Writer Showcase: Julie Vick's Best Work

A new interview series, volume 4.

I’m excited to feature Julie Vick in the Writer Showcase today! I’ve been following Julie’s work since 2020, and have enjoyed reading both her shortform articles online (humor and essays) as well as her excellent and funny book, Babies Don’t Make Small Talk (So Why Should I?). Her Substack, Humor Me, which she’ll talk about more in the interview below, is a fantastic resource for both established and emerging writers.

What do you write about?

My Substack focuses on writing and humor, and for other publications, I tend to write humor and personal essays as well as parenting and travel-related pieces.

Why did you choose this theme/topic?

I think these are just formats and themes that interest me. I have been writing humor for a long time and enjoy the form, and I feel like it’s helpful for me to have some comic relief from the cycle of unfunny things in the news.

When I became a parent, I began writing more pieces about that because it is such a large part of my life, and I felt like a good way to process some of my experiences. I’ve done a little bit of reported writing in the past, too, but I feel like I didn’t enjoy it as much as some other forms.

How long have you been writing on Substack?

I moved my newsletter over to Substack in the summer of 2022, so I think for about three years now.

What other bylines have you had in the past?

I’ve been publishing for over 20 years, so I’ve accumulated a lot! Some publications I’ve written for include The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, New York Magazine, Real Simple, The Washington Post, and Parents. You can read some of my clips here.

Please share a few links to your favorite pieces of work, and tell us a little about each one.

• A Camping Trip with Young Kids, as Imagined by Me Before Having Kids from McSweeney’s

  This is a short satire piece I wrote for McSweeney’s that was inspired by my real-life misadventures in camping with kids, as well as the disconnect between what you think you will be able to do as a parent vs. what the reality is. I think it’s my most popular piece there and ended up on one of their most-read pieces of the year lists.

• What to Expect When You’re Not Expecting a Tax Refund from The New Yorker

  This humor piece was the first acceptance I got from The New Yorker. I had previously been getting rejections for them for years (which, in retrospect, was understandable given some of the pieces I had been sending early on), but I had started to get slightly more encouraging/less form-lettered rejections before I sent this one. I wrote this one as part of a Second City online satire writing class, and I think the feedback, guidance, and encouragement to try different formats in that class helped me shape it.

• Things I Did to Market My Book and How Well They Worked from my Substack

  I think this is one of the most-read pieces on my Substack, which was not something I anticipated. But I think it’s because a lot of writers are just trying to figure out what to do when it comes to book marketing and promotion (as I was when my book came out). One thing I like about the piece is that I don’t know that it’s something that would have worked well for other publications. I like that Substack allows you the freedom to do some different formats that don’t fit well elsewhere.

• How I Finally Learned to Let Go of Overplanning on Vacation in Real Simple

  This essay is one I wrote for a personal essay class I took many years ago, and then I had trouble finding a home for it for a while. But I was excited when it eventually found a place in Real Simple, which had been a goal publication of mine. The link above is from The Wayback Machine because it appears to no longer be on Real Simple’s website. So learn from my mistakes and save PDFs of any articles you want to retain a copy of, as it turns out that sometimes the internet is not forever.

Who is one other Substack writer you admire?

There are so many that it is hard to pick, but one I enjoy is Kelcey Ervick’s The Habit of Art. She writes an illustrated newsletter about creativity. One post of hers I enjoyed was about creating an imperative for the year, and it’s something I’ve been trying this year that has helped me focus on what I want my writing priorities to be.

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Amy here again. I really appreciate how Julie writes with clarity and simplicity, especially when she is explaining a concept for less experienced writers (like me!). She’s kind and generous with her expertise and resources; I think you might enjoy her Example Successful Personal Essay Pitch, especially if you (like me!) enjoy writing personal essays. Whether you’re a writer or not, I highly recommend Julie Vick’s Substack and Babies Don’t Make Small Talk (So Why Should I?): The Introvert’s Guide to Surviving Parenthood (available where books are sold, including online, in case you’re an introvert too ((like me!)).