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Who is Caleb J. Ross?

I am an author, a YouTube content creator, a gamer, and may other -er words whose professional path over the last decade has focused on growing a marketing agency from one employee to 120+ employees. My personal interests have focused on video game development, specifically in the domains of player research and games usability.

My full LinkedIn profile can be viewed here.

My Curriculum Vitae can be found below.

Education

Video Game Development

Player Research Work

Moderated Playtests

  • Brightseeker ‌(Pre-Alpha v0.0.0.6)‌ (June 2021)
    From the developer: “[The report] perfectly answered all my concerns. And showed me what I must improve or rework. Everything was very clear, relevant and well organized. I can’t thank you enough for this. And I hope we could work together again in the future.”
  • Gym Empire (alpha demo v0.3) (April 2021)
    From the developer: “Brilliant, reading through this has really, really helped clarify some issues and worries I had. Specifically around the tutorial being vague and the impact of the focus blur…I’m going to need you for all my future projects.”

Usability Reviews

Certifications & Coursework

Game Design and Game Development

User Experience and User Research

Non-Fiction & Essays

Marketing

Marketing Agency Work

Senior Business Systems Analyst, Go Local Interactive, Jul 2019 – Present

Oversaw adoption of a standardized contract creation tool, a company-wide communications tool, and a CRM. While developing a standardized company-wide client-facing reporting process using Google Data Studio.

Product Director, Go Local Interactive, Jan 2017 – Jul 2019

User experience remained a core focus for me, as I implemented user testing, A/B testing, Accessibility Testing (with a focus on WCAG guidelines), heatmap analysis, and content analysis services.

Senior Product Manager, Go Local Interactive, Mar 2011 – Jan 2017

Management of the Search Engine Optimization and Local Search Strategy products with a focus on client growth and lead conversion optimization. During this time I began my journey with user experience advocacy by pushing on-site optimization focused on usability as a fundamental and necessary component for client success.

Interactive Product Specialist, 15miles | The Interactive Division of TMP Directional Marketing, Aug 2010 – Apr 2011

Advertising Account Executive, TMP Directional Marketing, Jun 2005 – Aug 2010

Certifications & Coursework

  • Datorama Admin Platform Advanced, Datorama: a Salesforce Company, valid Mar 2021 – Present
  • Datorama Admin Platform Fundamentals, Datorama: a Salesforce Company, valid Mar 2021 – Present
  • Datorama Admin Platform Intermediate, Datorama: a Salesforce Company, valid Mar 2021 – Present
  • Datorama Data Canvas Fundamentals, Datorama: a Salesforce Company, valid Mar 2021 – Present
  • Datorama Power User Platform Fundamentals, Datorama: a Salesforce Company, valid Mar 2021 – Present
  • Google My Business Basics, Google, valid Jun 2018 – Present
  • Google Analytics Academy – Mobile App Analytics Fundamentals, Google, valid Dec 2014 – Present
  • Microsoft Excel – Basic and Advanced Online Course, GoSkills.com, valid Jul 2014 – Present
  • Google Analytics Academy – Digital Analytics Fundamentals Certification, Google, valid Oct 2013 – Present

Creative Writing

Certifications & Coursework

Teaching

  • Instructor, Tallgrass Writing Workshop, Emporia State University (2012)
  • Instructor, Tallgrass Writing Workshop, Emporia State University (2013)

Editorial Work

  • Creator/Moderator, The World’s First Author Podcast (2011–2012)
  • Creator/Moderator, The Velvet Podcast (2010–2012)
  • Editor/creator, AWP Blog (2009–2012)
  • Editor/creator, Oprah Read This > Oprah, Read This online fiction anthology (2009–2010)
  • Co-editor, Carbon Based Lifeform Blues (originally called Outsider Writers Collective, webzine [2008–present], OW Press (2009–present)
  • Reader/intern, MacAdam Cage Publishing (2009)
  • Co-editor, Colored Chalk zine (2008–2009)
  • Editor and Contributor for Flint Hills Review (2004–05)
  • Editor, Quivira student literary journal (2002–2005)
  • Judge, Kansas Writers Association Novel Competition
  • Reader, The Bluestem National Poetry Award

