Substacks recommended by Dave Conrey | The Creative Generalist

Recommended by Dave Conrey

FlakPhoto Digest

By Andy Adams

A community hub for photography people

NextDraft

By Dave Pell

The day's most fascinating news from the Internet's Managing Editor

Sketchnote Lab

By Mike Rohde

Watch sketchnoting solve real problems in real time, then learn to do it yourself. Sketchnote Lab is where visual thinking meets live, messy, practical work to help move your projects forward.

Mike is the best. Encouraging, insightful, and dead set on getting me to lean into my drawing more often. He might just win this fight in the long run.

- Dave Conrey

blakeoftoday’s Substack

I tell stories, mostly with words, about the human condition as filtered through grief, parenting, and millennial nostalgia. Let me know if I can send you an email sometime to make you feel less alone.

Amie’s Substack

By Amie McNee

My personal Substack

The Second Act Strategist

By Tracy

For smart second-act creators who want to build a Substack people remember, subscribe to, and pay for.

Hallelujah Anyway

By Anne Lamott

Mostly WD-40 and duct tape

ROBOTS ATE MY HOMEWORK

By Mia

Sharpen your mind, your work, and your taste with AI without turning into another robot in the circus. Yes, the robots ate your homework, but they kept the good parts.

Austin Kleon

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

Austin has been a source of constant inspiration to me long before he wrote several books on the topic. His lists of things bring joy each week.

- Dave Conrey

McSweeney's Internet Substackency

By McSweeney's Internet Tendency Substack

The substack of McSweeney's Internet Tendency, McSweeney's Publishing's humor & satire website.

Delete This Later 🔥

By Michelle J 🔥

Finding the absurd humor in everyday disasters.

Dry wit and absurd stories—one of my favorite pubs.

- Dave Conrey

CRAFT TALK

By Craft Talk

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.

Creator Gravity

By Alice Lemee

A newsletter on how to write well and become magnetic online. (Plus the occasional unhinged "Did she really mean to post that?" essay.)

I've been intently following Alice's journey this year and it's interesting to see a young professional navigate the world that I jumped into many years ago, except she's doing it with much more grace and awareness than I had.

- Dave Conrey

Duane Toops

I make things...

Wander Wealth

By Claudia Faith

The exact playbook I used to build a $5K+/mo newsletter in 12 months. Every Tuesday, I share actionable strategies to grow your subscribers, build your community, and create income that scales. You won't be doing it alone 🚀

Anxious Frank

Everything is Liminal

By Jenna Park

A visual newsletter with essays on culture, art, identity, and navigating the post-career creative life. With curated links, delivered weekly.

Jenna feels like a kindred spirit whom I've never met in person. Her life and stories resonate in a way that I know is instantly felt for any second-life Gen X and elder millennial creatives, or even non-creatives who yearn for the bright spots in the transition.

- Dave Conrey

Andrea Dixon- Collage Artist

Digital collage artist & photographer. The iPhone is my main too and I'll show you how. (Zero AI.)

Talented and prolific artist who is always coming up with much better ideas than me.

- Dave Conrey

Blob

By Jaime Derringer

i'm whatever you want me to be

Been a fan of Jamie and her work for years and I'm excited to see how this second act (or third, but whose counting) works out because I know she'll kill it.

- Dave Conrey

The Influence Issue

By Brielle

Welcome to The Influence Issue. Strategy, culture, and the business of being seen online. I write about the mechanics behind social media so you stop guessing and start operating. Think less motivational fluff, more power moves.

Beth Mathews Design

A Graphic Designer's Archive: Vintage methods, design history, and the creative process behind work for Wes Anderson, Criterion, and Penguin Random House.

PubStack Success

By Karen Cherry

Start, grow, and make an impact on Substack. Get one easy-to-follow, no-nonsense newsletter per week and grow without FOMO and overwhelm. By a writer who built a $29K+ publication that's not writing about writing.

Zinestack

By Jen Mayer

Zinestack is a twice-weekly newsletter celebrating independent publishing and helping people discover, collect, and make zines. Discover in pixels. Collect on paper.

Multi-Passionate Musings

By Annie Petsche

We'll explore the multi-passionate experience on a deeper level and you'll gain inside access into how to build a successful and fulfilled career as a MP.

Standout Authors: A Standout Creative Business Publication

By Kevin Chung

I help authors get shit done so they can focus on writing. Host of Standout Authors Unbound and The Standout Creatives podcast.

House of Cultural Influence

By Kelly Diels

Strategic analysis of how cultural influence actually works—decoded for entrepreneurs building frameworks that shape how people think, work, and live. By Kelly Diels

Next Chapter Together

By Jen Leo

Daily notes and weekly reflections from a junior mom in launch season — sharing honest journal entries and practical tools as I prepare her for what’s next and build my own next chapter too.

The SneakyArt Post

By Nishant Jain

Secretly drawn art of the world, delivered to your inbox.

The Art of Noticing

By Rob Walker Art of Noticing

Ideas, inspiration, and provocations for creativity, work, and staying human. From author Rob Walker.

SEE YOU

By Carolyn Yoo

Your creative practice companion with honest insights, practical guidance, and ideas for building a sustainable creative life

Petal + Hearth

By Olivia

I share stories and strategies to help you design a life you love and a creative business that supports it. Bestselling Substack coach living in the south of France, here to help you romanticize the everyday and step into your 💫 main character energy 💫

KBBBLOG

By Kate Bingaman-Burt

I miss blogs! Sign up and we can pretend it's 2006 again.

A Book Designer's Notebook

By Nathaniel Roy

Notes on book design and creative practice for writers, designers, and book lovers.

Michele Morgan Art

Michele Morgan Art is about my trials and transformations along a path that challenges my limited beliefs. My clear intentions are to share and inspire others.

Full disclosure, this is my Mom, so there's that obligation, but I'm also her biggest cheerleader and I want people to know where I got my creative spark from.

- Dave Conrey

Occasional Creative

By Jennifer Mullin

There's so much pleasure in creating occasionally. Whether you're a part-timer, a weekend creator, or someone exploring artistic passions alongside a full-time gig, this space is for you.

You're Doing Great

By Sofia Warren

A visual advice column by Sofia Warren