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.
Authors mentioned in this episode:
- Lane Rebelo, LCSW at TinySigns.com
- Jen Fisch at KetoInTheCity.com
- James L. Rubard at jameslrubart.com
Links:
Instagram: @WritingPursuitsPodcast
Three Story Method Certified Editor
Transcript
I know it's called an author biography, but it isn't a
Kathrese:biography. How long should your author bio be? What should you
Kathrese:include in what should you leave out? Once you have it? Where
Kathrese:should you use it? How can you use an author biography before
Kathrese:you even have a book? Answers to these questions in more on
Kathrese:episode 29 of writing pursuits? Welcome to the writing pursuits
Kathrese:podcast where authors like you discuss writing craft, author,
Kathrese:life and book marketing strategies. I'm your host
Kathrese:Kathrese McKee. I own writing pursuits and write and produce
Kathrese:the weekly newsletter writing proceeds tips for authors. In
Kathrese:addition, I am a speculative fiction author. Writing pursuits
Kathrese:is for authors who drink too much coffee, endure judgemental
Kathrese:looks from their furry writing companions, and struggle for
Kathrese:words. If you are a writer, sinking, encouragement,
Kathrese:information and inspiration, this podcast is for you. Let's
Kathrese:get to it. Hey, writing pursuits, authors. Welcome back
Kathrese:to the podcast. To those of you who are new, I want to extend a
Kathrese:special welcome, please leave a comment a star rating and follow
Kathrese:the show to help others find writing pursuits. The internet
Kathrese:has been out at my house, and I have discovered a few of my
Kathrese:resources, like my intro and outro are available only in the
Kathrese:cloud. So no fancy stuff today. It's just you, me and the mic.
Kathrese:So thank you for listening. Your Author biography is your
Kathrese:business card, your elevator pitch and your introduction
Kathrese:rolled into one. Taking the time to craft a strong author bio
Kathrese:will help you establish a consistent image across your
Kathrese:books and across the internet. I know it's called an author
Kathrese:biography, but it isn't a biography. Not really. So none
Kathrese:was born in Houston, Texas in:Kathrese:fourth of five kids, her family moved to Washington DC when she
Kathrese:was six. Elsa was a twirler at Monument High School and enjoyed
Kathrese:her moment in the spotlight at the New Year's Day Parade in New
Kathrese:York City. When she was a senior, she met her husband Gary
Kathrese:during her sophomore year at St somebody's College, and so on.
Kathrese:They'll write your future Wikipedia biography. Stick with
Kathrese:high level detail and strive to make a reader connection.
Kathrese:Instead, the first thing you need to do is understand the
Kathrese:purpose of an author biography. For nonfiction author
Kathrese:biographies, the author bio is about establishing credentials
Kathrese:and authority. Lead with your credentials. If you don't have
Kathrese:the fancy credentials after your name, and you are approaching
Kathrese:your topic from life experience. How do you know what you were
Kathrese:talking about? You need to communicate that are you a
Kathrese:cancer survivor? Did you lose 50 pounds and keep it off? How are
Kathrese:you uniquely suited to discuss your topic? Make your abilities
Kathrese:and expertise clear. I chose the following example from among the
Kathrese:current Amazon nonfiction bestsellers. This author
Kathrese:biography is from the Author Central page for reference. It
Kathrese:is 121 words long. Elaine Rebelo LCSW is the author of The Best
Kathrese:Selling baby sign language made easy. The Complete Guide to baby
Kathrese:sign language and my first book of baby signs. Her latest book
Kathrese:is baby sign language songs and games, which includes 65 fun and
Kathrese:easy language building activities to help teach little
Kathrese:ones signed. She is the founder of tiny signs and award winning
Kathrese:baby sign language program as a licensed social worker. Elaine
Kathrese:worked for many years with families in the Boston area.
