Robert Gray is a Contributing Editor at Shelf Awareness, the daily online newsletter covering the book world and a leading source for information about the publishing industry at all levels.
He has worked as a frontline bookseller for the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT, since 1992. He was named the store's first Master Bookseller in 2000, and was a buyer and merchandiser for a number of departments, including remainders and backlist paperback fiction, audiobooks, and poetry. In 2006, other industry commitments compelled him to cut back on his full-time position, but he still works occasionally on the sales floor.
He teaches English Composition at the Community College of Vermont at Bennington, VT.
Robert Gray has written for a variety of publications, including Tin House, Agni Online, Words Without Borders, Publishers Weekly, Bookselling This Week, Publishers Lunch, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, The Dos Passos Review, and Cimarron Review. 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 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, The Writer Magazine, 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 Writing Seminars
OTHER RELEVANT EXPERIENCE:
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 Trade Journal of the Windsurfing Industry (1985-1989).
SELECTED PUBLISHED WORK:
“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).
"Rediscovering Brian Moore: Faith in the Story." Dos Passos Review (Spring 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 ).