Elif Batuman has 41,982 followers on Substack as of Oct 31, 2026. On the latest board read, Oct 31, 2026, they were #26 on Substack's Literature Bestsellers board. 56 publications recommend them, 4 of them new in the last 30 days, and they recommend 44.
Last read Oct 31, 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
- 41,982
- read Oct 31
- Last 7 days
- first number on Nov 7
- Last 30 days
- first number on Nov 30
- Subscribers
- 27K+
- rounded by Substack
- Paid subscribers
- Thousands
- bestseller badge 1,000+
- Recommended by
- 56
- +4 in 30 days
- Recommends
- 44
- Bestsellers rank
- #26
- Literature
Followers by day
Tracking since Oct 31, 2026. This is the first reading. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 31, 2026 | 41,982 | 27K+ | Thousands |
Leaderboard positions
| Board | Rank now | Best on record | Reads on it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Literature Bestsellers | #26 | #26 | 4 of 4 |
Rank on each read
| Writer | Oct 3107:00 | Oct 3113:00 | Oct 3119:47 | Nov 621:50 | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Literature Bestsellers | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 0 |
I read every board once a day.
Recommendations
56 publications recommend Elif Batuman; 4 started in the last 30 days. Elif Batuman recommends 44, and 5 of those recommend back. Lists read Oct 31.
When the recommendations started
Show as a table
| Month | Started |
|---|---|
| 2023-06 | 1 |
| 2023-10 | 1 |
| 2024-01 | 1 |
| 2025-05 | 1 |
| 2025-09 | 7 |
| 2025-10 | 4 |
| 2025-11 | 7 |
| 2025-12 | 6 |
| 2026-01 | 3 |
| 2026-02 | 5 |
| 2026-03 | 1 |
| 2026-04 | 3 |
| 2026-05 | 3 |
| 2026-06 | 2 |
| 2026-07 | 2 |
| 2026-08 | 3 |
| 2026-09 | 2 |
| 2026-10 | 4 |
Recommended by
Miranda July109k followers · started May 2025 · mutual
Claire Berlinski102k followers · started Apr 24, 2026 · mutual
Jami Attenberg93k followers · started Oct 2023 · mutual
Mason Currey63k followers · started Jan 2024 · mutual
Etgar Keret53k followers · started Jun 2023 · mutual
Colin King11k followers · started Sep 2025
Noa Linden1.2k followers · started Jul 11, 2026- Hafıza-i beşerstarted Oct 30, 2026new
- Susan's Substackstarted Oct 20, 2026new
- Kelly Feeneystarted Oct 16, 2026new
- Hyperbole & Other Necessitiesstarted Oct 10, 2026new
- Sreeram Mstarted Sep 17, 2026
- Media Dietstarted Sep 12, 2026
- Oki's Substackstarted Aug 30, 2026
- Site Linesstarted Aug 18, 2026
- bedtimestarted Aug 6, 2026
- El Substack de Juanstarted Jul 3, 2026
- Things Noticedstarted Jun 21, 2026
- ⊹ Live from Sighing Joy's Hollow ⊹started Jun 9, 2026
- Substack de leonardostarted May 13, 2026
- Dan Robertstarted May 8, 2026
- Ivystarted May 8, 2026
- Emily Brennanstarted Apr 16, 2026
- Trovão de mãostarted Apr 7, 2026
All 56
- Il Substack di Chiarastarted Mar 8, 2026
- girlfromla's Substackstarted Feb 22, 2026
- Pramila's Substackstarted Feb 18, 2026
- Anne's Substackstarted Feb 16, 2026
- Saskia's Substackstarted Feb 8, 2026
- The Pharmakonstarted Feb 7, 2026
- Keith's Substackstarted Jan 31, 2026
- In Other Words started Jan 24, 2026
- O.started Jan 12, 2026
- tt's Substackstarted Dec 30, 2025
- All's Substackstarted Dec 30, 2025
- saccharine, a journal by alicestarted Dec 17, 2025
- MCB's Substackstarted Dec 12, 2025
- Keara's Substackstarted Dec 9, 2025
- Bracha's Substackstarted Dec 6, 2025
- Shakespeare Is My Boyfriendstarted Nov 30, 2025
- On the move started Nov 25, 2025
- Schlampereistarted Nov 24, 2025
- Melike'nin bahçesindenstarted Nov 20, 2025
- Brenda's Substackstarted Nov 18, 2025
- MrsBot's Substackstarted Nov 14, 2025
