Robert Gray is a Contributing Editor at Shelf Awareness, the daily online newsletter for the book trade.
He teaches English at the Community College of Vermont in Bennington.
He worked as a frontline bookseller and buyer at the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT, from 1992-2006 and was named the store's first Master Bookseller in 2000. Other industry opportunities compelled him to cut back on his full-time position in 2006, but he continued to work occasionally on the bookshop's sales floor until 2009.
Robert Gray has written for a variety of publications, including Tin House, Agni Online, Words Without Borders, Publishers Weekly, Bookselling This Week, Publishers Lunch, ASJA Monthly, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (18 stories), The Dos Passos Review, Cimarron Review, and more. His work has been anthologized in Conscience, Consequence: Reflections on Father Daniel Berrigan; Northern Music: Poems About and Inspired by Glenn Gould; Crime à la Carte; and The New Writer's Handbook 2007. He also has the curious distinction of two, single-sentence publication credits in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest Book (2008) and Book: The Sequel: First Lines from the Classics of the Future by Inventive Imposters (2009).
He has been interviewed by numerous media outlets about his role as a frontline bookseller, including the Boston Globe, New York Times, USA Today, U.S. News and World Report, Christian Science Monitor, Albany Times Union, The Writer, Publishers Weekly, ASJA Monthly, Pages Magazine, U.S. Airways Attache Magazine, Vermont Public Radio, and Writers on Writing (KUCI-FM).
EDUCATION:
MFA in Writing & Literature (2003), Bennington College
OTHER RELEVANT EXPERIENCE:
Contributing Editor, covering the AWP Conference & Bookfair, Denver, CO, for Shelf Awareness (April 2010)
Guest Instructor, graduate practicum on publishing for MFA program at Adelphi University's Manhattan Center, New York, NY. (Spring Semester 2010)
Contributing Editor, covering the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association trade show, Cleveland, Ohio (October 2009)
Panelist, "Social Media and the Independent Bookseller," Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance trade show, Greenville, S.C. (September 2009)
Judge, New Hampshire Writers' Project's 2009 New Hampshire Literary Award for Outstanding Book of Nonfiction
Contributing Editor, covering BookExpo America, New York, N.Y., for Shelf Awareness (May 2009)
Contributing Editor, covering the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference, Chicago, IL, for Shelf Awareness (February 2009)
Contributing Editor, covering the Midwest Booksellers Association Trade Show, Minneapolis, MN, for Shelf Awareness (September 2008)
Contributing Editor, covering the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Trade Show, Colorado Springs, CO for Shelf Awareness (September 2008)
Guest Instructor, teleconference seminar on publishing for MA in Writing students in "The Business of Writing" course, Longwood University, Farmville, VA (August 2008)
Publishing Module Coordinator, Bennington College Writing Seminars Spring residency. (June 2008)
Guest Instructor, graduate practicum on publishing for MFA program at Adelphi University's Manhattan Center, New York, NY (April 2008)
Speaker, "What do Baby Boomers Want (to Read)?"Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance educational seminar at the Spring Book Show, Atlanta, GA (March 2008)
Speaker, "“The 21st Century Bookstore Sales Floor,” Publishers Association of the South Winter Conclave, Nashville, TN (Jan. 2008)
Interviewed by The Writer magazine for article, "Promotional Services Can Ease Some of the Self-Marketing Burden" (Feb. 2008 issue)
Publishing Module Coordinator, Bennington College Writing Seminars Winter residency. (Jan. 2008)
Panelist, "Internet Marketing," The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Fall Conference. Baltimore, MD (Oct. 2007)
Panelist, "Doing Digital Right," New England Independent Booksellers Association Trade Show, Providence, RI (Sept. 2007)