Readings and Lectures

  • ManArchy Loves Perfect Edge Books and Lazy Fascist Press reading, Boston, MA, International Poster Gallery, “Strippers with Your Son” (7 March 2013)
  • $@!# Authors Say, Kansas City, MO, Czar Bar, “Strippers with Your Son” (24 May 2012)
  • Noir at the Bar, St. Louis MO, Meshuggah Cafe, “The Lipidopterist” (28 February 2012)
  • ESU Visiting Writers Series presents Caleb J. Ross, Emporia, KS (8 September 2011)
  • Live Nude Words reading, Washington, D.C, The Velvet Lounge, Stranger Will excerpt and “An Equestrian of Mental Health,” (3 February 2011)
  • Super Sexy 100% Classy Author Reading, Kansas City, Missouri, Method, As a Machine and Parts excerpt (2011)
  • Artjerk reading, Kansas City, Missouri, Slap n’ Tickle Gallery, Will Write for ACID (a version of Will Write for Tobacco as appears at BULL Men’s Fiction) (2011)
  • Panelist, AWP Conference, “The Art and Authenticity of Social Media: Using Online Tools to Grow a Community.” Washington D.C, (4 February 2011)
  • OW Press The Velvet reading, Denver, CO, Leela European Cafe, “The Author Who Gets Free Drinks, a (Hopefully) True Story,” (9 April 2010)

Interviews with and articles about Caleb J. Ross

  • Booked Podcast: Episode 313 – Interview w/ Soul Standard authors Caleb J Ross & Nik Korpon – Booked Bodcast (2016)
  • Eat Like an Author – The Next Big Book Blog (2013)
  • Caleb J Ross’ Would You Rather – The Next Big Book Blog (2013)
  • The Art of the Domestic Grotesque: An Interview with Caleb J. Ross
  • B&B EP 4 Caleb J. Ross (2012)
  • Books and Booze Podcast, EP 4 Caleb J. Ross (2012)
  • I Didn’t Mean to Interview Caleb J. Ross (2012) – Slit Your Wrists Magazine
  • The Digital Age of Domestic Grotesque: An Interview with Caleb J. Ross (2011) – Solarcide
  • “Published Grad Credits Writing Program” (2011) – The Bulletin, Emporia State University
  • Warmed & Bound Collection – The Multiple Voices Inside Your Book (2011) – Jay Slayton-Joslin’s blog
  • Episode #25 – Caleb J Ross: Warmed and Bound Sessions (2011) – Booked Podcast
  • Six Personal Investigations of the Act of Reading: Caleb J. Ross’ Stranger Will (2011) – Sunday Observer
  • Ten Everywhere: Caleb J. Ross and the Stranger Will Tour For Strange (2011) – Monkeybicycle
  • “I absolutely could not write Stranger Will today, with a kid” : An Interview with Caleb J. Ross (2011) – NOO Journal
  • Booked Podcast: Episode 11 – Interview with Caleb J. Ross (2011) – Booked Podcast
  • This Podcast Will Change Your Life: Episode 37 (2011) – Ben Tanzer
  • Caleb J Ross – Author of ‘Stranger Will’ and Internet Rockstar (2011) – Jay Slayton-Joslin
  • Dispatches from Thunder Road: Stranger Will (2011) – Mlaz Corbier
  • A dialogue with Caleb J Ross through the filter of his short fiction collection Charactered Pieces (2010) – Predicate #1
  • “The Interview” with Caleb J Ross (2010) – Asnycnow Radio’s “The World Today” on Blog Talk Radio
  • The Victorious History of Caleb Ross (2009) – JMWW
  • A Conversatinterview with Caleb J Ross (2009) – Pela Via’s blog
  • Blank und Questions Asks: an interview with author Caleb J Ross (2009) – Gordon Highland
  • Five for: Caleb J Ross (2009) – 3:AM Magazine
  • Reader Meet Author: Caleb J. Ross (2009) – What to Wear During an Orange Alert
  • Interview with Caleb J Ross (2009) – Craig Wallwork blog
  • Oxyfication Interview (2007) – Oxyfication.net
  • “Student studies writing with professional writers” (2004) – The Bulletin, Emporia State University

Honors & Awards

Bibliography

Published Novels and Short Story Collections

  • The Soul Standard (2016)
  • I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin (2012)
  • As a Machine and Parts (2011)
  • Murmurs: Gathered Stories Vol. One (2011)
  • Stranger Will (2011)
  • Charactered Pieces: stories (2009)

