Very exciting things are happening over here for my debut and for my relationships with colleagues in the industry. I can't talk about any of it yet, which is bs on my part to vague-post about it, but I was too excited and I couldn't stop myself from saying something (which is actually nothing.)

I'm shocked by the number of people I see give up on querying way too early in the process. Nothing wrong with choosing to self-pub, if it's right for you, but giving up on finding an agent in the first month just means you never really found out if querying could work out for you or not.

Life on the Midlist this Tuesday: author blurbs. Not the magical sales engine people imagine, but still weirdly powerful. #writingcommunity www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist

He's sometimes proven himself a villain, so it makes me nervous when there is some overlap near the top of mine and Nate Silver's preferred 2028 Dem candidates lists.

This was much more fun than Tolstoy. Almost all inside main character Vi's head. Her tendencies toward insecurity, codependence, and fear are far more relatable than they should be. Maybe that's what got me. Well, that and the weird 'blob that becomes a person' conceit. Love a weird story.

Life on the Midlist: part strategy memo, part group therapy, part “how did we get here?” www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist #writingcommunity

Substack and Polymarket are besties now? I know it's been a uniquely effective audience building platform for authors (in a way Medium was supposed to be, but never quite was) but Substack is getting closer and closer to being like deciding to stay on Twitter. www.theguardian.com/media/2026/f...

Man, Tolstoy was a weird dude. This seems to be a book about how living selfishly is wrong while, instead, being a humble peasant is the truest path to happiness (and also possibly magic of some sort.) Critically acclaimed, sure, but I'd skip it. Or maybe I'm just too dumb to appreciate Tolstoy. 🤷‍♂️

I feel like this take sees an actual problem and then applies the wrongest possible solution. My own view? Classic literature itself isn't the problem. The way we've been curating classic literature in many academic settings to privilege the crusty white old man-ist works is a better target. 🤷‍♂️

One of the things I love/hate about watching book deal announcements like I do is you can tell who's about to run for President by keeping an eye out for politician books. Say whatever you want in the press about not focusing on that yet, but I see you S&S memoir with a dubiously patriotic title.

You guys! Hearing back from folks each week after I send Life on the Midlist is such a joy. I consistently get five or six notes back, often from a different group than the week before. I know this is going to sound like hyperbole, but it's the best thing I've got going as a writer.

HEADLINE: Michigan ICE detention center owner reports $254 million profit, record new business in 2025 LESS CATCHY VERSION: We'll gladly violate you, abuse you, detain you, and kill you for money, says giant American corporation.

Guys, seriously. It's not a controversial take for me to say life is easier for the wealthy. (I was once wealthy and I'd include myself in that characterization.) In good times and bad, a massive financial safety net is an unbelievable advantage. Be mad if it helps you to be mad, but I'm not wrong.

I'm not saying Stephen Colbert ISN'T brave. He's led by example in a number of ways. I like and respect him, to the extent that I know him. I just think it should also be pointed out that it's a good deal easier to be brave when you already have a net worth of $75 million.

Today, because I'm a little salty, I'm blocking all the vanity presses I see selling unpublished authors' dreams back to them. #writingcommunity

I made it about 180 pages into Vijay Khurana’s The Passenger Seat before I had to put it down. He’s excellent: a convincing blend of sociopathic and nihilistic interiority, executed with real control. As I got closer to the end, the claustrophobia and violent escape fantasy were too much for me.

Oh neat. We let 700,000 people die so we could take the money and pay for this tool's security. That sure is swell.

While they're not planning campaigns for these markets, it's still a cool feeling to watch my publisher build my book's Canada, UK, India, and Australia landing pages. Even if they only sell one copy between them (hey Phil!), it still feels like talking to the whole world from my tiny Iowa town.

As a HUGE fan of audiobooks myself, I'm thrilled to share that Bloomsbury has decided to produce an audiobook of my debut. Its release may lag initial publication by a few weeks, but that just gives us more to look forward to! #booksky

Happiest of birthdays to my pal @a-lone-ghost.bsky.social and to my talented wife who brought him to...uh...life?

Happy birthday to @levarburton.bsky.social (born Feb. 16, 1957). Thanks for making literacy feel like an adventure and being the rare public figure who made the world smarter on purpose. #booksky

Back in the habit. First book of the year completed. This one struck me primarily as a character study + a commentary on the Bolsheviks. Towles' characters are chaming and spending time with them was a pleasure. I may not watch the movie adaptation, but the book was well worth the time. #booksky

A bit silly, but I'm finishing Towles' A Gentleman in Moscow today and it's fun for me how often Russian composers come up by name since my own book has several. It's sort of a game: "If this was nonfiction, that thing would have happened at the same time that they were doing _________ in my book."

In the last 10 years, only 70 noncitizens have even attempted to vote in US national elections, none of them successfully. Weigh that against the 450,338,178 total votes cast in those elections and all this voter fraud nonsense is transparently that - nonsense. The SAVE act is voter suppression.

This week in Life of the Midlist I go on a little rant about one of the lies we tell ourselves and each other about the publishing industry. I've been seeing this one almost daily, so it was time to set the record straight. See you on Tuesday:

Photographic proof of how deeply our cat, Fritz, loves Elizabeth. Any time he finds an article of her clothing, it instantly becomes his new napping spot. #caturday

This week, our online community passed 17,000. That's nuts. Does everybody know everybody? I'll be honest with you. I'm having trouble remembering all your names.

