James Lileks has 9,906 followers on Substack as of Oct 31, 2026. On the latest board read, Nov 6, 2026, they were #24 on Substack's Humor Bestsellers board. 51 publications recommend them, 2 of them new in the last 30 days.
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
- 9,906
- read Oct 31
- Last 7 days
- first number on Nov 7
- Last 30 days
- first number on Nov 30
- Subscribers
- 4.9K+
- rounded by Substack
- Paid subscribers
- 100+
- bestseller badge 100+
- Recommended by
- 51
- +2 in 30 days
- Recommends
- 0
- Bestsellers rank
- #24
- Humor
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 | 9,906 | 4.9K+ |
Leaderboard positions
Rank on each read
| Writer | Oct 3107:00 | Oct 3113:00 | Oct 3119:47 | Nov 621:50 | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humor Bestsellers | 23 | 23 | 23 | 24 | ▼1 |
| Humor Rising | 10 | new |
I read every board once a day.
Recommendations
51 publications recommend James Lileks; 2 started in the last 30 days. Lists read Oct 31.
When the recommendations started
Show as a table
| Month | Started |
|---|---|
| 2024-08 | 1 |
| 2024-09 | 2 |
| 2024-11 | 1 |
| 2024-12 | 3 |
| 2025-01 | 1 |
| 2025-02 | 3 |
| 2025-03 | 3 |
| 2025-04 | 1 |
| 2025-07 | 4 |
| 2025-10 | 1 |
| 2025-11 | 3 |
| 2025-12 | 4 |
| 2026-01 | 3 |
| 2026-03 | 2 |
| 2026-04 | 2 |
| 2026-05 | 7 |
| 2026-06 | 2 |
| 2026-07 | 2 |
| 2026-08 | 2 |
| 2026-09 | 2 |
| 2026-10 | 2 |
Recommended by
Dave Barry127k followers · started Feb 2025
Glenn Harlan Reynolds43k followers · started Apr 1, 2026
Astrid Ronning King268 followers · started Nov 2024
Mark Engblom194 followers · started May 31, 2026- Sue's Substackstarted Oct 30, 2026new
- Barbara's Substackstarted Oct 18, 2026new
- John Mark Reynoldsstarted Sep 17, 2026
- Thomas’s Substackstarted Sep 15, 2026
- Mike’s Substackstarted Aug 28, 2026
- Richgardstarted Aug 3, 2026
- John's Substackstarted Jul 13, 2026
- Sheryl Rhodesstarted Jul 6, 2026
- M2inFLAstarted Jun 30, 2026
- John's Substackstarted Jun 16, 2026
- Gerbils of Desirestarted May 27, 2026
- Harriet's Substackstarted May 11, 2026
- The Remnant's Waystarted May 7, 2026
- Stinkybisquit's Substackstarted May 4, 2026
- Charles Williamsstarted May 4, 2026
- John's Substackstarted May 2, 2026
- Janet's Substackstarted Apr 24, 2026
- The Granular Touriststarted Mar 26, 2026
- doug's Substackstarted Mar 7, 2026
- Sandra's Substackstarted Jan 29, 2026
All 51
- 70's Fashion Horrorstarted Jan 20, 2026
- Bedelia67's Substackstarted Jan 6, 2026
- David's Substackstarted Dec 24, 2025
- Bypaststarted Dec 24, 2025
- MARY WILEYstarted Dec 23, 2025
- Logan's Substackstarted Dec 14, 2025
- Alexander's Substackstarted Nov 25, 2025
- Mark's Substackstarted Nov 22, 2025
- Jiwon's Notesstarted Nov 2025
- Michael’s Substackstarted Oct 2025
- The Path of the Logosstarted Jul 2025
- Bion’s Substackstarted Jul 2025
- Fr. Ronald Hattonstarted Jul 2025
- Emergiblog: Life After Nursingstarted Jul 2025
- Oily Belovedstarted Apr 2025
- Pat Hobbystarted Mar 2025
- Nancy Gonzalezstarted Mar 2025
- Eric Lane Barnesstarted Mar 2025
- Edwin H Breyfoglestarted Feb 2025
- Joe’s Substackstarted Feb 2025
- Anna McCulloughstarted Jan 2025
- Patrick’s Substackstarted Dec 2024
- Jamie’s Substackstarted Dec 2024
- Mary’s Substackstarted Dec 2024
- Parrish Baker, writing under Urna Semperstarted Sep 2024
- Matthew Mastersonstarted Sep 2024
- StiivRyanstarted Aug 2024
Recommends
James Lileks doesn't recommend anyone.
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 James Lileks. Useful for finding peers, and for sponsors looking for similar audiences.
- 3 shared
The Free Press@thefreepress
2.6M followers - 3 shared
Bob MorrisBob's Diner
4.1k followers - 2 shared
ShipwreckedcrewShipwreckedcrew's Port-O-Call
15k followers
Who recommends writers like this one
Publications that recommend at least two other Humor writers with 5,000 to 10,000 followers (36 writers in that group), but not James Lileks.
- recommends 8 of themThe Intellectual Investor
- recommends 3 of themTURBO GOTH UNIVERSE
- recommends 3 of themAlthea’s Substack
- recommends 2 of them
India Knight@indiaknight - recommends 2 of them
Scott Dikkers@scottdikkers - recommends 2 of them
Lucy Sweet@lucysweet - recommends 2 of them
Mary Flannery@maryflannery - recommends 2 of them
Kathleen Donahoe@kathleenicanrah - recommends 2 of themColin’s Substack
- recommends 2 of themVivek’s Substack
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Card for a website
A small live card with followers and recommendations. Iframe, 360 by 190.
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