*clicks into status because he wrote a book that prominently includes Shelley's life and motivations* *checks notes* *looks around* *shrugs* Could be.
Author of The Mess That Made Them (forthcoming from Bloomsbury) | Historian of myth, fraud, and lost stories | Asking what really happened, not just what made the headlines | BOTN Nominee | Rep: Anderson Literary Agency | www.ryantpozzi.com
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*clicks into status because he wrote a book that prominently includes Shelley's life and motivations* *checks notes* *looks around* *shrugs* Could be.
On This Day in History: September 3, 1833 The New York Sun became the first daily newspaper in the U.S. Nearly two centuries later, we still confuse “published every day” with “always telling the truth.”
About Wins-days I’m recalibrating Wins-day into a celebration of community. If you’re following this page, share a recent win. Each week I’ll choose one to spotlight. Your mess, your persistence, your victory. Let’s celebrate it.
Life on the Midlist I told my wife I wouldn’t be pushy with my new agent. Then we hit submission. Eighteen imprints, fourteen Big Five, and the first rejection in record time. Publishing: the gift that keeps on humbling. mailchi.mp/f60d857877b1...
On This Day in History: September 2, 1859 Gas lighting was introduced to Hawaii for the first time. How I imagine it: Inventor: “I’ve just brought gas lighting here.” Friend: “No you didn’t.” Inventor: “Yes, I did. Look at the lamps.” Friend: “Those were always here. You’re remembering it wrong.”
#aughost Day 25 Page This is a redraw of an earlier piece I did #aughost2025 #read
That would be a real tragedy.
He succeeded me at my first nonprofit about a million years ago. He took it big time while I wandered off to do my weird experimental stuff.
Mutual Monday! Meet @mattmason.bsky.social, the Nebraska state poet emeritus who I have, at various times, worked for, hired, and driven to shake a few fists. We've been friends and occasional colleagues for almost 20 years now. He tends to be relentlessly positive. Go follow him!
Pozzi schemes are much safer (for everything but your waistline)
Today in Music History: Mozart publishes his 6th String Quartet, Opus 10 in Vienna. - September 1, 1785.
On This Day in History: September 1, 1985 The wreckage of the RMS Titanic was found 73 years after it sank. Built to be unsinkable. Remembered because it sank. What story sticks with you because of its failure, not its success?
The headline "New Texas map to shield Donald Trump's administration from electoral accountability" tells you everything you need to know about where we are now. I'd rather Dems were in charge, but even then no system that shields elected officials from accountability is a healthy, working system.
Breakfast for Dinner is a tradition passed down by the old gods. It is to be treated with much care and respect.
Another vaunted Pozzi household favorite!
A man who was clearly after my own heart.
The Wire: Solid Publishing Advice since 2002
End every chapter with “To be continued…” Publishers love suspense. #PublishingLife
If your book isn’t picked up by a publisher, print one copy, leave it on a bus, and let fate handle distribution. #PublishingLife
Considering taking this one down after an agent sent me a 5,000 word death threat in response.
Agents love long emails. If you can’t hit 5,000 words, are you even serious? #QueryTips
I'll go first. When I was still a working multidisciplinary artist, I developed a collaborative method, based primarily on School of Paris ideas, that combined half a dozen art forms into a single immersive experience. Many peers told me to do something more normal. I kept at it for a decade.
✉︎ Postcards from the Mess ✉︎ Some inventions changed history. Others faded without a trace. What’s the project you’ve kept alive when others thought it was pointless?
That was appropriately terrible.
Don’t worry about commas. Readers love to feel like they’re on a scavenger hunt. #AuthorAdvice
If your book isn’t selling, just change the title every week until it does. #WriterTips
Then it's the truest form of breakfast taco!
On This Day in History: August 31 In 2020 US COVID cases passed 6 million with 183,300 deaths. By this day in 2022 life expectancy had fallen to its lowest level since 1996. The CDC named COVID as the main cause. Now we're talking about banning the vaccine because 🤷.
Overhead at the Pozzi household: "Any taco is a breakfast taco if you eat it for breakfast." Sage advice.
Dinner has gotten later at our house over the years. It was 6pm sharp way back in the day when we were young and underemployed. Now we're more like 7:30 or maybe 8. No later without some sort of specific reason. It would take some effort for me to adjust to a dinner as late as yours.
Last week in Life on the Midlist we wrapped up querying. Think speed dating, but with more spreadsheets. This week we move on to submission. If querying is “will you go out with me,” sub is more like “will your whole family approve of me moving in.” Tuesday mornings:
Shows what I know. I assumed you nocked the arrow on that front string and the back string was for cocking the bow.
I'm just used to you knowing weird stuff (a compliment) so I assumed you had it.
I should have guessed you'd be able to tell us. Not a clue here, but I can't wait to find out!
On This Day in History: August 30, 1146 European leaders outlawed the crossbow, hoping it would end war for all time. Nice try, but…humanity is always better at inventing new weapons than ending old fights. What “easy fix” have you seen fail spectacularly?
