James A. Richards

James A. Richards (born July 29, 1965) is an arts entrepreneur, internet entrepreneur and author.
Professional
Richards was part of the initial staff of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (PDP), the non-profit organization that operates downtown Pittsburgh’s business improvement district. During those years, 1994-96, he was heavily involved in developing key programs. Most notable of these was the controversial but successful Sparkle Season program of holiday events.
James A. Richards founded Managerie in 2000 as a social enterprise to develop and execute marketing, media and other support projects for Pittsburgh’s arts and entertainment community. Managerie embraced all members of the community, including companies, non-profit organizations, free-lance professionals and students. Key projects included PGHevents: The Pittsburgh Events Web Site, the Pittsburgh A&E Book professional directory, the Pittsburgh Music Festival and the Pittsburgh Applause newsletter. Managerie was dissolved in 2008.
Richards launched DoingNYC in January 2008. Affiliated with Ticketmaster, the Shubert Organization’s Telecharge and NBC-Universal, DoingNYC promotes events big and small in all five boroughs of New York City.
Writing
James A. Richards, who identifies as bisexual, writes fiction with GLBT elements. His first novel was Summer Club and the Creatures (2007/2008 GLB Publishers). One critic described Summer Club as “a very real and poignant novel” with a protagonist that is “at once a sentimental and embraceable character.”
He is currently working on a novel inspired by “Faraway Hill,” network television’s first prime time soap opera.
Honors
In 2002 at age 37, James A. Richards was named by Pittsburgh Magazine and the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project (PUMP) as one of the “40 Under 40,” forty people in southwestern Pennsylvania under the age of 40 making significant contributions to the region.
It was also a finalist in the online magazine USABookNews’ 2007 list of the best mainstream and independent books.
Notes and references

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