Kathrese:ing American Sign Language in:Kathrese:first baby was born, and was amazed by all she had to say she
Kathrese:lives with her husband and two children in Massachusetts. You
Kathrese:can find Elaine online at Tiny signs.com Instagram at Tiny
Kathrese:signs. Let's dissect Elaine rebels author bio. First,
Kathrese:she states her name and follows it with her professional
Kathrese:credential LC S W, which stands for licensed clinical social
Kathrese:worker. Then she lists her other books and their purpose to teach
Kathrese:little ones signs. She is co founder of tiny signs. She
Kathrese:mentions her years of experience in the field and ends on a
Kathrese:personal note. Finally, she mentioned her website In her
Kathrese:main social media profile, she has chosen a corporate
Kathrese:identifier of tiny signs for her company website and Instagram
Kathrese:account. Okay, now for someone who doesn't have any letters
Kathrese:after her name, but has had some success in her space. Let's
Kathrese:study Jin fishes author bio Jin fish, creator of the blog keto
Kathrese:in the city, and international best selling cookbook author is
Kathrese:passionate about offering simple solutions for following the
Kathrese:ketogenic lifestyle. She has a single working mother, who has
Kathrese:battled autoimmune disorders for 20 years, and has turned to the
Kathrese:kitchen to find simple, delicious ways to make the
Kathrese:ketogenic diet work for her busy lifestyle. With a loyal
Kathrese:Instagram following at her page at Quito in the city, her
Kathrese:in the city, and hundreds of:Kathrese:of visitors through her blog. Kitty Quito in the city.com. Jen
Kathrese:is one of the top influencers in the ketogenic space. She is not
Kathrese:a nutritionist or trained chef, just a determined mom who
Kathrese:searched high and low for a way of eating that would reduce the
Kathrese:inflammation caused by her autoimmune disorders, and allow
Kathrese:her to feel like the very best version of herself. She lives
Kathrese:with her daughter in Hermosa Beach, California website Quito
Kathrese:in the city.com. Forward slash blog Jin's author bio is 159
Kathrese:words long. The bio begins with her name and something she has
Kathrese:done to establish authority in her space, a well known blog
Kathrese:among keto diet fans, she mentions her why her personal
Kathrese:struggle with autoimmune issues. This fact may help readers feel
Kathrese:connected. She mentions her Instagram account and her
Kathrese:YouTube channel appropriately named Quito in the city. This
Kathrese:establishes her accessibility and her brand. Notice how she
Kathrese:mentions she is not a nutritionist, or a trained chef.
Kathrese:This builds rapport with her readers who are not
Kathrese:nutritionists or train chefs either. Her lack of formal
Kathrese:credentials, actually empowers potential readers to pick up her
Kathrese:book and give the recipes a try. She ends on a personal note and
Kathrese:includes the link to her website. Both authors establish
Kathrese:their credibility in different ways. Both make an implied
Kathrese:promise of success to anyone who reads their author biography
Kathrese:well done for fiction biographies, the author BIOS
Kathrese:intended to establish rapport and connections with your
Kathrese:reader. Go light on awards if you mentioned them at all. Your
Kathrese:bio must fit your brand, your identity and your genre. Study
Kathrese:the best selling authors in your genre, not their achievements,
Kathrese:but the way they connect with the readers by naming common
Kathrese:interests, weird characteristics and making a promise. I know I
Kathrese:know. Stephen King's biography is a litany of successes, but
Kathrese:I'm just gonna say it's very boring. Much better is the
Kathrese:author bio for James L. RW Bart, which is 122 words long. James
Kathrese:L. Rubert, is 28 years old, but lives trapped inside an older
Kathrese:man's body. He thinks he's still young enough to water ski like a
Kathrese:madman and dirt bike with his two grown sons and loves to send
Kathrese:readers on mind bending spiritual journeys, though
Kathrese:remember months after they finish one of his stories. He's
Kathrese:the best selling Christie Hall of Fame Carol inspy and RT book
Kathrese:reviews, award winning author of 10 novels, co author of the time
Kathrese:traveling detective series, the true lives of friend Brent
Kathrese:stone, co owner of the Rube art writing Academy and an audio
Kathrese:book NARRATOR He lives with his amazing wife in a small town in
Kathrese:eastern Washington. more at www James L. rubert.com. And on
Kathrese:Facebook at www facebook.com. Forward slash James L remark.
