29: Tips for Writing a Strong Author Biography

I know it's called an author biography, but it isn't a

biography. How long should your author bio be? What should you

include in what should you leave out? Once you have it? Where

should you use it? How can you use an author biography before

you even have a book? Answers to these questions in more on

episode 29 of writing pursuits? Welcome to the writing pursuits

podcast where authors like you discuss writing craft, author,

life and book marketing strategies. I'm your host

Kathrese McKee. I own writing pursuits and write and produce

the weekly newsletter writing proceeds tips for authors. In

addition, I am a speculative fiction author. Writing pursuits

is for authors who drink too much coffee, endure judgemental

looks from their furry writing companions, and struggle for

words. If you are a writer, sinking, encouragement,

information and inspiration, this podcast is for you. Let's

get to it. Hey, writing pursuits, authors. Welcome back

to the podcast. To those of you who are new, I want to extend a

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the show to help others find writing pursuits. The internet

has been out at my house, and I have discovered a few of my

resources, like my intro and outro are available only in the

cloud. So no fancy stuff today. It's just you, me and the mic.

So thank you for listening. Your Author biography is your

business card, your elevator pitch and your introduction

rolled into one. Taking the time to craft a strong author bio

will help you establish a consistent image across your

books and across the internet. I know it's called an author

biography, but it isn't a biography. Not really. So none

fourth of five kids, her family moved to Washington DC when she

was six. Elsa was a twirler at Monument High School and enjoyed

her moment in the spotlight at the New Year's Day Parade in New

York City. When she was a senior, she met her husband Gary

during her sophomore year at St somebody's College, and so on.

They'll write your future Wikipedia biography. Stick with

high level detail and strive to make a reader connection.

Instead, the first thing you need to do is understand the

purpose of an author biography. For nonfiction author

biographies, the author bio is about establishing credentials

and authority. Lead with your credentials. If you don't have

the fancy credentials after your name, and you are approaching

your topic from life experience. How do you know what you were

talking about? You need to communicate that are you a

cancer survivor? Did you lose 50 pounds and keep it off? How are

you uniquely suited to discuss your topic? Make your abilities

and expertise clear. I chose the following example from among the

current Amazon nonfiction bestsellers. This author

biography is from the Author Central page for reference. It

is 121 words long. Elaine Rebelo LCSW is the author of The Best

Selling baby sign language made easy. The Complete Guide to baby

sign language and my first book of baby signs. Her latest book

is baby sign language songs and games, which includes 65 fun and

easy language building activities to help teach little

ones signed. She is the founder of tiny signs and award winning

baby sign language program as a licensed social worker. Elaine

worked for many years with families in the Boston area.

first baby was born, and was amazed by all she had to say she

lives with her husband and two children in Massachusetts. You

can find Elaine online at Tiny signs.com Instagram at Tiny

signs. Let's dissect Elaine rebels author bio. First,

she states her name and follows it with her professional

credential LC S W, which stands for licensed clinical social

worker. Then she lists her other books and their purpose to teach

little ones signs. She is co founder of tiny signs. She

mentions her years of experience in the field and ends on a

personal note. Finally, she mentioned her website In her

main social media profile, she has chosen a corporate

identifier of tiny signs for her company website and Instagram

account. Okay, now for someone who doesn't have any letters

after her name, but has had some success in her space. Let's

study Jin fishes author bio Jin fish, creator of the blog keto

in the city, and international best selling cookbook author is

passionate about offering simple solutions for following the

ketogenic lifestyle. She has a single working mother, who has

battled autoimmune disorders for 20 years, and has turned to the

kitchen to find simple, delicious ways to make the

ketogenic diet work for her busy lifestyle. With a loyal

Instagram following at her page at Quito in the city, her

of visitors through her blog. Kitty Quito in the city.com. Jen

is one of the top influencers in the ketogenic space. She is not

a nutritionist or trained chef, just a determined mom who

searched high and low for a way of eating that would reduce the

inflammation caused by her autoimmune disorders, and allow

her to feel like the very best version of herself. She lives

with her daughter in Hermosa Beach, California website Quito

in the city.com. Forward slash blog Jin's author bio is 159

words long. The bio begins with her name and something she has

done to establish authority in her space, a well known blog

among keto diet fans, she mentions her why her personal

struggle with autoimmune issues. This fact may help readers feel

connected. She mentions her Instagram account and her

YouTube channel appropriately named Quito in the city. This

establishes her accessibility and her brand. Notice how she

mentions she is not a nutritionist, or a trained chef.