Interviewed by Emdashes about my New Yorker magazine cartoon caption contest winner (August 2007)
Speaker, "Overview of the Current Trends in the American Book Market," for meeting of international group of editors, publishers, and rights directors, sponsored by the Frankfurt Book Fair and German Book Office; Ledig House International Residency, Ghent, NY (June 2007)
Publishing Module Coordinator, Bennington College Writing Seminars Spring residency. (June 2007)
Panelist, "Blogs, Websites, and E-Zines: Navigating the Literary Landscape Online," Cambridge Center for Adult Education, Cambridge, MA (April 2007)
Guest Instructor, graduate practicum on publishing for MFA program at Adelphi University's Manhattan Center, New York, NY (March 2007)
Guest Instructor, "Writing for the Pulps," Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY (January 2007)
Speaker , “Independent Bookstore Web sites: A Report from Around the Country,” Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Trade Show, Denver, CO (September 2006)
Guest, Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM, UC Irvine, CA(July 2006)
Interviewed by Barbara Demarco-Barrett of the American Society of Journalists and Authors in ASJA Monthly (June 2006)
Organized the first "Frontline Booksellers' Summer Picks" panel, BookExpo America 2006, Washington, DC (May 2006)
Speaker, Book Promotion 101 Workshop, New York (April 2006)
Panelist, "From Manuscript to Cash Register," Virginia Festival of the Book, Charlottesville, VA (March 2006)
Interviewed by Dennis Johnson about Black Friday on MobyLives Radio, November 28, 2005
Interviewed by Dennis Johnson about buying and selling remainders on MobyLives Radio, November 21, 2005
Panelist, Publishing Industry Blogging Discussion, BookExpo America 2005, Chicago, IL
Columnist, Publishers Marketplace BEA Lunch Edition, BookExpo America 2005, Chicago, IL
Guest, “Switchboard” program, Vermont Public Radio (July 22, 2004), speaking about NEA's reading report
Steering Committee Member, “ Vermont Reads Witness ” (2003)
Manuscript Reader, Second Annual Tupelo Press Prose Award (2002)
Columnist for Steve Brill's Contentville web site (2000-2001)
Judge, Emerson College Annual EVVY Fiction Awards (1999-2002)
Judge, NEBA Discovery of the Month Award (1995-2000)
Judge, Vermont Book Professionals Association’s Vermont Book of the Year (1997)
Fiction Forecasts Book Reviewer, Publishers Weekly (1996-1999)
Discussion Group leader, Green Mountain Academy for Lifelong Learning, Manchester , VT: Great Novels Series IV: Where the Art of Fiction Meets the Fiction of Art (2002); Great Novels Series III: Utopian Fiction (2001); Great Novels Series II: Humor in Fiction (2000); Great Novels Series I: Revisiting Modern Classics (1999); You’ve Got to Read This: Essential Short Stories (1998).
Managing Editor, Sailboard News: The International Journal of Windsurfing (1985-1989).
SELECTED PUBLISHED WORK:
"Prediction for the Book Business: Cloudy, with a chance of adaptation." ASJA Monthly (Oct. 2009)
“Reading My Father.” Agni Magazine (Oct. 2006)
“ The Hard, Beautiful Place between Sanctuary and Flight, Words and Silence.” Eclectica Magazine (Oct./Nov. 2006)
"The Well-read Rat." Eclectica Magazine (July/Aug. 2006).
"What We Say & What We Mean: The Artful game of Conversation." Eclectica Magazine (Apr./May 2006).
"Hand-Selling to the Masses." Publishers Weekly (April 24, 2006).
"Rediscovering Brian Moore: Faith in the Story." Dos Passos Review (Spring 2006).
"Booksellers: The Next Generation." Publishers Weekly (March 13, 2006).
"So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut Still Travels Through Time." Eclectica Magazine (Jan./Feb.2006).
"The Reality Of Dreams: Antonio Tabbuchi & Fernando Pessoa." Eclectica Magazine (Oct./Nov. 2005).
"One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich." Eclectica Magazine (July/Aug. 2005).
"Should Americans Read More Literature in Translation?" Words Without Borders (May 2005).
“NEA’s Reading at Risk Redux.” Bookselling This Week ( September 29, 2004 ).
“By November My Mother was in Total Disgrace.” Guardian Unlimited ( July 20, 2004 ).