Kathrese:Let's take a closer look. James leads with humor. That bit about
Kathrese:the 28 year old living in an older man's body. It was great.
Kathrese:He mentioned two high impact sports waterskiing and dirt
Kathrese:biking. This establishes his brand for high adventure. He
Kathrese:promises mind bending spiritual journeys that are memorable.
Kathrese:Then he fills his audience in on his credentials, his awards, his
Kathrese:past work and his writing Academy. He ends on a personal
Kathrese:note and finally he mentioned his website in a way to medium
Kathrese:on social media now seems like a good moment to break away remind
Kathrese:you the writing pursuits is run by three smokey, who've been
Kathrese:rusted by fiction authors and:Kathrese:new level of excellence. To three says a three story method,
Kathrese:certified editor who specializes in story diagnostics, coaching
Kathrese:in line editing to help you prepare your story for the
Kathrese:journey ahead. For more information, go to writing
Kathrese:pursuits.com. The link is in the show notes. Sometimes I forget
Kathrese:to mention my editing services. So thank you for your patience.
Kathrese:Let's go over a few tips for writing a strong author
Kathrese:biography. One, figure out what makes you unique. also figure
Kathrese:out the promise you are making to your readers. Right in third
Kathrese:person, this is a hard and fast tradition. Don't stand out for
Kathrese:the wrong reason. Three, don't be shy. Use your first and last
Kathrese:name or your pin name immediately to three smokey blah
Kathrese:blah. For try to fashion one line that sums you up Think of
Kathrese:it like the tagline of a book from the examples we went
Kathrese:through earlier. I think Jin Jin fish did the best job Jen fish
Kathrese:creator of the blog keto and the city, and international best
Kathrese:selling cookbook author is passionate about offering simple
Kathrese:solutions for following the ketogenic lifestyle. That's a
Kathrese:great one line, summit up high level bio, you need to try to
Kathrese:fashion that one line that sums you up. Think of it like the
Kathrese:tagline of a book, it's going to be short, sweet. Every line it's
Kathrese:going to every word is going to count, make it something that
Kathrese:you could offer to somebody or at least a variation of it. So
Kathrese:they would know who you were, if you just met them. Now add two
Kathrese:to three more sentences for total of 150 words or less, keep
Kathrese:it tight. Do not be satisfied by your first attempt, create at
Kathrese:least 10 versions. And you'll be amazed by the results. Six,
Kathrese:you're not going to write one author bio you're going to write
Kathrese:for make one long bio up to 300 words for your about page on
Kathrese:your website, may as well have it one medium bio of about 200
Kathrese:words, your normal bio of about 150 words or less. And your
Kathrese:short short bio your one liner, you know it can be two lines,
Kathrese:just make it short. All right. So I would suggest that you go
Kathrese:in reverse order, right, you're very short one first add to it
Kathrese:to make the normal one, that's when you're going to work the
Kathrese:hardest on then the stuff that you really, really want it to be
Kathrese:in that one, add it to the next bigger one. And then you know
Kathrese:you can get a little bit verbose, verbose on your about
Kathrese:page. Someone if they get to your about page, they're really
Kathrese:interested in you. So that's fine. Seven, be completely
Kathrese:honest, fabricated awards, honors, experience levels,
Kathrese:titles, achievements, those if you fabricate those things that
Kathrese:will come back to haunt you. readers want authenticity, and
Kathrese:they will turn on you like a shark frenzy. If you get caught
Kathrese:in a lie, and you will you will get caught in a lie. If you make
Kathrese:stuff up for your MIO, just don't do it. Eight. Hire a
Kathrese:professional photographer to create your headshot. Nine if
Kathrese:you have a series or previous novel, go ahead and mention it.