On This Day in History: February 14, 1991 The movie adaptation of Thomas Harris' The Silence of the Lambs opens. Truly successful adaptations that become distinctly their own work of art are rare. This one stays strange and razor-sharp, then goes on, quite rightly, to win five major Academy Awards.

On This Day in History: February 14, 1989 Ayatollah Khomeini issues a fatwa calling for Salman Rushdie and his publishers to be killed over The Satanic Verses, with a bounty attached. When any government puts a price tag on speech, it's telling you exactly what it fears. #booksky

Not sure who needs to hear this but the voter fraud rate is a mere 0.000003%. Anyone telling you otherwise is making shit up so they can take away your right to vote.

What do you suppose some authors get out of happening across a conversation online between commercially stuggling authors and launching into a defense of their platform and a diatribe about how successful they? Even if that's true, who was helped by this? Are you asserting dominance or...?

An executive fancy person at my publisher subscribed to Life on the Midlist. I'd like to think of it as high level support, but sometimes I get worked up and saying inconveniently true things so it could just as easily be surveillance. Could I even blame them? I'd probably keep an eye on me.

On This Day in History: February 12, 1994 Thieves swipe Edvard Munch’s The Scream from Oslo’s National Gallery and leave a note saying, “Thanks for the poor security.” Undercover investigators posing as buyers lure the thieves into a handoff, recovering it undamaged three months later.

On This Day in History: February 12, 1938 Judy Blume is born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. A formative author for folks in my generation, her work has sold more than 80 million copies, and the National Book Foundation honored her with the 2004 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

I tried to write/revise for a journal submission deadline today. It was a disaster. I sit down to do the words nearly every day. Some days, I just don't have it. Looks like admin today instead. 🤷‍♂️ #writingcommunity

PEN NEWS: After testing so many pens... so so many pens... I have chosen the uni-ball AIR micro as my primary signing pen. It's one of the smoothest, most consistent ink flow pens I've ever used plus it's got a ton of cool angle and line thickness features and it's shape and design are striking.

Happy book birthday to Ibis and my online pal @justinhayneswriter.com. Sure, I'm impressed by major award shortlists and invitations to festivals across the country, but I'm more impressed by authors who are good literary citizens and Jay is a great one. Can't wait for his sophomore effort!

On This Day in History: Feb. 10, 1967 The 25th Amendment is ratified, spelling out what happens when a president dies, resigns, is removed, or is unable to serve, and how a vacant vice presidency gets filled. I do love anniversaries...

Terrible confession: While I have been reading essays online and listening to my usual bookish podcasts, I haven't read a proper book in 2026. Recommend anything. No constraints. If you're one of those folks who is SUPER serious about recs, Goodreads wll show you the 29 I read last year. #booksky

Some portion of my morning has been spent actively trying not to scream all over the place about what a pile Jim Pillen is. Madated existence of TPUSA clubs in every Nebraska high school? 🤢🤮

Life on the Midlist is ready to go. This week, we're talking about staying connected to your purpose as a creative, even in the face of self-doubt, and how encouraging others can make that easier. Seems like an awful lot of positivity for me. 🤷‍♂️ Get it in your inbox: www.ryantpozzi.com/midlist

On This Day in History: February 10, 1966 Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the Dolls hits U.S. bookstores. She markets it with a street-level campaign, walking into bookshops, working the clerks, and handselling. Her approach helps turn a critically sneered-at novel into a monster seller. #Booksky

I was almost ended on the internet last week. No details bc, in the end, it was a misunderstanding we've rectified and "name and shame" has no value in that situation. Take my word for it: I've never been so scared of having done something shitty online that I couldn't identify. Nope. All good. 😌

We do have a confirmed cover for my debut, but, given that I couldn't have written the book at all without Elizabeth (my spouse) holding down her management job and doing a ton of "invisible" labor, maybe I should pull it and just put her face on the cover. Thoughts? #writingcommunity

#Dog #Dogs #PerfectWorld #HomeForEveryDog #BestFriend #GoodDog #FaithfulFriend #LoveDogs #DogsAreLove

On This Day in History: February 9, 1979 In case you thought composers like Stravinsky got to have all the "fun," Walter Hill’s The Warriors, adapted from Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel, hit U.S. theaters. Days later, violence got linked to screenings, and Paramount yanked ads and let theaters walk away.

On This Day in History: Febraury 8, 1874 Modest Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov premieres in St. Petersburg (Jan. 27 Old Style). An opera that treats power as a crime scene and the people as the witness. If history feels too polished, it’s probably propaganda not history. Modest is a hero in my debut.

I'm crying about the lovely message of Dispatches From Elsewhere again. My wife is sorta uncomfortable (still supportive) since historically she sees me cry once or twice a year since we connected in 2013 and I've cried about powerful art of some kind like six or seven times in the last two weeks.

Has anyone compiled a list of news outlets that my simple Gen X brain will still react to as credible that clearly aren't any more? Think New York Times, Washington Post, etc. This is just to prevent me from consuming lies since I'm older now and I formed all my brand opinions in 1997ish. TIA

I know Rs won't care about this bc "it's a sign I'm not a real man" or whatever, but IN ADDITION to disenfranchising like zillions of married women who are trying to legally vote- The SAVE Act, as proposed, would also have kept me from legally voting since I took my wife's name.