Ryan T. Pozzi
@ryantpozzi.bsky.social
Former nonprofit executive | Author of The Mess That Made Them (forthcoming from Bloomsbury) | Historian of cultural myth, fraud, and lost stories | BOTN Nominee | Rep: Anderson Literary Agency | www.ryantpozzi.com | Socials are first draft energy
Confused? Misinformed? Generally frustrated? You must be a debut author.
Welcome. Read about all the mistakes I've made so far every Tuesday in Life on the Midlist. Maybe it will help. If not, at least you can enjoy the schadenfreude. www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist
Welcome. Read about all the mistakes I've made so far every Tuesday in Life on the Midlist. Maybe it will help. If not, at least you can enjoy the schadenfreude. www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist
November 28, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Confused? Misinformed? Generally frustrated? You must be a debut author.
Welcome. Read about all the mistakes I've made so far every Tuesday in Life on the Midlist. Maybe it will help. If not, at least you can enjoy the schadenfreude. www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist
Welcome. Read about all the mistakes I've made so far every Tuesday in Life on the Midlist. Maybe it will help. If not, at least you can enjoy the schadenfreude. www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist
Have I ever told you about my favorite bookshop? It's a charming place in Lincoln, NE called A Novel Idea.
I've never left empty handed, but, like most book spaces, it's the people that really make it special. I moved away in 2013 and, while I miss the town, I miss this corner of it most of all.
I've never left empty handed, but, like most book spaces, it's the people that really make it special. I moved away in 2013 and, while I miss the town, I miss this corner of it most of all.
November 26, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Have I ever told you about my favorite bookshop? It's a charming place in Lincoln, NE called A Novel Idea.
I've never left empty handed, but, like most book spaces, it's the people that really make it special. I moved away in 2013 and, while I miss the town, I miss this corner of it most of all.
I've never left empty handed, but, like most book spaces, it's the people that really make it special. I moved away in 2013 and, while I miss the town, I miss this corner of it most of all.
Life on the Midlist is my free newsletter for writers and other chaos gremlins trying to build careers without selling their souls, joining a cult, or starting a podcast about productivity. Subscribe and let’s fail upwards together. www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist
November 26, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Life on the Midlist is my free newsletter for writers and other chaos gremlins trying to build careers without selling their souls, joining a cult, or starting a podcast about productivity. Subscribe and let’s fail upwards together. www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist
Current state of my drafts folder: one paragraph I love, a page I hate, three half essays about failure, and a margin note that just says “remember to make this less depressing.” So, thriving.
November 26, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Current state of my drafts folder: one paragraph I love, a page I hate, three half essays about failure, and a margin note that just says “remember to make this less depressing.” So, thriving.
Today’s Life on the Midlist is about publishing as a “terrible industry full of wonderful people,” how much of it runs on underpaid labor, and why I sent tea and shortbread instead of rage. Hitting inboxes at 2 p.m. Central.
There's still time to sign up. Link in bio
There's still time to sign up. Link in bio
November 25, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Today’s Life on the Midlist is about publishing as a “terrible industry full of wonderful people,” how much of it runs on underpaid labor, and why I sent tea and shortbread instead of rage. Hitting inboxes at 2 p.m. Central.
There's still time to sign up. Link in bio
There's still time to sign up. Link in bio
Current status: nonfiction book under contract and turned over to Bloomsbury, regional tour in the works, marketing doc so long that looks like it might be a whole other manuscript, and exactly zero idea how this will land. 2026 here we come!
November 24, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Current status: nonfiction book under contract and turned over to Bloomsbury, regional tour in the works, marketing doc so long that looks like it might be a whole other manuscript, and exactly zero idea how this will land. 2026 here we come!
My nonfiction debut, The Mess That Made Them, is basically my argument with the idea that you only get one clean shot at a creative life.
If you've ever thought “I missed my chance, I'm too late, I have too much baggage,” congratulations, you're exactly who I wrote it for.
If you've ever thought “I missed my chance, I'm too late, I have too much baggage,” congratulations, you're exactly who I wrote it for.
