It should be no surprise that some of the best Tumblrs out there belong to authors. They’re able to create engaging, follow-worthy blogs by sharing their own content or reblogging the work of others. To celebrate the seventh birthday of Tumblr, which was founded in February of 2007, we’ve gathered our 10 favorite authors on it. They’re all worthy of space on your precious Dashboard.
Follow If: You like not-always-safe-for-work photography.
Call us biased, but we think Kwiatkowski, the author of our very own And Every Day was Overcast, has one of the best Tumblrs — not just of writers — but of anyone out there. It’s dedicated almost exclusively to photography, both his own and that of others, and never ceases to be beautiful and provocative.
2. John Green
Follow If: You are counting down the days until The Fault in Our Stars film.
Green loves Tumblr. When asked by one of his followers whether an assistant is behind his frequently updated blog, he responded with mock horror. If you’re a fan of Green’s young adult novels, chances are you already following him, but even if you’re not, you should still consider it. He posts a wide array of content, from comments about misogyny in literature to musings about his writing — perfect for the aspiring or established literati.
3. Ann Friedman
Follow If: You spend all week waiting for Friedman’s weekly pie chart on The Hairpin.
Friedman’s Tumblr is just as wonderful as her column on The Cut and her pie charts on The Hairpin, which means really, really wonderful. She posts her own pie charts — which, trust us, you will want on your Dashboard — as well as news about upcoming events and .gifs from The Simpsons and Bob’s Burgers to capture her current mood — and isn’t that what Tumblr’s all about?
4. Leigh Stein
Follow If: You love when highbrow and lowbrow meet.
The best Tumblrs are the ones that make you feel like you know the person behind them, even if you two have never even been in the same room. Stein, author of The Fallback Plan, has created such a blog. Whether she’s posting a list of books she’s recently read or poems inspired by dialogue from The Bachelorette, Stein provides a look into her personal and professional life. It reminds you that social media is supposed to be more for friends than stalkers.
Follow If: You want stunning photography on your Dashboard.
Baldwin is known for his books Paris, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down and You Lost Me There, but he also has one of the most well curated image-based Tumblrs out there. If you’re a fan of highbrow art, you’ll want to page through his blog endlessly.
Follow If: You’re looking for writing tips from a deeply talented author.
The Middlesteins author has curated a Tumblr of almost entirely original content. It’s mostly pictures of her and her friends that will make you wish you were one of her friends. (By all means, Jami, please invite us to eat po boys with you). But it’s not all iPhone photos; Attenberg also provides pithy and poignant posts, where she asks questions like, “Why do I always feel at the end of the night that I should be apologizing for something even though pretty much all of the time I have done nothing wrong?” She also responds to her fans, answering questions about her writing process.
Follow If: Your Dashboard is in need of (even more) ‘90s nostalgia photos.
You know how sometimes you see a writer on Tumblr or Twitter and their nice personality just seems so fake that it makes you cringe? Madison is pretty much the opposite of that. Whether he’s responding to fans or showcasing his Tonya Harding pride, the September Girls author comes off as a genuinely kind person.
8. Roxane Gay
Follow If: You’re craving more than just 140 characters of Gay’s clever, level-headed opinions.
Listen, we’re not trying to hate on reblogging; it is, afterall, one of the features that makes Tumblr Tumblr. That being said, no reblogged photo or quote can beat original content, and Gay’s Tumblr is made up of almost entirely of her own material. There’s everything from an essay about the trial of Michael Dunn, to an explanation about why she doesn’t like George Saunders’s Tenth of December, to her yearly reading list. Oh and, not to brag, but when she does reblog, she reblogs us. So yeah, I guess we’re pretty cool.
Follow If: You want even more photos of cats!
Rowell, the author of Fangirl and Eleanor & Park, is big into reblogging content that will make you smile. From pictures of cats on vacation to John Goodman in a Black Flag T-shirt, Rowell’s Tumblr is chock full of equal parts silly and sweet pictures. She’s also big into reblogging fan art and keeping up with her fans in general.
10. Emma Straub
Follow If: Your Dashboard is in need of positive energy.
If you think all writers are brooding and angst ridden, allow me to introduce you to Straub. The Rookie staff writer and author of Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures and the forthcoming The Vacationers radiates a positive energy that’s captured in her Tumblr. Straub uses her blog to let fans know about upcoming events and giveaways, and to share photos of her adorable baby, her thoughts on naptime and a guide to pregnancy written when she was “400 months pregnant.” Oh, she also pokes fun at herself. Who doesn’t love an author who doesn’t take themselves too seriously?
Did we miss your favorite author on Tumblr? Our most sincere apologies. Please let us know who they are and why you love their Tumblr in the comments section below.
Michelle King grew up in South Florida and now lives in Brooklyn. Her contributions have appeared on BULLETT, Refinery29, xoJane and The Huffington Post. Harriet M. Welsch is still her role model and probably always will be.
(Image credits, from top: Art Gypsy Tales, John Green’s Tumblr, AnnFriedman.com, Leigh Stein’s Twitter, Wikipedia Creative Commons, JamiAttenberg.com , Bennett-Madison.com, RoxaneGay.com, RainbowRowell.com, EmmaStraub.net)
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