- comma, howeverstarted Nov 2025
- Animadversionstarted Oct 2025
- Museum Travel's Substackstarted Oct 2025
- Sh!tposting Sh!tpostsstarted Oct 2025
- Substack von Elisabethstarted Oct 2025
- Sally’s Substackstarted Sep 2025
- Substack von Romystarted Sep 2025
- I and My Coatstarted Sep 2025
- Wallis Somethingstarted Sep 2025
- Only Realstarted Sep 2025
- Birdie’s Substackstarted Sep 2025
Recommends
George Saunders449k followers · started Jun 2023
Margaret Atwood404k followers · started Nov 13, 2025
Roxane Gay308k followers · started Jun 2023
DraculaDaily231k followers · started Oct 2025- Miranda July109k followers · started May 2025 · mutual
- Claire Berlinski102k followers · started Aug 2023 · mutual
- Jami Attenberg93k followers · started Jun 2023 · mutual
- Mason Currey63k followers · started Oct 2023 · mutual
- Etgar Keret53k followers · started Jun 2023 · mutual
Alexander Chee47k followers · started Jun 2023
Carmen Maria Machado38k followers · started Jun 2023
Molly Young20k followers · started Aug 2023- russian colonialism 101.started Sep 27, 2026
- Torreystarted Sep 13, 2026
- The Good Journey with Ijeoma Oluostarted Sep 12, 2026
- sweater weatherstarted Sep 12, 2026
- Madeleine’s Substackstarted Sep 6, 2026
- Whatever Worksstarted Aug 18, 2026
- Esmestarted Jun 13, 2026
- Chrissie Writes Newsletterstarted Jun 6, 2026
- Pioneer Works Broadcaststarted Dec 10, 2025
- Sloane Crosleystarted Oct 2025
- JonlyFansstarted Oct 2025
- Below the Fraystarted Oct 2025
All 44
- khorshid khanoomstarted Sep 2025
- Notebookstarted Jan 2025
- The Feckless Bellelettriststarted Dec 2024
- FRANZstarted Dec 2024
- Emily Witt's Newsletterstarted Sep 2024
- Lit in One Sentencestarted Jun 2024
- Velluto, by Raffaella Silvestristarted May 2024
- Continuous Small Treats by Buzzy Jacksonstarted Nov 2023
- Philosophical Crumbsstarted Nov 2023
- From Esmé: With Love & Squalorstarted Oct 2023
- The Missing Personstarted Oct 2023
- Ukrainian Killjoy Dispatchstarted Oct 2023
- Sophiastarted Sep 2023
- The Art of Losingstarted Aug 2023
- Musée des Beaux Artsstarted Jul 2023
- The Last Thing I Sawstarted Jun 2023
- What It Is I Think I'm Doingstarted Jun 2023
- The Chatnerstarted Jun 2023
- Who We Are To Each Otherstarted Jun 2023
- Out of Itstarted Jun 2023
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 Elif Batuman. Useful for finding peers, and for sponsors looking for similar audiences.
- 3 shared
Miranda July@mirandajuly
109k followers - 2 shared
Pandora SykesBooks + Bits
149k followers - 2 shared
Ottessa Moshfegh"It's Ottessa, bitch."
96k followers - 2 shared
Jillian HessNoted
64k followers - 2 shared
Joyce Carol OatesJoyce Carol Oates: A Writer's Journal
64k followers - 2 shared
Catherine LaceyUntitled Thought Project
19k followers
Who recommends writers like this one
Publications that recommend at least two other Literature writers with 10,000 to 50,000 followers (92 writers in that group), but not Elif Batuman.
- recommends 7 of them
Sarah Fay, PhD@sarahfay - recommends 7 of themAlthea’s Substack
- recommends 6 of them
Alexandra Auder@alexauder - recommends 5 of them
Andrea Bartz@andibartz - recommends 5 of them
Karin Gillespie@karingillespie - recommends 5 of them
Sarah Orman@sarahorman - recommends 4 of them
Maggie Smith@maggiesmithpoet - recommends 4 of them
Narratively@narratively - recommends 4 of them
Summer Brennan@summerbrennan - recommends 4 of them
Alison Krupnick@alisonkrupnick
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Card for a website
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