Genius is Complicated French painter and sculptor Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899) Known for her powerful animal paintings, she lived openly in relationships with women, wore men’s clothing (requiring a permit), and built a career on defying social norms. Hugely famous in her time, later nearly forgotten.
That's fantastic!
On This Day in History: August 29, 1883 The Dunfermline Carnegie Library opened in Scotland, the very first of more than 2,500 libraries Carnegie would fund. His legacy is complicated, but this part was very good. What library changed your life?
Cattelan’s banana is a perfect example of how style gets dismissed as a stunt until the market suddenly calls it genius.
New rule. A parent may only propose removing a book from the school library only after reading it in its entirety and delivering a book report to the librarian. Until then no discussion shall be entered into.
I just sent this to my wife. Trying to get her sold on the idea that this is a worthy "family vacation." 🤪
The Lie We Loved The lie: Caravaggio invented chiaroscuro. The truth: The technique already existed. What he did was make it violent, light and dark clashing like a fistfight on canvas. Which artist do you think fought hardest with their own style?
On This Day in History: August 28, 1963 MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, obvs, but DYK the dream part wasn't in his prepared speech? Mahalia Jackson decided King’s speech needed a live course-correction. From behind the podium she says, “Tell them about the dream, Martin,” and he puts away his notes.
Happy Wins-day! According to the latest DOE and EIA data, solar power has grown eightfold, wind is booming even in places like Texas, EVs are near price parity, and grid scale battery storage is scaling up. It's all happening despite "political headwinds" which is code for attempts to kill us.
On This Day in History: August 27, 2008 U.S. Senator Barack Obama became the first African American to be nominated for president by a major political party when the Democratic Party chose him as its candidate. He accepted the following day. An historic moment that reshaped American politics.
I know I complain a lot for a guy who wrote a book about persistence, but the secret is that complaining is fully allowed as long as you also keep going.
Advance checks are like unicorns. Magical, rare, and smaller than you were led to believe. #UnicornFacts #PublishingTruth #AuthorLife #writingcommunity
That whole thing was stupid and your fearful reaction to a loud few was sad to watch. Make your logo whatever TF you want. I'm not emotionally invested in corporate branding in any way. Folks outside of the graphic design or marketing professions who are kinda give me the creeps.
I thought querying was the hard part. Then I had to decide which agent I’d trust with my career. That story closes out this week’s Life on the Midlist. Out Wednesday mornings. www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist
💯
I know it's not "on brand" for this page, but I'm thrilled about the T. Swift engagement news. I like happiness.
From bottom to top: I mean, obviously I agree with you. I wrote a whole book about the indispensability of creative persistence. Also, feel free to show me this unicorn of a social platform. Bsky seems better than most and I still get haters once a month or so. Also also, no, YOU are.
After all, when they're right I try to alter my mindset and thank them for their help. I just think that should be a two-way street.
I think people on the internet who "come for you" about this or that thing you said, but turn out to be wrong should be legally obligated to come back and say, "Oh, man. I got carried away there. Looks like you were on it," instead of just disappearing into the night once the evidence arrives.
Thank you. I know it's true. My wife frequently reminds me that we have plenty of colleagues who would love to face the same mountain of rejection if they could also have the "soon to be announced" book deal. I'll shake off the discouragement. I think I'm more susceptible in these "waiting" times.
I know rejection is part of it, but some days... This year, I've racked up 271 rejections. I've also had 22 acceptances, but today I'm just not feeling the love. Not fishing for compliments. If I was, I'd fish in friendlier waters than the internet. It just felt right to be honest about a down day.
On This Day in History: August 26, 1920 The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was formally certified, granting women the right to vote. After decades of struggle, protest, and jail time for many suffragists, the law of the land finally caught up with the principle of democracy.
Mutual Monday Meet @kerri-g-1987.bsky.social, or LaLa to her friends and mortal enemies. She's probably my most supportive friend on Bsky and she's a proper weirdo which is how we became friends. If you need a movie rec or the lyrics for a tune from about 1974 to 1997, you're set. Go follow her!
On This Day in History: August 25, 1944 Paris was liberated after more than four years of N@zi occupation. Eighty years later, let’s hope it doesn’t take much longer to liberate the United States from the N@zis who are calling the shots at the moment.
When I truly fell in love with my wife we were already together. Suddenly I wanted to change, not because she ever asked, but because if I was going to stay, I couldn’t imagine her living the life she deserved without better from me. More effort. More consideration. More sacrifice.
The real publishing timeline: write for a year, revise for a year, wait for a year, explain forever why it’s not out yet. #AuthorLife #PublishingTruth #writingcommunity
Not YOU, Polly. EVERYBODY watches you. (For clarification, this is supportive, not creepy.)
One of the dirty secrets of being a writer is that most of us would keep doing it even if no one was watching, which is fortunate, because usually no one is. #WritingLife #AmWriting
Good lord. That's a rough one.
As an aside, I like saying "stop following me" rather than "unfollow me" because it makes it sound like every time I leave me house, my bsky followers are waiting on the porch like, "So where are we going today, Ryan?"
I won't give serious airtime of backlinks to the new White House list of ojectionable art (sound familiar to anyone else?) but I will say this: If you don't believe this agenda is racist, you're not a serious person. Stop following me. We're on different sides of history.
