Blogger: Mary Keeley
Compared to manuscript re-writes, growing your social media relationships, and working on your marketing plan for your proposal, writing your bio may seem like a perfunctory task that needs only cursory attention. Not so. It’s often the short pieces that are the most challenging to write well. Your bio is a tiny window into who you are professionally and personally.
Actually, you should have several versions of your bio for different audiences. When you approach your bio in terms of the specific group that will be reading it, you’ll see why you need more than one. For example, the bio you include in your book proposal, which will be read by agents and editors, will differ from the one on your website and the one on the back cover of your published book.
Take a look at your current bio and ask yourself if you can improve it in any of these general areas:
1. Can I tighten it? Can you replace wordy phrases with a few well-chosen words, leaving room for something important you didn’t think you had space to include?
2. Do my word choices sound natural to me and to my writing style? In its ideal form, your bio is a microcosm of your expertise, personality, and voice. I see many bios that expound on the author’s credentials but are either lacking or trying too hard in the others. Show your natural personality and voice to let potential readers connect with you. It may help you to read your current bio aloud to identify words and phrases that seem unnatural to you. Those spots might need tweaking.
3. Do my various versions include the most important information for their intended uses? Agents and editors discern much from what you include—and don’t include—in your bio. It’s appropriate for nonfiction writers to add education and professional honors that apply to their topic because it validates their authority. But that kind of bio information in your romance proposal might seem out of place and be interpreted that you’re trying too hard to impress. However, including travels or residence in Ireland inspires confidence that the Irish setting for your historical romance is accurate. Including membership in national and international organizations may pique a publishing professional’s interest in your nonfiction work in terms of platform strength. Likewise, it is appropriate for debut novelists to include membership in local and national fiction groups like ACFW and RWA.
4. Is my bio grammatically correct? As with your manuscript and proposal, your bio should have no grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors. When in doubt, consult The Chicago Manual of Style.
5. Does my overall tone communicate professionalism? Your bio always should project you as a professional, even if you’ve never been published. You want to establish yourself as an authority to build confidence in you. If you don’t feel like a professional, you might just need to practice thinking of yourself that way. Or, it might be an indication that you need to do more writing and growing in craft before you are ready to submit.
6. What about my social media profile descriptions? The focus on social media sites is to connect with your audience and build relationships. Your profile description on these sites is another type of bio, and it can be tricky to balance professionalism and the relationship factor. Ask your critique partners, family members, or friends to read those descriptions and offer comments.
Writing a great bio takes time and thought. But once you have written bio and profile templates for different audiences, it’s only a matter of updating important information and tweaking them for each new book or social media network.
Which areas in your current bio need polishing or revising? What part of writing your bio is most challenging for you? Are your personality and voice visible?
TWEETABLES:
Literary agent Mary Keeley offers six tips for writing a professional author bio. Click to Tweet.
A well-written bio is a microcosm of a writer’s expertise, personality, and voice. Click to Tweet.
What to include and not include in your debut author bio. Click to Tweet.
It can be challenging to write different bios. After all, a writer is only one person. Yet, we all wear many different hats.
Here is what I do. I try to switch places with the readers or the listeners (my audience) for the given bio. Then I think what would be purposeful and of interest to communicate with them.
I LOVE quilts, but I don’t think that is purposeful or of interest to my tweens readers. . . unless we are talking t-shirt quilts maybe. On the other hand, mentioning that I live near the world’s largest catsup bottle (which I do) might be a little tidbit that would whet their appetite to read more.
“I try to switch places with the readers or the listeners (my audience) for the given bio.” Great idea, Carol. Of course, it might be a bit harder for a newer writer to think like an agent or editor, but it might help to view them as a potential business partner.
Dear Mary: Always great information and from a point of view I hadn’t really thought of. Thank you for all your efforts to inform us. Jacqueline Gillam Fairchild
I know I would be relieved to have those different bios completed and ready, but it’s difficult to get over the general ickiness of writing about myself and just get them done. The most challenging part for me is letting my voice shine through without sounding cutesy or just plain dorky. I’ll definitely be implementing your suggestion, Mary, to have my beta reader and other writers critique them. I love reading others’ bios and have yet to read one that I would label cutesy or dorky. So I’m hoping I’m just overly critical on my own.
