Jim Huang

Jim Huang is an American author and editor of crime fiction, as well as the owner and operator of Crum Creek Press and The Mystery Company imprint.^[1]

Personal life

Huang has a wife named Jennie.^[2] Together, they have lived in Boston, Massachusetts; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Carmel, Indiana; Gambier, Ohio; and Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.^[2]

Education

Huang received an undergraduate degree in political science from Swarthmore College in 1982.^[2] While there, he edited the student newspaper and helped found Swarthmore Warders of Imaginative Literature, a science-fiction/fantasy club.^[2]

Career

Huang began editing and publishing The Drood Review of Mystery in 1982, a job he held until 2005. His work with Drood ultimately led to the creation of The Crum Creek Press, a small book-publishing company Huang established in 1989.^[1]

He began his bookselling career in 1987 at Spenser's Mystery Bookshop in Boston, where he worked for four years before moving to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1992.^[3] There, he opened the Deadly Passions Bookshop, which specialized in mystery, romance, and science-fiction/fantasy books.^[3] The store closed in 2000.^[2] Three years later, Huang opened The Mystery Company in Carmel, Indiana.^[4][5][6][3] The store closed in 2010.^[6][3] Following this closure, Huang began managing the Kenyon College bookstore in Gambier, Ohio.^[6][3] Five years later, he moved to Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where he now serves as the director of the Bryn Mawr College Bookshop.^[2]

During his time working at bookshops, Huang decided an imprint, which he named after his store in Carmel, Indiana: The Mystery Company.^[4] The first title was sold in 2003, and the first original text, In a Teapot by Terence Faherty, was sold in 2005.^[2]

Huang co-founded the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.^[3] He also served as a board member and president for the Carmel Clay Public Library's Friends, a board member for Sisters in Crime (2006-2011),^[7][8] and program director of Magna Cum Murder (2000-2008). In addition to these service roles, he was a subject matter expert on mystery for Cengage Gale's "What Do I Read Next?" (2007-2009).

Awards

Year	Title	Award	Result
2000	100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century	Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction	Winner	[9][10]
2001		Macavity Award for Best Nonfiction	Nominee
		Anthony Award for Best Critical Work	Winner	[11][12]
2002	The Died in Vain	Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction	Winner	[9][10]
2003		Anthony Award for Best Critical Work	Winner	[11][12]
		Macavity Award for Best Critical/Biographical Mystery Work	Winner
2006	Mystery Muses, with Austin Lugar	Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction	Shortlist	[9]
2007		Macavity Award for Best Critical/Biographical Mystery Work	Winner
		Anthony Award for Best Critical Work	Winner	[11][12]
		Anthony Award for Special Service	Winner	[11][12]

Publications

• 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century (2000)
• They Died in Vain: Overlooked, Underappreciated and Forgotten Mystery Novels (2002)
• Mystery Muses: 100 Classics That Inspire Today's Mystery Writers, with Austin Lugar (2006)
• Organizing Crime: The Mystery Company's Guide to Series, with Austin Lugar (2009)
• What Do I Read Next? Volume 2, with Natalie Danford, Dana Ferguson, Don D'Ammassa, and Marcia Ford (2009)
• Organizing Crime: The Mystery Company's Guide to Series (Second Ed.), with Austin Lugar and Nikki Phipps (2014)