It does, which makes this a decent choice. Way to go!
A potential solution to even one of the many existential threats we face is always a good thing.
On This Day in History: August 24 Yeah, things happened. I just didn’t find any of it interesting enough to post. If you’ve got something worth sharing, drop it in the comments. Otherwise, history can take the day off.
Typos strike again. At this point I feel like a rolling advertisement for professional copyeditors. You’re welcome, colleagues.
*Magnifying glass sold separately.
The numbers people are willing to stand behind vary a bit depending on where you look, but the popularization of self-publishing exploded the number of books to some from 3 million to 5 million new titles each year worldwide. As for the Kerri G. affair, only time will tell.
More or less. It's like those micro-sculptures that had a big moment a few years ago. Tiny slices of cake and little woodland animals.
Publishing is the only job where 99% of your time is rejection and the other 1% is explaining to your freinds that rejection is normal. #WritingLife #PublishingTruths #AmWriting
On This Day in History: August 23, 1966 NASA’s Lunar Orbiter 1 sent back the first photograph of Earth taken from the Moon. For the first time we could see our entire world, small and fragile, hanging in the dark.
This post will get more engagement than my last essay that took me two months to write. That’s publishing in miniature.
Every year millions of books are published. The average American reads 12. The math alone explains 90% of the heartbreak in this industry. #writingcommunity #publishing
Sometimes people think getting an agent is the finish line. It’s mile marker one. There are 25 more miles and most of them are uphill. #writingcommunity #publishing
Oh, and I also completed my (137th and for now) final manuscript review. As an act of mercy to everyone involved, I've stopped revising until review and production have a look. In other words, with author-editor collaboration to come, it's still fair to say that I've finished writing my first book.
Unfortunately, Bluesky is unavailable in Mississippi right now, due to a new state law that requires age verification for all users. While intended for child safety, we think this law poses broader challenges & creates significant barriers that limit free speech & harm smaller platforms like ours.
That's how it would be if I was closer to the top of the list. They don't pull out all those stops for midlist authors like me.
Pretty sure = I'm still waiting to see the final version. In this business, they say 'nothing is sure until it's signed' so atm I could still be assassinated.
At one point, I panicked and sent 58 query letters in two days. That’s the publishing equivalent of drunk texting at 2 a.m. The latest Life on the Midlist is out now.
No can do. Too honest to work in a DJT govt (and I'm not that honest, but the bar is historically low.)
I've got a loophole! Culturally convenient lies are in my lane. In fact, they're the entire subject of my third manuscript. So there. 🤪
Oh boy, book contracts sound scary. I’ve read this thing a dozen times, so have my agent and attorney. Pretty sure we finally got them to strike the clause that said ‘if you don’t make us look good, we can have you assassinated and bill the cost to your royalty accpunt.’ #publishing
On This Day in History: August 22, 2004 Edvard Munch’s The Scream was stolen from the Munch Museum in Oslo. Armed robbers walked in during broad daylight and tore it from the wall. Who does that?! It was missing for two years before being recovered, damaged but not destroyed.
Granted this isn't my area, but I don't get it. If the reopened investigation is into whether he disclosed classified information in a published book, can't they just have somebody on the NSC read the book and go, "That's classified information right there" or "Nope. I don't see any"?
Sage advice. I try to make sure the comparing stops at "lucky to be here" because it does get dark in a hurry after that.
I still lean on the idea of specialness on bad days. I recall that of the millions who dream of writing a book every year, only a few thousand land the kind of chance I’ve had. It can feel like everyone’s lapping me, but that’s just the others in the few thousand. How do you handle the mental side?
Now I'll never be able to look at a portrait of her and hear anything else!
Messy Genius Spotlight German Composer and Pianist Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847) A composer of astonishing talent, but many of her works were published under her brother Felix’s name. For most of history she was treated as a footnote. Only now is her influence being recognized in full.
Oh boy, book contracts sound scary. I’ve read this thing a dozen times, so have my agent and attorney. Pretty sure we finally got them to strike the clause that said ‘if you don’t make us look good, we can have you assassinated and bill the cost to your royalty accpunt.’ #publishing
On This Day in History: August 21, 1911 Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa vanished from the Louvre, lifted off the wall by a handyman and missing for two years. Pablo Picasso was on the original suspect list, but police cleared him. The thief didn’t just steal a painting, he made it world-famous.
I assure you I wouldn't know from cool. Looking forward to getting an email I don't automatically delete.
What to hear about the stangest advice I ever got from a literary agent or the time I panicked and sent 58 query letters in 48 hours? That was all in this morning's edition of Life on the Midlist. You can check out all past editions at the bottom of my signup page. (Link in bio.)
So you found a typo in my social post. Okay, cool. It happens. Social is usually first-draft energy for me. If you can figure out what I meant, that’s close enough. If it bothers you (and I get why it might), read the book. By then a small army of editors will have taken good care of both of us.
Not that I manage it much better than anyone else BUT re: imposter syndrome, here's a test I try to use: Q: Are you, in fact, an imposter? (Answer in the first comment)