Chris Colston

One word: Authenticity.

OK, maybe two words. Add “Unique.”

The authenticity comes from Colston’s 26 years as a professional sportswriter, including 13 years at USA Today and USA Today Sports Weekly. He’s been there, done that. But his career path is what makes his story remarkable. He had no journalism degree; after graduating from college he worked as a pizza delivery man, managed a corner hot dog stand, built moving crates, and sold shoes. His first journalism job came at rural weekly newspaper with a circulation of 300. From there he joined a university sports department, running its newspaper, circulation 3,000, before landing at USA Today Baseball Weekly, circulation 300,000. That led to covering NFL and

One word: Authenticity.

OK, maybe two words. Add “Unique.”

The authenticity comes from Colston’s 26 years as a professional sportswriter, including 13 years at USA Today and USA Today Sports Weekly. He’s been there, done that. But his career path is what makes his story remarkable. He had no journalism degree; after graduating from college he worked as a pizza delivery man, managed a corner hot dog stand, built moving crates, and sold shoes. His first journalism job came at rural weekly newspaper with a circulation of 300. From there he joined a university sports department, running its newspaper, circulation 3,000, before landing at USA Today Baseball Weekly, circulation 300,000. That led to covering NFL and NBA for USA Today, circulation three million.

How to peg Colston’s genre, other than “pure fun entertainment”? His stuff is contemporary, it’s funny, it’s serious, it’s character-driven—but the plot moves. His books are quick reads, but they have much to say about the state of journalism over the past two decades.

In his travels across America, Colston banked a wealth of memories by covering big-time sports from the inside. He has weaved those experiences into a rollicking series titled American Sportswriter, featuring quick-witted sportswriter James Hoak. But while the series might be labeled “contemporary sports fiction” or “contemporary action-adventure,” the books are really about life—and how we all cope with it.