Write it in third person refer to yourself in your bio in the third personas he or she, not i. Tips and advice on writing an author biography including useful author bio. If youre pitching article ideas, you dont have an author bio and youve never been published even if youre hoping to write a free guest blog post send a fully written article. Im not saying its the very best way to write an author bio, in fact, many of the best examples below do not fit this template. This article will cover both what you need to include in your author bio and some examples of tight professional bios. She has more than 25 years of writing, teaching, and social work experience. How to write a short professional bio with templates and.
Writers are often advised to write bios that read like jacket copy, but catching the eye of an agent is about convincing her that youre just as marketable as your book is. Your books author bio tells potential readers who you are, and why they should trust you and buy your book. When it comes to writing a bio, never use words like i and me because writing a bio in first person is an awkward read. A byline is a short paragraph that tells readers a little bit about the author and how to contact the author or read additional content by the author. Apr 22, 2014 while all five of these tips will help you make a better bio, tips 2 and 3 are the best advice for how to write an author bio that sells books. Nonfiction back cover copy for nonfiction, establishing yourself. Sep 26, 2017 how to write an author bio and byline examples. But, many people asked for an easy to follow template, and this is what we use with our authors. If you are an author, probably you will want an author bio. Writing your author bio can be a daunting task, but a wellcrafted bio can help readers learn more about what makes you and your books so. For nonfiction authors, the author bio is a critical marketing tool as who are you are is often as or more.
In other words, avoid using i as your sentence subject but utilize your name or last name instead. A clean and acceptable short bio with credentials might go. How to write an author bio page book edits by jessi. However, the general practice is to write your bio in the third person. Remember to enlist the aid of a professional graphic artist to help create a visually compelling book cover for your work. Aug 09, 2018 a wellexecuted author bio will intrigue potential readers and entice them to buy your book.
What you include should focus on who you are as a writer, not what youd share in your personal facebook or twitter profile. Writing your book proposal bio the steve laube agency. Theyd walk off with a copy of the book based on the bio. Its how readers get to know you beyond the pages of your book. The following year, baum scored an even bigger hit with the.
Visit amazon author central, click on your book, and add it in the about the author section or if you published a paperback version of your book on createspace, you can enter the bio in the author biography section for your book. How to write a standout author bio the happy selfpublisher. As ive advised before, you should dig into the online store that youre selling on. While your books are a great way to introduce yourself, an author bio can set you. Some authors choose one or the other, though i recommend taking advantage of both.
Theres nothing wrong with being a firsttime author, and when it comes to the credible portion of this amazon bio you are working, or reworking. Oct 22, 2015 writing your author bio can be a daunting task, but a wellcrafted bio can help readers learn more about what makes you and your books so interesting. You should regularly maintain your bio on places like your bookbub author profile so fans and potential readers seeking you out can learn more about you and why they should pick up your latest book. Rowling, is a british author, film producer, television producer. Not only is it useful to know what you need to include in an author bio, it is also useful to see examples of how your vital information should look. In our occasional series about the special art of writing marketing copy for authors, american author and professional copywriter bryan cohen shares five ways to optimise your author. Give the reader a birdseye view of your writing life or what led you to write your books. Alternatively, if you have an author friend, you can enlist his help to write one for you in exchange for you writing one for him. The whole idea is to make people care about you, be curious about you. This article will cover both what you need to include in your. You are by no means obligated to include any or all of these details. Dont sabotage it with selfcongratulatory adjectives and boastful sentences. Here is a great blog post from rachelle gardner about how to write a terrific author bio.
Publishers frequently put the foreword authors name on the cover, sometimes more prominently than the name of the books author. Its an invigorating feeling, receiving ones first acceptance letter from an editor. May 02, 2016 how to write an author bio even if you dont have experience may 2, 2016 march 20, 2017 craft, resources one of the most fearsome things about getting published is the dreaded author bio. The only rule for an author bio, and its more of a guideline, is to make sure you are writing an author bio. Although you are writing the author bio, it still needs to be written in the third person no matter how quirky it is. Its the media relations tool that tells reporters, producers, bloggers and other media gatekeepers that your personal history gives you the perfect credentials for this novel or that your professional. The bio you write today will look completely different in five years time. How to write a memorable author bio with template reedsy blog. In any bio, you want to focus on your job qualifications. Writing an author bio examples of professional bios. Book summary and author bio on the back of the book. In most online content, the author bio can be seen at the end of the article. A clean and acceptable short bio with credentials might go something like this. How to write a terrific author bio rachelle gardner.
Mention the most relevant professional, educational, travel, or personal experiences. In general, your bio should include these four elements. How to write your author bio even if youre writing your very first book. Of course, your author bio is just one aspect of improving your amazon author. For firsttime indie authors, writing a compelling author bio can be difficult. Check out the post writing your book proposal bio on the steve laube agency website for your author photo april 30, 2018 number of questions were raised when i wrote about the. How to write an author bio even if you dont have experience. An effective author bio is short and highlights basic professional information about the author. Publishers frequently put the foreword author s name on the cover, sometimes more prominently than the name of the book s author. If your book is a comedy, they make your bio humorous.
