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Arthur Plotnik is a versatile author
with a distinguished background in
editing and publishing. Two of his
works have been featured as Book-
of-the-Month Club selections:
The Elements of Editing, a standard
reference through some twenty
printings, and The Elements of
Expression: Putting Thoughts into
Words. Reviewers have consistently
praised Plotnik's writing for its
accuracy, style, and wit, often
ranking it with Strunk & White in
practicality.
A native of White Plains, N.Y., Plotnik studied under Philip Roth and Vance Bourjaily in the Iowa Writers Workshop and served as a staff writer on the Albany (N.Y.) Times-Union. He wrote pulp novels for the Scott-Meredith Literary Agency while completing work on the second of two master's degrees (English, library service). In Washington he served the Librarian of Congress as press and public relations assistant and newsletter editor. He was later a magazine editor in New York.
As a publisher, Plotnik brought five national awards to the American Library Association’s book imprint. He won numerous honors also as editor of ALA’s flagship magazine, American Libraries.
Plotnik has written scores of magazine articles and columns, six nonfiction books (including his first writer’s guide,The Elements of Authorship) and literary and pseudonymous fiction. He has appeared in publications ranging from La Prensa (Bolivia) and Playboy to The New York Times. Formerly a contributing editor for The Writer magazine (2000-2007) and now a member of its Editorial Board, he has also contributed to Britannica Book of English Usage and the "American English" column of American Way in-flight magazine.
A passionate observer of trees, he is author of The Urban Tree Book: An Uncommon Field Guide for City and Town, illustrated by his wife, the artist Mary H. Phelan. The New York Times Book Review called this work "indispensable."
On July 4 of the Constitution's 200th birthday year (1987), the National Archives published his The Man Behind the Quill, a biography of the Constitution's calligrapher, Jacob Shallus. The award-winning book was highlighted in Time magazine and praised as a "small miracle of research."
A popular speaker, Plotnik taught in the journalism department at Columbia College in Chicago. Special honors include service as a charter board member, American Book Awards, and first place in the prestigious Verbatim national competition for essays on the English language. He is listed in Who's Who, Contemporary Authors, Journalists of the United States, and other directories of writers and journalists. He lives in Chicago and is represented by literary agent Ed Knappman of New England Publishing Associates.
Hear Plotnik interviewed on the Writers on Writing radio show, hosted by Barbara DeMarco Barrett. (Scroll to Aug. 17, 2007, and click.)
Hear Plotnik's offerings on teaching student writing, in a fast-moving interview (Nov. 2007) by Choiceliteracy.com
Read the snappy interview on Barbara DeMarco Barrett's Oct. 12 (2007) blog.
Hear host Donna Seaman interview Plotnik on Open Books.
NEW: May 16, 2008, interview on the writing blog, ExileonNinthStreet.
Oct. 2007 interview with Plotnik in the American Society of Journalists and Authors Monthly.
See Plotnik's "Writing Tips forTeens" (2008) on education.com.
Review and interview by Chip Scanlan, Poynter Online
See the interview with Plotnik on MediaBistro.com.
June '06 extended interview on Down the Writer's Path
Latest op-ed in the LA Times.
Plotnik humor in SWINK magazine
Poetry in Slow Trains Literary Journal
Recent appearances:
Mount Prospect Public Library, Mt. Prospect, IL
Sulzer Regional Library, Chicago Public Library
Grayslake Public Library, Grayslake, IL
Harold Washington Library Center of the Chicago Public Library (Chicago Authors Room),
Fremont Public Library, Mundelein, IL
Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL
Conference on College Composition and Communications. (Book-signing, Chicago.)
The Book Cellar book store, Chicago, IL | 
