Bill Konigsberg
Phoenix,AZ
Summary
Award-winning sports journalist and novelist with exceptional sports knowledge as well as elite writing and communication skills. Six-plus years of experience in sports journalism with ESPN and The Associated Press. Early adapter of sports simulation, having simulated out the remainder of strike-shortened 1994 MLB season for three national newspapers. Fantasy sports expert with experience writing columns at ESPN.com and The AP. Namesake of Bill Konigsberg Award at The National Council of Teachers of English, given annually to individual who has acted in selfless advocacy of marginalized youth through the creation, teaching, funding or other form of promotion of young adult literature.
Overview
31
31
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
NOVELIST
Self Employed Writer
09.2008 - Current
- Published seven young adult novels with Penguin and Scholastic
- Winner of five major national awards: The Lambda Literary Award (2008), Sid Fleischman Award for Humor (2013), PEN Center USA Literary Award (2016); Stonewall Book Award (2016); and Golden Kite Award (2022)
- Novels translated into nine languages
- Toured the country multiple times, speaking at high schools, universities, bookstores and book festivals in 36 states.
VIRGINIA G. PIPER CENTER FOR CREATIVE WRITING
02.2012 - 05.2015
- Founding member and program director of Your Novel Year Certificate Program, a one-year, accelerated online program geared toward those working on novels in the genres of Young Adult and Science Fiction/Fantasy
- Created the curriculum for courses of Young Adult program.
SPORTS EDITOR/WRITER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
12.2005 - 09.2008
- Assigned and edited national sports stories from national sports desk
- Wrote sports stories as needed, including coverage of Mets and Yankees
- Wrote weekly fantasy baseball column and produce weekly podcast based on column.
- Managed online sports columns, blogs and video pieces.
- Communicated directly with writers to collaboratively assess work and guide editorial improvements.
ASSISTANT EDITOR
ESPN
02.1999 - 02.2002
- In charge of baseball content on clubhouse pages
- Wrote and edited copy for pages dedicated to professional teams in all four major sports
- Conceived of and executed successful projects which were a major element of ESPN.com’s baseball preview, midseason and wrap-up coverage in ’01
- Pages under my direct control received approximately 200,000 hits per week, a 100% increase from previous year
- Wrote articles and columns on various sports subject matters, in tandem with editor’s needs
- Won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism for column “Sports World Still a Struggle for Gays.”
RESEARCHER
ESPN
- Key part of research team responsible for the quality and accuracy of all sports information used on most highly regarded 24-hour sports network in the world
- Wrote copy for SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, NHL2Nite, NBA2Nite, and ESPN News
- Created statistical analysis for news shows, inclusive of “Inside The Numbers” series on SportsCenter; responsible for renowned “Did You Know” segment on SportsCenter
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
ESPN
- Cut highlights for studio shows such as SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, NHL2Nite, NBA2Nite, and ESPN News
- Wrote copy for anchors for SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, NHL2Nite, NBA2Nite, and ESPN News
- Wrote cut sheets and shot sheets for anchors
- Recruited for promotion to research position after six months at entry-level job.
SIMULATED BASEBALL COMMISSIONER
NY DAILY NEWS, SF CHRONICLE, MIAMI HERALD
01.1994
- Simulated the finale of the strike-shortened 1994 baseball season on computer for Daily News, San Francisco Chronicle and Miami Herald
- Created simulated World Series covered in newspapers and produced on Dateline NBC
- Received personal coverage on NBC World News Tonight, Dateline NBC, CNN and Tokyo Broadcast Systems.
STAFF WRITER
NORTH JERSEY HERALD AND NEWS
01.1994 - 01.1996
- Covered beat consisting of 5 counties in Northern New Jersey
- Wrote five to ten articles each week on various local issues
- Conceived of and wrote four-part series on financial repercussions of 1994 Major League Baseball strike.
CREATIVE WRITING MENTOR AND EDITOR
06.2015 - Current
- Mentored writers working on manuscripts, focusing on both creative and editorial processes (critiquing manuscripts, brainstorming ideas, line editing, copy editing).
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
CAMPMINDER
05.2011 - 08.2012
- In charge of all internal and external communications for fast-growing summer camp management company
- Created online help system for company, including the design and development of a content management system
- Help System includes more than 1,000 pages of technical information
- Edited CampMinder Magazine, 10,000 circulation magazine directed at Summer Camp professionals
- Responsible for the proofing of all documents, external and internal, for company
- Created and maintained CampMinder blog.
TEACHING ASSISTANT/FREELANCE WRITER
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
08.2002 - 12.2005
- Taught two sections of English classes each semester
- Received student feedback grades among top ten percent of all English teachers at the university
- Covered sports for ASU Vision, the school’s alumni magazine
- Covered sporting events for the Arizona Republic.
FACULTY ASSOCIATE
WRITING PROGRAM, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
07.2010 - 05.2011
- Taught five sections of English classes each semester
- Received student feedback grades among top five percent of all English teachers at the university.
STAFF WRITER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
02.2002 - 06.2002
- Covered basketball team from Central Connecticut State en route to NCAA Tournament
- Broke national story on Olympic gold medalist Jimmy Shea’s controversial message to high schools about drinking
- Wrote more than 10 stories in first month that went to a national audience
- Edited copy for print and broadcast.
Education
M.F.A. in Creative Writing -
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ11.2005
B.A. with honors in Writing-Literature -
Columbia University
New York, NY01.1994
Skills
- Exceptional Writing
- Strong Editing
- Article Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Team Collaboration
- Content Strategy
- Proofreading
- Multimedia Content Creation
- Social media expertise
Websites
Certification
- 1998, Certificate in Television Production, New York University
- 2006, Fellow at Knight New Media Center, USC Annenberg School for Communication
Timeline
CREATIVE WRITING MENTOR AND EDITOR
06.2015 - Current
VIRGINIA G. PIPER CENTER FOR CREATIVE WRITING
02.2012 - 05.2015
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
CAMPMINDER
05.2011 - 08.2012
FACULTY ASSOCIATE
WRITING PROGRAM, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
07.2010 - 05.2011
NOVELIST
Self Employed Writer
09.2008 - Current
SPORTS EDITOR/WRITER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
12.2005 - 09.2008
TEACHING ASSISTANT/FREELANCE WRITER
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
08.2002 - 12.2005
STAFF WRITER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
02.2002 - 06.2002
ASSISTANT EDITOR
ESPN
02.1999 - 02.2002
SIMULATED BASEBALL COMMISSIONER
NY DAILY NEWS, SF CHRONICLE, MIAMI HERALD
01.1994
STAFF WRITER
NORTH JERSEY HERALD AND NEWS
01.1994 - 01.1996
RESEARCHER
ESPN
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
ESPN
M.F.A. in Creative Writing -
Arizona State University
B.A. with honors in Writing-Literature -
Columbia University
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