November 24, 2025 at 3:15 AM
My nonfiction debut, The Mess That Made Them, is basically my argument with the idea that you only get one clean shot at a creative life.
If you've ever thought “I missed my chance, I'm too late, I have too much baggage,” congratulations, you're exactly who I wrote it for.
If you've ever thought “I missed my chance, I'm too late, I have too much baggage,” congratulations, you're exactly who I wrote it for.
Clearly an important part of my writing process... #booksky #writingcommunity
November 23, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Clearly an important part of my writing process... #booksky #writingcommunity
🎶 Spinning this AM 🎶
November 21, 2025 at 4:52 PM
🎶 Spinning this AM 🎶
It took a while because Fall is a very busy season at our house, but our thank you boxes are finally going out to my agent, my editor, and her assistant for the closing of the deal for my debut at Bloomsbury (pub date TBD.)
November 19, 2025 at 3:28 AM
It took a while because Fall is a very busy season at our house, but our thank you boxes are finally going out to my agent, my editor, and her assistant for the closing of the deal for my debut at Bloomsbury (pub date TBD.)
BIG BIG NEWS!
Huge thanks to The Cimarron Review at Oklahoma State for being my 200th lit mag rejection of 2025! What an honor to be able to prove over and over and over and over again that, beyond craft, the most important skill for any professional author is persistence. #booksky #litmags
Huge thanks to The Cimarron Review at Oklahoma State for being my 200th lit mag rejection of 2025! What an honor to be able to prove over and over and over and over again that, beyond craft, the most important skill for any professional author is persistence. #booksky #litmags
November 15, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Life on the Midlist lands soon: failure math, goal creep, and why so many “geniuses” thought they’d blown it. If you’ve ever moved the goalposts on yourself, this one’s for you. Hitting inboxes shortly.
Sign up to get your free copy: www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist
Sign up to get your free copy: www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist
November 11, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Life on the Midlist lands soon: failure math, goal creep, and why so many “geniuses” thought they’d blown it. If you’ve ever moved the goalposts on yourself, this one’s for you. Hitting inboxes shortly.
Sign up to get your free copy: www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist
Sign up to get your free copy: www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist
Reason #112 to join Life on the Midlist:
You don't want to be surprised all the time like I was.
"I'm supposed to wait how long? Okay. Then what happens? Wait, what does that even mean?" www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist
You don't want to be surprised all the time like I was.
"I'm supposed to wait how long? Okay. Then what happens? Wait, what does that even mean?" www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist
November 10, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Reason #112 to join Life on the Midlist:
You don't want to be surprised all the time like I was.
"I'm supposed to wait how long? Okay. Then what happens? Wait, what does that even mean?" www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist
You don't want to be surprised all the time like I was.
"I'm supposed to wait how long? Okay. Then what happens? Wait, what does that even mean?" www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist
Apropos of nothing, I can't stop thinking about how we built a Jim Henson Tribute dinner in 2013 - puppets, songs, dinner of frog legs, pork belly, and Swedish meatballs for something like $25 - and a lady called my office to see if Jim Henson would be there.
"Uhhh, no ma'am. He died 23 years ago."
"Uhhh, no ma'am. He died 23 years ago."
November 6, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Apropos of nothing, I can't stop thinking about how we built a Jim Henson Tribute dinner in 2013 - puppets, songs, dinner of frog legs, pork belly, and Swedish meatballs for something like $25 - and a lady called my office to see if Jim Henson would be there.
"Uhhh, no ma'am. He died 23 years ago."
"Uhhh, no ma'am. He died 23 years ago."
On This Day in History: October 26, 1977
In Somalia, health workers confirmed the world’s last naturally occurring case of smallpox. Three years later the WHO certified eradication, only possible because of a global vaccination campaign. But sure, tell me again about the dangers of vaccines.
In Somalia, health workers confirmed the world’s last naturally occurring case of smallpox. Three years later the WHO certified eradication, only possible because of a global vaccination campaign. But sure, tell me again about the dangers of vaccines.
October 26, 2025 at 3:08 PM
On This Day in History: October 26, 1977
In Somalia, health workers confirmed the world’s last naturally occurring case of smallpox. Three years later the WHO certified eradication, only possible because of a global vaccination campaign. But sure, tell me again about the dangers of vaccines.
