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Scratch

A weekly newsletter of interviews, essays, and real conversations about how writers are surviving.

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Jul 08
Scrabble game tiles that spell out the word "S-U-M-M-E-R" set against a wooden background

Summer State of Mind

Scratch’s summer vacation (kind of)
8 min read
Jun 24
Strange Currencies: On the Costs of Self-Publishing

Strange Currencies: On the Costs of Self-Publishing

"If my book was going to exist, it was — it had always been — entirely up to me."
11 min read
Jun 17
A collage of images, featuring a headshot of a smiling white woman with brown hair in the center, surrounded by screenshots of headlines from articles she's written.

The Scratch Interview #6: Lydia Kiesling on Fiction and Finances

"I've found I'm not making big progress on fiction unless I go away from my house and say, ‘I am now going into isolation.'"
19 min read
Jun 10
A large painting on paper, of the White House, with dark blue sky, and decaying, ripped front columns in a museum gallery.

After Years of Being a Writer for Hire — Can I Write Just for Me?

Latria takes an ekphrastic poetry class and tries to get weird with her art
9 min read
Jun 03
A collage of images, featuring in center, a white woman with short dark hair wearing a white sleeveless top and resting head on hand. Surrounded by book covers and magazine clips.

The Scratch Interview #5: Colette Shade on Y2K and the Limits of a Millennial Writing Career

“In order to have a society — frankly, a democracy — we have to have these areas that are protected from the market.”
20 min read
May 27
F stand in front of a mural of a fox and bird in purples, pinks and blues.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 Triggered Our Media Trauma

Spoiler: Mackenzie Scott is not saving our magazine careers
19 min read
May 20
A collage featuring Kristin Collier's headshot, the cover of her book WHAT DEBT DEMANDS, and photos of quilts and embroidered tops from estate sales she attended.

The Scratch Interview #4: Kristin Collier on the True Cost of Debt

On owing and being owed.
14 min read
May 13
green and white and black tiles on a subway station wall, in the middle a yellow arch pattern with a white background and WAY OUT with a black arrow.

The Scratch Interview #3: Why Can’t Writers Seem to Quit Substack? (Roundtable)

And why haven’t I done it yet?
22 min read
May 06
an array of zines, an art print, a cd and a bookmark laid out artfully on a brown wooden tabletop.

I Don't Miss Twitter, I Miss Zines

Manjula goes to the Santa Rosa Zine Fest and finds more future than nostalgia.
14 min read
Apr 29
Multiple clipped headlines from various news sources are collaged together with rianbow colors and filters over a dark grey background.

List Full of Daggers

What we stand to lose when paperback nonfiction disappears.
14 min read
Apr 21
Photo of a bunch of old flip phones spilling out of a yellow NiKON bag. Beside it is a well-loved black rotary telephone.

Smartphones, Dumbphones, and Delusions of Platform-Building

“I don’t actually need my smartphone to write, but do I need it in order to be seen as a writer?”
13 min read
Apr 14
a photograph of earth from the Artemis mission, black background adn a crescent of earth: blue, green and white clouds are visible.

Links We Shared When We Thought the World Was Ending

Taking the temperature of the literary internet.
7 min read

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