This builds rapport with her readers who are not

nutritionists or train chefs either. Her lack of formal

credentials, actually empowers potential readers to pick up her

book and give the recipes a try. She ends on a personal note and

includes the link to her website. Both authors establish

their credibility in different ways. Both make an implied

promise of success to anyone who reads their author biography

well done for fiction biographies, the author BIOS

intended to establish rapport and connections with your

reader. Go light on awards if you mentioned them at all. Your

bio must fit your brand, your identity and your genre. Study

the best selling authors in your genre, not their achievements,

but the way they connect with the readers by naming common

interests, weird characteristics and making a promise. I know I

know. Stephen King's biography is a litany of successes, but

I'm just gonna say it's very boring. Much better is the

author bio for James L. RW Bart, which is 122 words long. James

L. Rubert, is 28 years old, but lives trapped inside an older

man's body. He thinks he's still young enough to water ski like a

madman and dirt bike with his two grown sons and loves to send

readers on mind bending spiritual journeys, though

remember months after they finish one of his stories. He's

the best selling Christie Hall of Fame Carol inspy and RT book

reviews, award winning author of 10 novels, co author of the time

traveling detective series, the true lives of friend Brent

stone, co owner of the Rube art writing Academy and an audio

book NARRATOR He lives with his amazing wife in a small town in

eastern Washington. more at www James L. rubert.com. And on

Facebook at www facebook.com. Forward slash James L remark.

Let's take a closer look. James leads with humor. That bit about

the 28 year old living in an older man's body. It was great.

He mentioned two high impact sports waterskiing and dirt

biking. This establishes his brand for high adventure. He

promises mind bending spiritual journeys that are memorable.

Then he fills his audience in on his credentials, his awards, his

past work and his writing Academy. He ends on a personal

note and finally he mentioned his website in a way to medium

on social media now seems like a good moment to break away remind

you the writing pursuits is run by three smokey, who've been

new level of excellence. To three says a three story method,

certified editor who specializes in story diagnostics, coaching

in line editing to help you prepare your story for the

journey ahead. For more information, go to writing

pursuits.com. The link is in the show notes. Sometimes I forget

to mention my editing services. So thank you for your patience.

Let's go over a few tips for writing a strong author

biography. One, figure out what makes you unique. also figure

out the promise you are making to your readers. Right in third

person, this is a hard and fast tradition. Don't stand out for

the wrong reason. Three, don't be shy. Use your first and last

name or your pin name immediately to three smokey blah

blah. For try to fashion one line that sums you up Think of

it like the tagline of a book from the examples we went

through earlier. I think Jin Jin fish did the best job Jen fish

creator of the blog keto and the city, and international best

selling cookbook author is passionate about offering simple

solutions for following the ketogenic lifestyle. That's a

great one line, summit up high level bio, you need to try to

fashion that one line that sums you up. Think of it like the

tagline of a book, it's going to be short, sweet. Every line it's

going to every word is going to count, make it something that

you could offer to somebody or at least a variation of it. So

they would know who you were, if you just met them. Now add two

to three more sentences for total of 150 words or less, keep

it tight. Do not be satisfied by your first attempt, create at

least 10 versions. And you'll be amazed by the results. Six,

you're not going to write one author bio you're going to write

for make one long bio up to 300 words for your about page on

your website, may as well have it one medium bio of about 200

words, your normal bio of about 150 words or less. And your

short short bio your one liner, you know it can be two lines,

just make it short. All right. So I would suggest that you go

in reverse order, right, you're very short one first add to it

to make the normal one, that's when you're going to work the

hardest on then the stuff that you really, really want it to be

in that one, add it to the next bigger one. And then you know

you can get a little bit verbose, verbose on your about

page. Someone if they get to your about page, they're really

interested in you. So that's fine. Seven, be completely

honest, fabricated awards, honors, experience levels,

titles, achievements, those if you fabricate those things that

will come back to haunt you. readers want authenticity, and

they will turn on you like a shark frenzy. If you get caught

in a lie, and you will you will get caught in a lie. If you make

stuff up for your MIO, just don't do it. Eight. Hire a

professional photographer to create your headshot. Nine if

you have a series or previous novel, go ahead and mention it.