It’s uncomfortable to write about yourself. It’s like a tug of war. On one hand, you know you need to promote yourself confidently. But you want to be honest and not overdo it. That’s where your voice can come in to help. Since your sensitivity already is tuned to these nuances, I’m guessing you really are being overly critical of yours.
Thank you, Mary. I’ll forge ahead….
Mary, this is so helpful. I have a short bio for my blogsite, and I’ve used it on my one sheet. Though it needs to be updated. I haven’t written longer ones. As one who hasn’t needed to have a number of different bios, can you give me an idea of an approximate word count and the different occasions I might need a bio for (besides my blog? 🙂 I know I need one for a one sheet and for a proposal. Anything else?
Thanks so much for your suggestions. I’ve been thinking about this for a little while now.
Good question, Jeanne. In a proposal, an unpublished author should keep the bio to about 60 words or less. An unpublished author writing nonfiction will need more words to include important education and expertise. Once you are published, your bio will naturally be a little longer to include awards earned and previous books published. So you can see why it’s important to think through the most important information to include and find the best descriptive words to use.
You may be able to use the bio on your one-sheet as a template and tweak it for proposals because both are addressing agents and editors. You’ll need another bio template for your readers that you can tweak for your website, blog, social media profile…and hooray!…the back cover of your published book.
Jeanne, thanks for asking this question for those of us who are at the beginning stages of our writing careers.
Mary, I’d like to make a suggeston. One of the most helpful things I’ve done is read the bios (and marketing material) of my favorite authors. It’s good to absorb the tone they take, as well as expose myself to how they present themselves. Just this little bit of healthy distance helped me determine how to position myself in their market.
Thank you for another great post!
Excellent suggestion, Norma!
I tell myself that I was born on the Greek island of Narcis, and that’s the only reason I’m a Narcissist. And I did see a very pale red-headed Greek man once, so I can almost be telling a itty-bitty bit of the truth. 😉
Writing a bio is both simple and difficult for me. One part of my brain says “And and now for the good part!!” and the other (more Christ-like, well behaved part…the part where normal people live) part struggles to NOT sound braggy and un-professional. And I’m Canadian, which ups the “don’t brag” factor.
Some things are simple, like that I write for a newspaper and am there to share my opinion while not offending anyone. Which actually is possible. But other things, like saying that a blogpost I did got roughly 7000-9000 views truly is hard to say because it really does feel like “woooo,look at me!!” I mean, yes, I’m really proud of it, but I do feel entirely uncomfortable saying that, even though it broadened my blog reach in a freakishly huge way.
Even though I just did say that, we’re all friends here, so although I feel weird saying it, I hope people don’t think “Yup, bragging.”
So, do I include that wee bit of info?Do I say “And her blog recently hosted an actor known for his roles in…” and come across as sharing information and accomplishments?
Or is it over the top arrogance?Honestly, please, peeps, I’d love to know your thoughts.
And I’m one of those people who needs to restrain my voice until I pass security… so feel free to volunteer to write my bio…anyone? Come on, it’ll be fun!
Which is not to say I can’t be all grown up-ish…hushing up now….
If the 7,000-9,000 views doesn’t apply to your blog directly, you should at most include a phrase like, “…with multiplied name recognition through guest posts.” And that keeps it tight…only 7 words .
Jennifer, a substantial blog reach is valuable information in your bio for agents and editors, especially when the author is unpublished. It also might inspire new followers who see this information in your bio on the back cover of your published book. It’s all about HOW you say it. If you give the range and growth rate factually, it will sound professional and also should keep the wording tight.
Mary, thank you!
Would it be sufficient to say “Jennifer’s blog itself had 600 hits, while Mr XXXXX estimates 7000-9000 views of the blogpost, which was posted on both his personal and professional Facebook pages.”
Another question, do I need his permission to quote his emails, stating the exact numbers, directly for my bio?
Thank you, this is a great post, and very beneficial.
Great information, Mary. I was just writing the bio for my one sheet and wasn’t quite sure what info to include. I omitted anything personal and kept it strictly professional, talking about my education, contest finals, memberships, and blog. Is that okay or should I add in a bit of the personal? The one sheet is so short I didn’t want to make my bio too long.
Lindsay, the length of you bio on your one-sheet is somewhat dependent on the amount of space you have. If you are writing nonfiction, your education information is important, especially as it applies to your topic. If you are writing fiction, perhaps you could tighten the education information, or eliminate it if it isn’t relevant to your novel, using the space for a carefully selected tidbit that will connect with readers and show your personality. Inserting your voice will accomplish that too.
