What is Gasoline Books?
Gasoline Books is a literature-focused newsletter, penned by me, Liz Doupnik. Having worked as a digital magazine editor for nearly two decades, I offer an inscrutable eye when it comes to burgeoning trends across culture. I’ve interviewed top celebrities on new fashion endeavors, shared hot takes on soccer drama, and was the first fashion journalist to deploy AI to discern upcoming trends, fresh off the runway. What I haven’t covered, until lately, is anything regarding books.
In digital media, you get pigeon-holed into a beat early. It makes sense: A journalist is only as successful as her sources and press contacts, which can take years to nurture. Throwing all of that to trash heap to start over would be career suicide in many cases.
Meanwhile, freelance journalists are caught in the perpetual hamster wheel of pitching editors, networking, attending industry events, and tracking where editors have job hopped (or been laid off — especially prescient in publishing). You’re responsible for keeping up with who’s given it up to open an upstate farm. Who’s accepting pitches. Who pays something that won’t make you wince when you accept the measly rate. Who will respond to your email. And ultimately, who will publish the piece they commissioned.
This is where my Substack comes in. What my work clips (mostly) don’t show, is my incessant love for literature. The early morning wake ups simply to luxuriate in reading before hauling ass to the subway, or more recently, Zoom. It also doesn’t reveal the non-stop pressure I apply to my friends to read a book I’ve just finished and dying to discuss. The hours spent on BookTok. More book recs. Additional gushing. More hot takes.
Enter Gasoline Books: A celebration of books and the breaking with the ranks of the traditional publishing model to cover the content I want. When I want. How I want. The newsletter serves as a venue for discourse and inclusivity, while examining culture through the books we consume, written by a fan girl masquerading as an editor. I hope you’ll join me!
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To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