Include achievements that build credibility or are interesting to the reader. But if you rely on your publisher to write your author bio for you, it may end up something like this. Jun 17, 2019 if youve been published in other literary journals or have an mfa or both, toot your horn. The third example shows how part of the back cover copy the author bio, in this case can show up on the inside flap of a hard cover book. Dont sound pompous your books author bio is not an ad. The six rules you should use to write a professional bio. Its an invigorating feeling, receiving ones first acceptance letter. Apr 12, 2018 find the perfect marketer for your book. The back cover bio is a chance to impress a potential reader, while the inside bio is often the last impression made on a. Its likely your bio will include awards or achievements in relevant fields to the topic of your book. Where to use a short professional bio about the author section at the back of your book.
Even if the book was written in first person, your author bio should not be. A wellexecuted author bio will intrigue potential readers and entice them to buy your book. Nov 16, 2017 a good author bio introduces your potential reader to you and also helps search engines pull your author website more easily by using keywordrich descriptions when you enter your book metadata. Your author bio will continue to change as you work on new projects and build your cv. Writing your author bio can be a daunting task, but a wellcrafted bio can help readers learn more about what makes you and your books so interesting. If youve been published in other literary journals or have an mfa or both, toot your horn. Tony cliff is the author of delilah dirk and the turkish lieutenant. After her father died, she was raised by her widowed. As an unpublished author, it is hard to know the exact way to go about doing this. Your author bio is an important book press kit element because it is pretty much the only tool you have to make the case that you are the best person to write this book and to write it well. How to write your first author bio writing forward.
Learn how to make the most out of your author bio by experimenting with these tips. Sure, bios are usually written in the third person, but we all know that the authors write them. How to write an author bio that sells books ben zackheim. I will show you the tricks of the trade to send off an impressive bio, even if you have never been published before. To begin your bio, always remember to write in the third person. An author bio is always written in the third person. Within days of rowling being revealed as the author, sales of the book rose by 4,000%, and little brown printed another 140,000 copies to meet the increase in demand. Keeping a few key ideas in mind can make the process a lot easierand the results more successful. Some authors choose one or the other, though i recommend taking. Id show the book to people at book fairs and signing events, and theyd flip the book over, read the bio, and laugh. Octavia estelle butler june 22, 1947 february 24, 2006 was an africanamerican science fiction author. The cringing, seat shifting, pentapping task gets them every time, and every single one of them groaned in unison. An authors page, or authors bio, is typically located at the end of a book and is meant to tell readers a little about the author of the book. How to write an authors page for a book pen and the pad.
W, is the author of growing forward when you cant go back. While all five of these tips will help you make a better bio, tips 2 and 3 are the best advice for how to write an author bio that sells books. Over 300,000 authors trust the professionals on reedsy, come meet them. Here are some tips and tricks for writing a short bio. Mention any books youve written, and your website but dont oversell.
How to write an author bio that will help you sell more books. How to write a kickass amazon bio to sell more books author. Here are some reallife author bios that combine most or all of the tips above. Jul 07, 2011 your author bio is an important book press kit element because it is pretty much the only tool you have to make the case that you are the best person to write this book and to write it well. Your bio can be witty or straightforwardly informational, and the tone you take will be informed by both your personality and the author brand you are. So, weve provided the hints, tips and instructions. Pop the champagne cork, and put a party hat on your cat. By benjamin graham and david dodd, features the foreword author over the. If it is a romance, perhaps write about how you met your spouse. Often, author bios include some personal information such as where the author lives and who with, and maybe even a few hobbies he or she enjoys especially if they are somehow of pertinence to your writing subject matter. How to write an amazing author bio book marketing for. A multiple recipient of both the hugo and nebula awards, she became in 1995 the first sciencefiction writer to receive a macarthur fellowship.
In general, however, a micro bio is usually two to three short sentences, similar to those in twitter and website bylines, while a short bio may have about 100 words or three to five short paragraphs. You also need to clearly show why youre qualified to write your proposed book. Its important for indie authors to know how to write an author bio that tells readers. Nov 29, 2017 how to write your author bio even if youre writing your very first book. Once you have written a short, medium and long bio, save each of them on your computer, usb or cloud storage system. Nonfiction back cover copy for nonfiction, establishing yourself as an expert and differentiating your book from the others written about the same topic will help sell your book. John doe received an mfa in fiction from writing university in 2006. Mar 23, 2017 an author s page, or author s bio, is typically located at the end of a book and is meant to tell readers a little about the author of the book. Rick mofina is a former journalist who has interviewed murderers on death row.
Please remember that the best way to create a meaningful and authentic author bio is to write it with lots of care and caution. A byline is a short paragraph that tells readers a little bit about the author and how to contact the author or read additional content by the. When writing a book, there are two potential places to include your author bio. Seuss was planning on being a professor before he became a childrens book author. Additionally, youll have many drafts and varieties of this author bio. Frank baum had his first bestselling childrens book with 1899s father goose, his book. But at the end of that email, youll usually realize they want you to. When you wrote your amazon book page, how much thought did you put into the. Of course, your author bio is just one aspect of improving your amazon author profile.
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