Richard Seltzer

Fiction Writer, Creative Nonfiction Writer

Milford, CT
Connecticut US
Twitter/X: 

Author's Bio

Author of two dozen books, I've been editor, novelist, Russian translator, parttime spy, Internet evangelist, and ebook entrepreneur. I've published children's fantasies, historical novels, and pioneering books about how to do business on the Internet. As a spokesperson for Digital Equipment, a tech leader in the early Internet, I saw how consumer choices and business models molded the outcomes we live with today. My latest book, "In Flux," puts AI into context and suggest how we can nudge the future toward either serving us or oppressing us.

I graduated from Yale, with a major in English and went to grad school there in Comparative Literature. At Yale I had creative writing courses with Robert Penn Warren and Joseph Heller.

In my 70s I've finally been able to write what I want when I want, and I've been publishing 2-3 books a year. Most don't fit in established genres and hence agents and editors aren't interested. So I've gone with small and hybrid publishers which makes it difficult to get the attention of traditional reviewers. Now I'm finally getting some recognition, with reviews of three of my books appearing in the same issue of Publishers Weekly (June 9). Another book of mine (One Family) will be reviewed in their July 21 issue. It also won the Connecticut Press Club's annual award for best non-fiction book,

Recognition and Awards --

AltaVista Search Revolution won the Distinguished Technical Communication Award, the highest award given by the Society for Technical Communication Publications.  According to Library Journal, "This complete guide to using the AltaVista web searching/indexing system will be indispensable to both librarians and patrons.... Get one copy to circulate, nail one down in the computer lab, and pass one around the reference desk."

My translation, Ethiopia Through Russian Eyes (2000) was called "the most important book on the history of eastern Africa to have been published for a century" by the journal Old Africa (Nairobi, 2008).

My web site seltzerbooks.com (originally samizdat.com) was named one of the top 50 web sites in the world by Net Guide Magazine (September 1995), the best personal Web page of 1995 by Internet World Magazine (January 1996). It was rated four stars by Magellan. The Wayback Machine maintains an archive of its pages, gathered over 700 times between 1996 and today.

Online presence --

Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/stores/Richard-Se...

Goodreads Author Page https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20... over 1200 friends

Medium https://medium.com/@seltzer_57387 over 600 postings (stories, essays, and poems), over 7000 followers,

Blue Sky ‪@richardseltzer.bsky.social‬ over 26000 folowers

Publications & Prizes

Creative Nonfiction

Books:
In Flux (Booklocker, 2025)
,
One Family (Booklocker, 2024)
,
Why Knot? A Personal Quest (Booklocker, 2023)
,
Grandad Jokes: 3000 Jokes on Trump and Other Nonsense (Booklocker, 2022)

Fiction

Books:
Let the Women Have Their Say (Booklocker, 2024)
,
Meter Maid Marion, How to Tutor a Ghost, The Third Turtle (Booklocker, 2024)
,
The Bulatovich Saga: The Name of Hero (Booklocker, 2024)
,
Trojan Tales (Booklocker, 2024)
,
The Lizard of Oz and Other Stories (Booklocker, 2023)
,
We All Are Shakespeare (Booklocker, 2023)
,
We First Met in Ithaca, or Was It Eden? (Booklocker, 2023)
,
Echoes from the Attic (All Things That Matter Press, 2022)
,
To Gether Tales (All Things That Matter Press, 2022)
,
Breeze (All Things That Matter Press, 2021)
,
Shakespeare's Twin Sister (All Things That Matter Press, 2021)
,
Beyond the 4th Door (All Things That Matter Press, 2020)
,
Nevermind (All Things That Matter Press, 2020)
,
Parallel Lives (All Things That Matter Press, 2020)
,
The Attic (B&R Samizdat Express, 2013)
,
Saint Smith and Other Stories (B&R Samizdat Express, 2011)
,
Web Business Boot Camp (Wiley, 2002)
,
Ethiopia Through Russian Eyes (Red Sea Press, 2000)
,
Shop Online the Lazy Way (Macmillan, 1999)
,
AltaVista Search Revolution (McGraw-Hill, 1997)
,
The Name of the Hero (J.P. Tarcher, 1981)
,
Now and Then and Other Tales from Ome (B&R Samizdat Express, 1976)
,
The Lizard of Oz (B&R Samizdat Express, 1974)
Journals:
Analog
,
Antic
Prizes won: 

The AltaVista Search Revolution, the first consumer book about search engines (McGraw-Hill) "indispensable" Library Journal, Winner of the "Distinguished Technical Communication Award," the highest award given by the Society for Technical Communication Publications.  

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Clarksville, TN
Tennessee
Raised in: 
Plymouth, NH
New Hampshire
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Jul 09, 2025