeannine. We discuss this (viral) post, along with more about her Substack and her memoir The Part that Burns. Stay tuned for more info next week!
Kathleen Schmidt’s “Book Publicity: What Works and What Doesn’t” - I’ve learned more about the state of publishing by reading Publishing Confidential this year than through any other source. And while Schmidt often writes about the latest developments in marketing, it’s this 10,000-foot-view post I found particularly helpful. Big takeaways: blog tours stink, radio and podcasts still move books, and you can give your Instagram a rest (Thank Gd).
Anastasia Selby’s “A Permanent Goodbye to Social Media” - I’ve been a fan of their newsletter for a couple of years now, drawn to their honesty and vulnerability. (And I might’ve as easily picked Anastasia’s viral essay “You Have Such a Pretty Face,” also recommended). But this post got me thinking a lot about not just social media, but also my tech consumption…and how much I’d love to find healthier habits in 2024.
Brooke Warner’s “Why You Should Write a Memoir” - Not a year goes by without some high-profile rant about the self-indulgence of memoirs—nevermind the reality that they’ve actually become one of the hardest genres in which to land an agent and/or get published. Warner’s is wonderful rebuttal to the perennial naysayers who appear to confuse the narcissism of celebrity culture with the craft and insight required to successfully publish literary memoir.
Wow! Was happily reading these excellent recs when I came across your mention of my post on Celan's letters in On Being and Timelessness! Thank you -- am moved & honored to be included.
So honoured to be included!