Austin Kleon has 385,430 followers on Substack as of Nov 1, 2026. On the latest board read, Oct 31, 2026, they were #7 on Substack's Art & Illustration Bestsellers board. 103 publications recommend them, 27 of them new in the last 30 days, and they recommend 16.
Followers read · Boards read
Last read Nov 1, 2026 (UTC). Followers are not email subscribers. Substack lists only the newest 50 recommendations for each publication, so a recommender count of 50 or more is a floor. History starts Oct 31, 2026; Substack publishes nothing earlier.
- Followers
- 385,430
- read Nov 1
- Last 7 days
- first number on Nov 7
- Last 30 days
- first number on Nov 30
- Subscribers
- 315K+
- rounded by Substack
- Paid subscribers
- Thousands
- bestseller badge 1,000+
- Recommended by
- 103
- +27 in 30 days
- Recommends
- 16
- Bestsellers rank
- #7
- Art & Illustration
Followers by day
Tracking since Oct 31, 2026. 2 days of readings. Substack doesn't publish past follower counts, so history starts the day I first read a writer and grows by one reading every 3 days (daily if it's on your watchlist). The 7-day change appears on Nov 7, the 30-day change on Nov 30. Recommendation dates below go further back: they're Substack's own.
Show as a table
| Date | Followers | Change | Subscribers | Paid band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 2026 | 385,430 | +76 | 315K+ | Thousands |
| Oct 31, 2026 | 385,354 | 315K+ | Thousands |
Leaderboard positions
| Board | Rank now | Best on record | Reads on it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art & Illustration Bestsellers | #7 | #7 | 4 of 4 |
Rank on each read
| Writer | Oct 3107:00 | Oct 3113:00 | Oct 3119:47 | Nov 621:50 | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Art & Illustration Bestsellers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
I read every board once a day.
Recommendations
103 publications recommend Austin Kleon; 26 started in the last 30 days. Austin Kleon recommends 16, and 6 of those recommend back. Lists read Oct 31.
When the recommendations started
Show as a table
| Month | Started |
|---|---|
| 2022-04 | 4 |
| 2022-05 | 3 |
| 2022-06 | 1 |
| 2022-07 | 1 |
| 2022-08 | 1 |
| 2022-09 | 1 |
| 2022-10 | 1 |
| 2022-11 | 2 |
| 2022-12 | 2 |
| 2023-01 | 2 |
| 2023-03 | 1 |
| 2023-04 | 1 |
| 2023-09 | 2 |
| 2023-10 | 1 |
| 2023-11 | 1 |
| 2024-01 | 1 |
| 2024-02 | 1 |
| 2024-04 | 1 |
| 2024-06 | 1 |
| 2024-09 | 3 |
| 2024-10 | 1 |
| 2024-12 | 1 |
| 2025-01 | 1 |
| 2025-02 | 3 |
| 2025-07 | 1 |
| 2025-08 | 2 |
| 2025-12 | 3 |
| 2026-04 | 4 |
| 2026-06 | 1 |
| 2026-08 | 1 |
| 2026-09 | 18 |
| 2026-10 | 36 |
Recommended by
J.C. Bruce690k followers · started Jun 2024
The Curiosity Department293k followers · started Sep 2023
Heather Havrilesky190k followers · started Apr 2022 · mutual
Wendy MacNaughton166k followers · started Apr 2022 · mutual
Secrets of Adulthood123k followers · started Jun 10, 2026 · mutual
Shaun Usher114k followers · started Apr 2022 · mutual
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The Illustration Department20k followers · started Dec 2024
Amy Stewart19k followers · started Jan 2023
Gary Bolyer18k followers · started Jan 2024
Walter Martin17k followers · started Oct 2024 · mutual
All 103
Maria Clara Villas16k followers · started Oct 2022
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Gary Hustwit11k followers · started Apr 2023
Mark Ragland11k followers · started Aug 2025
Tommy Tomlinson10k followers · started Apr 2022
jill badonsky9.8k followers · started Jan 2025
Lorene Edwards Forkner9k followers · started Aug 2022
Algis (Japan or Die)5.7k followers · started Apr 30, 2026
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Penny Lane4.8k followers · started Dec 26, 2025
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Don Giannatti4.3k followers · started Dec 2022
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Isa Catto3.9k followers · started Feb 2024
Anna A. Friedrich2.7k followers · started Aug 27, 2026
Mary Flannery2.4k followers · started Nov 2022
Mad Jay1.6k followers · started Sep 2022
Lynn Peterfreund1.1k followers · started Jul 2025
Sarah Orman1.1k followers · started Sep 2024
Matt Foltz-Gray926 followers · started Oct 2023
Todd Webb895 followers · started Sep 2024
Andrew Lavers279 followers · started Mar 2023
José Pérez244 followers · started Apr 8, 2026
McKenzie Long198 followers · started Aug 2025
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- OFFLINE CREATIVE CLUB™ started Sep 14, 2026
- Abhishek's Substackstarted Sep 11, 2026
- Everyday Bitchingstarted Sep 11, 2026
Recommends
- Heather Havrilesky190k followers · started Apr 2022 · mutual
- Wendy MacNaughton166k followers · started Apr 2022 · mutual
- Secrets of Adulthood123k followers · started Jun 10, 2026 · mutual
- Shaun Usher114k followers · started Apr 2022 · mutual
Jason Chatfield79k followers · started Apr 14, 2026
Jillian Hess64k followers · started Apr 14, 2026- Mason Currey63k followers · started Apr 2022 · mutual
- Walter Martin17k followers · started Nov 2024 · mutual
Dr. Ethan Hein13k followers · started Feb 2024- The Pink Reportstarted Apr 14, 2026
- Paper Filmsstarted Mar 2025
- Notes from Beyondstarted Feb 2023
- Bang Flagstarted Jan 2023
- Cheryl Strayed Writes About Thingsstarted Apr 2022
- The Art of Noticingstarted Apr 2022
- Did Someone Say Emoji?started Apr 2022
Substack lists the 50 newest recommenders of each publication. I add every recommendation found in the full lists of the 6,392 publications I read, so writers with many recommenders may still be missing a few small ones. "Started" is Substack's date.
Recommended by the same publications
Writers who share the most recommenders with Austin Kleon. Useful for finding peers, and for sponsors looking for similar audiences.
- 8 shared
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Who recommends writers like this one
Publications that recommend at least two other Art & Illustration writers with 50,000 or more followers (15 writers in that group), but not Austin Kleon.
- recommends 4 of them菅原 の Substack
- recommends 3 of themKgari Studio
- recommends 3 of themGrace
- recommends 2 of them
Liza Donnelly@lizadonnelly - recommends 2 of themLiana Finck@lianafinck
- recommends 2 of them
Colin Meloy@colinmeloy - recommends 2 of them
Story Lab NYC@storylabnyc - recommends 2 of them
Jeff Treistman@jefftreistman - recommends 2 of them
Frederick Noland@fredericknoland - recommends 2 of themA HERETIKA
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<a href="https://stackblade.app/w/austinkleon"><img src="https://stackblade.app/badge/austinkleon.svg" alt="Austin Kleon on Substack: follower count" height="28"></a>
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Card for a website
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<iframe src="https://stackblade.app/embed/w/austinkleon" width="360" height="190" style="border:0" title="Austin Kleon on Stackblade" loading="lazy"></iframe>