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Write a Terrific Author Bio

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Blogger: Rachelle Gardner

Sometimes it’s hard to believe how difficult it can be to write about yourself in a bio—after all, you’re a writer! But I understand it’s not as simple as that, so here are a few tips to make it easier.

1. Write your bio in first person for query letters, third person for most other purposes including proposals, book jackets, article bylines.

2. Make it professional but you also need to convey personality and writing style. Don’t try too hard to be funny, but include something that makes you seem like a real person.

3. What gives you credibility? What makes you interesting? What helps people connect with you? (When you’re on Twitter, Facebook or your blog, what kinds of posts seem to get the most comments?) These are things you can briefly include.

4. If your book centers on something specific—the Civil War, for example—are you a member of a Civil War society? Have you published any articles in historical journals? Include that.

5. Try not to include too much “resumé” type information–education, job history, etc. because it tends to be boring. Only include what’s relevant to the book you’re pitching.

6. As you write a bio, consider carefully the purpose of the bio – who is the audience? Is it agents and editors? Is it your blog readers? Tailor it to this audience.

How to write a bio if you have no publishing credits:

  • If you’re a member of a writers’ organization such as SCBWI, ACFW or ASJA, you can mention it.
  • You can mention if you’re a member of critique group or if you have a degree in literature or writing.
  • Don’t say something like “I’ve been writing stories since I was two years old.”
  • Keep it short and sweet, i.e. “Jane Smith is a fifth grade teacher in Bellingham, Washington, and is a member of ACFW.”

A bio for a query letter:

  • For FICTION, if you’re unpublished, it should be one to two sentences—about 50 words or fewer.
  • For NON-FICTION, it should be longer, enough sentences to establish your credits, credentials, and/or platform in the subject matter of your book.

Some tips for the process of writing a bio:

  • Read author bios in a couple dozen different books. Note what you like and don’t like.
  • Make a list of things you MIGHT want to say about yourself. Try to list 20 to 30 things—don’t self-edit, because you don’t want to leave anything out. Later you can choose the best elements to include.
  • Write two or three bios of different lengths so that you have them ready when you need them.
  • Trade author bios with a writer friend and help each other make them interesting.

Wanna show us your brief author bio? Put it in the comments!

Let’s respond to each others’ bios. Be constructive but nice!

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  1. OOh, fun! My bio’s out w/my proposal right now, so I won’t include it. But my agent gave me this UBER-HELPFUL hint–

    Use action verbs as much as possible.

    In other words, not “Heather has lots of newspaper writing experience”–more like “Heather captivated local newspaper readers with her feature articles, including a series on Bed and Breakfasts.” Well, not those exact words, but it really amps up the intensity of your bio.

    Writing in 3rd person is just…weird. But for the proposal, it does work!

    Helpful post today, Rachelle!

    Reply

  2. This would be my bio (using third person) for a thriller/suspense that would have a big component that deals with the International Space Station:

    Lori has been fascinated about rockets, astronauts, and stars since she was a little girl. She is a technical writer for an engineering company and has been writing mostly for the International Space Station for the last (insert x amount of) years. This is her first work of fiction.

    Reply

    • Lori, I really like the connection of your current job, your interests, and the subject of your novel. You certainly sound qualified to me! I’ve read, though, that you ought not include that this is a first work of anything, whether it be fiction, non-fiction, children’s, etc. Rachelle, what is your advice on that?

      Reply

      • I wrote “This is her first work of fiction.” mainly because I wanted to emphasize that the book is definitely fiction and not non-fiction.

  4. How neat. Here’s the one from my website. It might be too wordy. For a recent agent query, all I posted was that I was the author of Little Shepherd.

    Cheryl Malandrinos is a freelance writer, children’s author, and editor. Her first children’s book, Little Shepherd, was released in August 2010 by Guardian Angel Publishing. Her next book is due out in the fall of 2012. She is a member of the SCBWI, a book reviewer and blogger. Ms. Malandrinos lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband and two children. She also has a son who is married.

    Reply

  5. This is my bio that I included in a query for a novel (women’s fiction) about a third-year law student who writes her own prenup, afraid that she won’t be allowed to use her sound mind if she says, “I do.”