Published Short Stories

  • When Susan’s Daughter Sank – Microfiction Monday Magazine, Issue 2, June 9, 2014
  • We’ll Learn Together – The Dying Goose, Vol. 1, Issue 4, Winter 2013
  • Three Days Ahead – Thuglit, Issue 8, Nov-Dec 2013
  • The Removal Kind – The Booked. Anthology, July 2013
  • The Three-Legged Dog (a story for kids) – Daddy Cool, an Anthology of Writing by Fathers For & About Kids, April 2013
  • Sebaceous – Slit Your Wrists Magazine, April 2012
  • Different People Entirely – Rainstorm Press, March 2012
  • The Lipidopterist – Viscera Irrational, March 2012, reprinted in Noir at the Bar Volume 2, September 2012
  • “untitled” (part of the Life in 100 Words or Less project) – Life in 100 Words or Less, February 2011
  • “untitled” (part of the Pushcorpse project) – No Colony, February 2011
  • Evenson’s Tongue – Kill Author, April 2011
  • Click-Clack – Warmed and Bound: a Velvet Anthology, Velvet Press, July 2011
  • As a Machine and Parts (novella excerpt, chapters 1 & 2) – Lobster Cult, February 2010
  • Born Again Michael – Eternal Night: a Vampire Anthology, Living Dead Press, January 2010
  • Legs Unwilling – Rotten Leaves, January 2010
  • Sarah Palin, 12, Strikes for Workers – Oprah Read This > Oprah, Read This
  • Charactered Pieces – Vain Magazine, issue 7, Summer 2009
  • The Camel of Morocco – Pear Noir!, Issue 1, January 2009
  • Globe Valve – Full of Crow, MiCrow supplement, Summer 2009
  • An Optimist is the Human Personification of Spring (2009)
  • E!Morphosis – Colored Chalk, Issue 6, February 2009
  • Emoticon – Pela Via’s blog, December 2009
  • It Sparks – Sideshow Fables, issue 1, Summer 2009
  • Norman Rockwell Nostalgia – Full of Crow, October 2009
  • Reviews: Caroline Meyer’s Hidden Cigarette Butt, Joel Reynolds’s Dried Bar of Soap – 1000th Monkey, Issue 2, Spring 2009
  • Snake Girl at Scab – 3:AM Magazine, October 2008
  • The Word Will Die Too – Cherry Bleeds, March/April 2009
  • The Camp – Literary House Review, Second Annual Edition, 2008
  • Eyelid – Colored Chalk, Issue 5, November 2008
  • Formaldehyde – Red Fez, December 2008
  • A Trench is No Place For God – Nefarious Muse, March 2008, Cause & Effect, issue 7, Winter 2009
  • Car Dodging – No Record Press, January 2008
  • Exhibit One – A Letter from Alex Fumar – Colored Chalk, Issue 2, June 2008
  • The Barber Who Calls Himself Ferguson – Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens, Issue 7, January 2008
  • Vertigo Unbalanced – Gold Dust Magazine, Issue 14, Autumn 2008, reprinted in Solid Gold, September 2009, reprinted in Nova Parade, July 2012
  • Dry Dot – Present Magazine, December 2007
  • Our Guy – Word Riot, Sept 2007, Orange Alert Podcast, April 2010
  • Refill – The Green Muse, V.1 Ed.4, Aug 2006, Troubadour 21, Dec 2009
  • 5″ x 6″ in a Sturdy Frame – Vestal Review, Issue 27, Oct 2006
  • Petty Injuries – Dogmatika, June 2006

Published Non-Fiction

  • Denis Johnson Almost Drank My Pee – Dark Sky Magazine blog, September 2011
  • Even Strippers Bleed Red – Undie Press, June 2011
  • Will Write for ACID Roam – BULL Men’s Fiction, 2011
  • The Author Who Gets Free Drinks: a (Hopefully) True Story – Cannoli Pie Magazine, July 2010, Broken Piano For President, April 2012
  • A Chinese Gemini (2009)

Press Kits

Click for bios, author photos, book covers and more.

Platform Building

Click to find a collection of various audience building, platform building, marketing, and readership engagement initiatives.

Skills & Proficiencies

Skills

A/B Testing, Product Management, User Experience, Usability Testing, Web Accessibility, Digital Marketing, Search Engine Optimization.

Proficiencies

Google Suite, Microsoft Suite, Google Analytics, Google Data Studio, Datorama, Salesforce, GameMaker Studio, WordPress, CyberLink PowerDirector

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