In Somalia, health workers confirmed the world’s last naturally occurring case of smallpox. Three years later the WHO certified eradication, only possible because of a global vaccination campaign. But sure, tell me again about the dangers of vaccines.
On This Day in History: October 26, 1916
Police arrested Margaret Sanger for “obscenity” after she opened a birth control clinic in Brooklyn and shared information women needed to control their lives. The law called contraception obscene.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Police arrested Margaret Sanger for “obscenity” after she opened a birth control clinic in Brooklyn and shared information women needed to control their lives. The law called contraception obscene.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
October 26, 2025 at 2:41 PM
On This Day in History: October 26, 1916
Police arrested Margaret Sanger for “obscenity” after she opened a birth control clinic in Brooklyn and shared information women needed to control their lives. The law called contraception obscene.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Police arrested Margaret Sanger for “obscenity” after she opened a birth control clinic in Brooklyn and shared information women needed to control their lives. The law called contraception obscene.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
On This Day in History: October 25, 2022
New Zealand’s Parliament became majority women when Soraya Peke-Mason was sworn in, tipping the House to 60 women and 59 men. The first country to grant women the vote in 1893, then a female majority in 2022? Those Kiwis are out here leading by example.
New Zealand’s Parliament became majority women when Soraya Peke-Mason was sworn in, tipping the House to 60 women and 59 men. The first country to grant women the vote in 1893, then a female majority in 2022? Those Kiwis are out here leading by example.
October 25, 2025 at 10:25 PM
On This Day in History: October 25, 2022
New Zealand’s Parliament became majority women when Soraya Peke-Mason was sworn in, tipping the House to 60 women and 59 men. The first country to grant women the vote in 1893, then a female majority in 2022? Those Kiwis are out here leading by example.
New Zealand’s Parliament became majority women when Soraya Peke-Mason was sworn in, tipping the House to 60 women and 59 men. The first country to grant women the vote in 1893, then a female majority in 2022? Those Kiwis are out here leading by example.
On This Day in History: October 25, 2016
Paul Beatty won the Man Booker Prize for The Sellout, the first American winner after the prize opened to U.S. authors in 2014. A ruthless, funny novel about race and memory that made people squirm and still took the crown.
Paul Beatty won the Man Booker Prize for The Sellout, the first American winner after the prize opened to U.S. authors in 2014. A ruthless, funny novel about race and memory that made people squirm and still took the crown.
October 25, 2025 at 9:56 PM
On This Day in History: October 25, 2016
Paul Beatty won the Man Booker Prize for The Sellout, the first American winner after the prize opened to U.S. authors in 2014. A ruthless, funny novel about race and memory that made people squirm and still took the crown.
Paul Beatty won the Man Booker Prize for The Sellout, the first American winner after the prize opened to U.S. authors in 2014. A ruthless, funny novel about race and memory that made people squirm and still took the crown.
On This Day in History: October 25, 1978
John Carpenter’s Halloween opened, with Donald Pleasence and a debuting Jamie Lee Curtis anchoring a shoestring indie that rewrote horror’s playbook. It's all about the blank mask, the quiet suburb, and that relentless synth score. 'Tis the season!
John Carpenter’s Halloween opened, with Donald Pleasence and a debuting Jamie Lee Curtis anchoring a shoestring indie that rewrote horror’s playbook. It's all about the blank mask, the quiet suburb, and that relentless synth score. 'Tis the season!
October 25, 2025 at 6:39 PM
On This Day in History: October 25, 1978
John Carpenter’s Halloween opened, with Donald Pleasence and a debuting Jamie Lee Curtis anchoring a shoestring indie that rewrote horror’s playbook. It's all about the blank mask, the quiet suburb, and that relentless synth score. 'Tis the season!
John Carpenter’s Halloween opened, with Donald Pleasence and a debuting Jamie Lee Curtis anchoring a shoestring indie that rewrote horror’s playbook. It's all about the blank mask, the quiet suburb, and that relentless synth score. 'Tis the season!