    I am an ACFW member and have twice attended the Indianapolis Christian Writers Conference. I have a Juris Doctorate from Indiana University (no, I did not write my own prenup in law school!) and a B.A. in English from Millikin University, and I have taught Composition 101 at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana. I won several awards and achieved publication through high school and college. After a break to complete my graduate education and birth six children, I had several articles and short stories published.

    Rachelle, what is your advice on including “cutesy” details like skipping high school calculus to take creative writing twice?

    Reply

  7. Jennifer Major is a West Coast girl living happily on the East Coast with her husband and four children. She is a wife, mother, part time missionary and full time friend. She has swum in the Amazon River and watched the sun rise over the Andes. She writes part time for her local newspaper and full-time for her readers. She blogs and Facebooks, Twitters and is a member of ACFW.
    When she has free time she loves to spend time with her fellow moms and feed them her gourmet cheesecakes.

    Reply

  8. Oh, this is fun! I think it’s important to preface mine with the fact that I write American Revolutionary War romances, often set around a farm.

    As the granddaughter of a New England dairy farmer, I was able to draw much of my information regarding running a farm from my father. My background is in science, and my undergraduate research was published in The Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry. I continue to write technical reports for a pharmaceutical company. I was elected as secretary of my local chapter of Romance Writers of America for 2013. I’m currently living my happily-ever-after with my husband, four children, pets, and a large garden.

    Reply

  11. This is a fun post, I love seeing the diversity of all the other readers. 🙂

    Melissa K. Norris writes inspirational historical romance novels. Her stories inspire people to draw closer to God and their pioneer roots. She found her own little house in the big woods, where she lives with her husband and two children in the Cascade Mountains. She writes a monthly column, Pioneering Today, for the local newspaper that bridges her love of the past with its usefulness in modern life. Her books and articles are inspired by her family’s small herd of beef cattle, her amateur barrel racing days, and her forays into quilting and canning—without always reading the directions first.

    Reply

  13. Very timely post, thanks everyone for sharing. I need to write a more professional bio. Here’s first draft hot from my keyboard, comments welcome:

    Anne Love writes full length Christian Historical Romance novels from rural settings of the 19th century. She works full time in Northern Indiana as a Family Nurse Practitioner, and balances out her life as a wife and mother with blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads and of course coffee. She is a member of ACFW, has participated in Scribes critique groups and has attended ACFW Indianapolis and Denver where she met her critique partner and fellow blogger. Her roots and faith are Mennonite, but neither she nor her heroines wear bonnets.

    Reply

  14. Thank you. Read your blog and went from being stumped to writing this bio.
    Harrie Farrow had an idyllic childhood growing up in the Virgin Islands. Her 20s were filled with adventure (dead head/hippie style), travel and education – including graduating summa cum laude from San Francisco State with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Human Sexual Studies. A brief carrier in freelance writing back in the Virgin Islands was followed – in her 30s and 40s – with a move to the Ozarks, where she opened and operated a fine dining restaurant, raised a son (soccer mom!), designed a beautiful house, wrote this novel, nearly finished another novel, and did more traveling. After the breakup of a 35 year long relationship, losing her restaurant and home, and gaining a grandson, she returned to freelance writing, this time doing investigative reporting. Waking up to find four slashed tires on her car convinced her to quit that line of work and instead focus on finally publishing “Love Sex and Understanding the Universe” and finish writing “Bonita verses Ivan Rasta Man and the Monkey Go Round.”

    Reply

  15. Hello everyone,

    My first children’s book is with my illustrator and I am preparing to write my bio. I am a substitute teacher with degrees in Psychology and English. Should I provide all of this information?

    Reply

  16. It’s always so hard to write about yourself!! Thank you for the wonderful ideas in your post Rachelle.

    OK…here goes…

    Having lived in a haunted house as a child, Kris Koniar has always been fascinated by things that go bump in the night. Her ghostly experiences and love of a romance come together in her stories, creating a chilling and at times funny reading experience for her readers.

    A transplanted Yank, Kris lives in Ontario, Canada with her handsome husband, techy son, rolly polly kitty and a lizard named Stubby. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking with her family, in the never ending search for the perfect subject for her photographer husband.

    Reply