Michael Seidman
Biographical Note

Michael Seidman, called by Publishers Weekly "one of the business’ more wry and quotable editors," has spent more than forty years in the publishing industry; he turned to the editorial side in 1968, after spending time in a literary agency, on the staff of a book review, and as an editorial assistant to Theodore Solotaroff on New American Review. Best known for his work as a mystery editor (PW credited him with "building [at Walker & Company] a line of accessible but intelligent hardcovers that is rare for a publisher of any real size"), he received the first American Mystery Award as Best Book Editor in 1987; he was a nominee for the same award in the Horror Category in 1990. In 1993, the Southwest Mystery and Suspense Convention honored him as Editor of the Year. He has edited books of every kind and in every category, working at several publishing houses including Fawcett/Crest, New American Library, Ace/Charter and TOR. He was the editor in chief of The Mysterious Press and editorial director of Zebra/Pinnacle. Seidman is now a consulting editor with several publishers as well as working with individual writers.

As a writer, Mr. Seidman’s articles and essays have appeared in a wide variety of journals including AB Bookman’s Weekly, West Coast Review of Books, Mystery Scene, Writer’s Digest, and The Armchair Detective, of which he was the editor from 1980-1989. His short stories have been published in Mystery, Twilight Zone magazine, and in The Black Lizard Anthology of Crime Fiction and the original anthology, Stalkers (NAL/Roc). His story, "The Dream That Follows Darkness" received a Spur nomination from the Western Writers of America.

He is the author of two highly praised books for writers, Fiction: The Art and Craft of Writing and Getting Published (Pomegranate Press),and The Complete Guide to Editing Your Fiction (Writers Digest Books). His essay "Lust and Process" appeared in the premier issue of Fourth Genre magazine.

For more information contact: mseidman@mseidman.com