10 always include your website URL if you have one. Failing

that, or your favorite tag for social media. So if you have an

Instagram account, and you don't have website mentioned your

Instagram thing where people can find you and make a connection

11 Leave out high school accomplishments. Can I get an

amen on that? For nonfiction it is probably desirable to mention

your highest degree level in whatever field for fiction

mentioned degrees or positions only if it bears on the genre

you write. Here's a fictional example. Billy writer MD was

the executive director and chief medical examiner for murder

County for 27 years, adding the weight of his experience and

know how to his who've done it. That makes perfect sense. You

mentioned he's an Emmy because he writes who done it. So if

your professional background has something to do with your

fiction, that's a great way to use it. 12 An author bio needs

to be evaluated periodically to see if it can be updated and

improved. And first, the author bio seems like a set it and

forget it piece of material. But things change. Readers change,

we change. So put your bio evaluation on your annual list

of tasks. Also, your author headshot, the one you paid for

will need to change no matter how attached you get to the one

from 20 years ago. Okay, where does an author bio go your

author Biography whether you are still aspiring or fully fledged

is one of the more useful pieces of material you can create.

Before you have a book. Before you have a book, you need to

stake out your social media territory. For a name like mine,

Kathrese. McKee, this hasn't been a problem. But Jane Doe has

a problem. There's already an author by that name, or at least

there is an author who has claimed Jane Doe as their

identity. So the next Jane Doe has a problem. Let's make

believe Jane Doe stands for any fairly common name. On the

surface their author name seems unique, but on closer

examination, it isn't. So as soon as you have committed to

being an author, for real this time, claim your name or

standard variation like author Jane Doe, or Jane Z doe, on

every major social platform. Search for your desired user ID

on every platform before you make your decision. Also, search

Google, Amazon, Kobo, and anywhere else you can think of

and Jane Doe, the math nerd on another, it's time to find a

standard. Okay, I know that was a math joke. Sorry, everybody.

Try. It is not always possible to secure a standard identifier.

But try it's kind of like a handle like the tiny signs or

kedo. In the city or James L remark. You want to try to be

standard across platforms. Because it's part of your

branding, create a profile with your headshot, author, name, and

bio on every major social platform, you do not need to be

active on every platform. But stick out your identity claim

your handle, eventually you want to point to your website from

everywhere. When you have your book, stake out. Maybe YouTube,

Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, you can go on

Goodreads as a reader in it's okay to use a different reader

profile while you learn about the platform. Same is true for

BookBub you can go on there as a reader and you don't have to

have the same reader profile as your author profile will

eventually be and I don't think you can claim to be an author

without a book.

That's a good way to learn the the platform before it becomes a

necessity in your writing life. Snapchat Tik Tok anyplace you

might eventually be on social media. That's a great way to tie

it down. It's also a great way to keep someone else from

snagging your your identity, not like your personal information,

but your brand. If you if you can save your name, or a

variation of your name, or your brand, whatever you're going to

call it, then it's good to do it before someone else has that

bright idea or someone else with a similar name comes along and

snags it and keeps you from it. All right. Do you understand I

hope that's that's clear. If you have a reader magnet, then you

can use your bio and your photo and whatever else in a page in

your reader magnet. Your newsletter service provider

MailChimp, mailer light, and so on will want a version of your

bio. And they'll want that kind of information, you can use your

picture there to your landing page for your reader magnet. You

don't need a website at first, but take advantage of the

landing page. Nearly every service provider enables you to

create and then if you want to offer your reader magnet through

book funnel, then you'll need your bio there too. So it

becomes very useful when you have a book. Of course your via

will appear in the eBook or on the back cover of your print

book or on the cover of your audio book. Also, you need to

update the profiles you have and add a few more. If your book is

on Amazon. Be sure to set up your Author Central page with

your bio and claim your book. Create your author profile on

Goodreads and BookBub. Finally, and use your bio and claim your

book. If your book is going wide set up a profile on books to

read and Kobo Barnes and Noble and everywhere your books are

going to be sold. Set up a basic website with a homepage and your

about page and a newsletter signup form to deliver your

reader magnet. I promise you don't have to blog if you don't

want to. In their future. Remember you will need to keep

your author bio updated. Put a yearly task in your calendar

like I said before to read it through and decide if it needs

to be updated this year. Thank you for joining me today if you

have questions about writing or needed story diagnostic, please

go to writing for suits.com That's all I have for today

until next time keep writing my friends keep writing