On This Day in History: October 25, 1962
John Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize in Literature. He put migrant workers and small towns at the center of American letters; the fight over whether that counts as capital L literature says more about the judges than the work.
John Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize in Literature. He put migrant workers and small towns at the center of American letters; the fight over whether that counts as capital L literature says more about the judges than the work.
October 25, 2025 at 3:04 PM
On This Day in History: October 25, 1962
John Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize in Literature. He put migrant workers and small towns at the center of American letters; the fight over whether that counts as capital L literature says more about the judges than the work.
John Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize in Literature. He put migrant workers and small towns at the center of American letters; the fight over whether that counts as capital L literature says more about the judges than the work.
On This Day in History: October 25, 1938
Here's one from my home state; not quite a hotbed of progressive thinking. Archbishop Francis J. L. Beckman of Dubuque, IA denounced swing as a “degenerated musical system” that would gnaw the moral fiber of youth and lead them down a “primrose path to hell.”
Here's one from my home state; not quite a hotbed of progressive thinking. Archbishop Francis J. L. Beckman of Dubuque, IA denounced swing as a “degenerated musical system” that would gnaw the moral fiber of youth and lead them down a “primrose path to hell.”
October 25, 2025 at 2:41 PM
On This Day in History: October 25, 1938
Here's one from my home state; not quite a hotbed of progressive thinking. Archbishop Francis J. L. Beckman of Dubuque, IA denounced swing as a “degenerated musical system” that would gnaw the moral fiber of youth and lead them down a “primrose path to hell.”
Here's one from my home state; not quite a hotbed of progressive thinking. Archbishop Francis J. L. Beckman of Dubuque, IA denounced swing as a “degenerated musical system” that would gnaw the moral fiber of youth and lead them down a “primrose path to hell.”
Genius is Complicated
Mary Shelley made a monster and the world turned her into a muse. She edited Percy to preserve him and was paid back with erasure and “authorship” debates dressed up as criticism. Read “The Last Man” to see the writer the myth tried to hide.
#GeniusIsComplicated #BookSky
Mary Shelley made a monster and the world turned her into a muse. She edited Percy to preserve him and was paid back with erasure and “authorship” debates dressed up as criticism. Read “The Last Man” to see the writer the myth tried to hide.
#GeniusIsComplicated #BookSky
October 25, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Genius is Complicated
Mary Shelley made a monster and the world turned her into a muse. She edited Percy to preserve him and was paid back with erasure and “authorship” debates dressed up as criticism. Read “The Last Man” to see the writer the myth tried to hide.
#GeniusIsComplicated #BookSky
Mary Shelley made a monster and the world turned her into a muse. She edited Percy to preserve him and was paid back with erasure and “authorship” debates dressed up as criticism. Read “The Last Man” to see the writer the myth tried to hide.
#GeniusIsComplicated #BookSky
I call this one:
When You Get Married, Your Friends Have One of Two Reactions
When You Get Married, Your Friends Have One of Two Reactions
October 24, 2025 at 8:26 PM
I call this one:
When You Get Married, Your Friends Have One of Two Reactions
When You Get Married, Your Friends Have One of Two Reactions
On This Day in History: October 24, 1818
Felix Mendelssohn, age 9, gave his first public concert in Berlin. He would write the Octet at sixteen and the Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture at seventeen; remember his sister Fanny, equally brilliant, by some accounts moreso, was told to stay in the salon.
Felix Mendelssohn, age 9, gave his first public concert in Berlin. He would write the Octet at sixteen and the Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture at seventeen; remember his sister Fanny, equally brilliant, by some accounts moreso, was told to stay in the salon.
October 24, 2025 at 2:37 PM
On This Day in History: October 24, 1818
Felix Mendelssohn, age 9, gave his first public concert in Berlin. He would write the Octet at sixteen and the Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture at seventeen; remember his sister Fanny, equally brilliant, by some accounts moreso, was told to stay in the salon.
Felix Mendelssohn, age 9, gave his first public concert in Berlin. He would write the Octet at sixteen and the Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture at seventeen; remember his sister Fanny, equally brilliant, by some accounts moreso, was told to stay in the salon.