Thanks, Mary. So it really is irrelevant that I have a B.A. in Journalism and an M.A. in English (I write fiction)? I definitely don’t say that to brag. I truly want to know. Thank you for your help!
Lindsay, your degrees directly amplify your knowledge of writing so in your case, you’d definitely want to include that information, especially as a yet to be published author.
I have wondered the same thing about education, Lindsay. My B.A. is English, but I’ve read that that’s irrelevant to readers. I also have a J.D. that could be relevant if I wrote something related, like legal suspense. But if I don’t write legal suspense, does it matter to anyone? Good questions!
Meghan, your degree in English may be irrelevant to readers, but it can carry weight in your bio that agents and editors will see.
Such wonderful tips, Mary! I loved this post and your title, too!
I do have different bios I use. Most versions include a sense of professionalism and a touch of whimsy. As writers, I think we can play upon our strengths and have a little fun while we’re at it.
Yes, Cynthia, fiction writers may have the luxury of a smidgen of whimsy if it (1) isn’t overdone, (2) is representative of the author’s style, (3) is appropriate for the genre, and (4) doesn’t detract from the overall professional tone of the bio. It definitely is important to play up your strengths.
When I read a bio for a fiction author I love to see both the professional and personal side of the author. The professional piece gives me confidence in their ability to tell the story and the personal piece helps to connect me with him or her. When I wrote my bio for my proposal and one-sheet I tried to keep both pieces in mind. I write historical fiction set in Minnesota, so I knew it was pertinent to share that I worked for the Minnesota Historical Society for ten years but more than that I wanted to express my passion for Minnesota history–which then relays my voice.
Thank you for this helpful post.
Gabrielle, you did a great job of balancing both.
I have several bios at present. I have at least three sizes for guest blogging, and I still cut and paste these depending on the site. I have a larger professional one for proposals and a shorter one for my one-sheet. Then, I have my quirkier one for my readers website that has a “less restrained” voice, more like the one I use in my short-stories (on the site) and my interviews of writers. Currently, I use the quirky one for my ministry blog, since I am sometimes quirky on that site, but I really need to make it more serious. Sigh!
Connie, it sounds like you have all the bases covered. It’s just a matter of updating and tweaking for specific uses. Smooth sailing ahead.
A bio is a writers “fifteen minutes” of fame and if it stretches to “20 minutes”, that might just be overdoing it a bit.
That’s an effective way of putting it, donnie.
Thanks, Mary, for the insight you shared in this post. I have multiple versions of my bio — and not sure I like any of them.
This this new information, I’ll look at them afresh tomorrow in hopes to make them shine!
Shine is a good descriptor, Peter.
Thank you, Mary. I’d never given much thought to the importance of my bio before. This post will be saved along with others you’ve written. Good job!
Thanks, Heidi.
Another informative article. Thanks, Mary!
Figuring out what belongs and doesn’t is sometimes difficult, but I think I’m gaining a better feel for it.
Thanks for the tips!
Blessings,
Andrea
You’re welcome, Andrea.
Is it ok to inject humour in your bio? My editor liked that I did that but I hope the audience will be receptive…thanks Jennifer
Jennifer, the tone of your author bio shouldn’t conflict with the tone and subject matter of your book and your genre. A touch of wit or humor is occasionally appropriate but you need to be strategic in using it as a means to show your personality.
I have intuitively known the need for various types of bios, but am still grappling with them! This has been helpful.Thanks.
Glad it was helpful, Jude.
Mary, excellent post! Gives me ideas for how to shape bios for different purposes, including the devotional for which I have the privilege of writing assignments.Nice to know how Bachelor degrees, writing experience, and fun/whimsical material have places to be shared. Thanks for reminding us to allow our voices to come through, too. Timely & relevant! Thanks!
You’re welcome, Lynn. I’m glad it was helpful. That’s our goal here.
Mary, thank you for this. I agree that it is important to take advantage of social media bio opportunities. I blog on the Blogger platform which includes a “View my complete profile” option. Blogger repeats the information that shows on the blogger’s front page, but one can scroll past that and list interests, and favorite movies, music and books. From my perspective, few writers seem to take advantage of this. I think it is useful for telling more about oneself in an unobtrusive way. I had a fellow blogger contact me because one of my favorite movies is “Sophie’s Choice.”