Kathrese:10 always include your website URL if you have one. Failing
Kathrese:that, or your favorite tag for social media. So if you have an
Kathrese:Instagram account, and you don't have website mentioned your
Kathrese:Instagram thing where people can find you and make a connection
Kathrese:11 Leave out high school accomplishments. Can I get an
Kathrese:amen on that? For nonfiction it is probably desirable to mention
Kathrese:your highest degree level in whatever field for fiction
Kathrese:mentioned degrees or positions only if it bears on the genre
Kathrese:you write. Here's a fictional example. Billy writer MD was
Kathrese:the executive director and chief medical examiner for murder
Kathrese:County for 27 years, adding the weight of his experience and
Kathrese:know how to his who've done it. That makes perfect sense. You
Kathrese:mentioned he's an Emmy because he writes who done it. So if
Kathrese:your professional background has something to do with your
Kathrese:fiction, that's a great way to use it. 12 An author bio needs
Kathrese:to be evaluated periodically to see if it can be updated and
Kathrese:improved. And first, the author bio seems like a set it and
Kathrese:forget it piece of material. But things change. Readers change,
Kathrese:we change. So put your bio evaluation on your annual list
Kathrese:of tasks. Also, your author headshot, the one you paid for
Kathrese:will need to change no matter how attached you get to the one
Kathrese:from 20 years ago. Okay, where does an author bio go your
Kathrese:author Biography whether you are still aspiring or fully fledged
Kathrese:is one of the more useful pieces of material you can create.
Kathrese:Before you have a book. Before you have a book, you need to
Kathrese:stake out your social media territory. For a name like mine,
Kathrese:Kathrese. McKee, this hasn't been a problem. But Jane Doe has
Kathrese:a problem. There's already an author by that name, or at least
Kathrese:there is an author who has claimed Jane Doe as their
Kathrese:identity. So the next Jane Doe has a problem. Let's make
Kathrese:believe Jane Doe stands for any fairly common name. On the
Kathrese:surface their author name seems unique, but on closer
Kathrese:examination, it isn't. So as soon as you have committed to
Kathrese:being an author, for real this time, claim your name or
Kathrese:standard variation like author Jane Doe, or Jane Z doe, on
Kathrese:every major social platform. Search for your desired user ID
Kathrese:on every platform before you make your decision. Also, search
Kathrese:Google, Amazon, Kobo, and anywhere else you can think of
Kathrese:.:Kathrese:and Jane Doe, the math nerd on another, it's time to find a
Kathrese:standard. Okay, I know that was a math joke. Sorry, everybody.
Kathrese:Try. It is not always possible to secure a standard identifier.
Kathrese:But try it's kind of like a handle like the tiny signs or
Kathrese:kedo. In the city or James L remark. You want to try to be
Kathrese:standard across platforms. Because it's part of your
Kathrese:branding, create a profile with your headshot, author, name, and
Kathrese:bio on every major social platform, you do not need to be
Kathrese:active on every platform. But stick out your identity claim
Kathrese:your handle, eventually you want to point to your website from
Kathrese:everywhere. When you have your book, stake out. Maybe YouTube,
Kathrese:Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, you can go on
Kathrese:Goodreads as a reader in it's okay to use a different reader
Kathrese:profile while you learn about the platform. Same is true for
Kathrese:BookBub you can go on there as a reader and you don't have to
Kathrese:have the same reader profile as your author profile will
Kathrese:eventually be and I don't think you can claim to be an author
Kathrese:without a book.
Kathrese:That's a good way to learn the the platform before it becomes a
Kathrese:necessity in your writing life. Snapchat Tik Tok anyplace you
Kathrese:might eventually be on social media. That's a great way to tie
Kathrese:it down. It's also a great way to keep someone else from
Kathrese:snagging your your identity, not like your personal information,
Kathrese:but your brand. If you if you can save your name, or a
Kathrese:variation of your name, or your brand, whatever you're going to
Kathrese:call it, then it's good to do it before someone else has that
Kathrese:bright idea or someone else with a similar name comes along and
Kathrese:snags it and keeps you from it. All right. Do you understand I
Kathrese:hope that's that's clear. If you have a reader magnet, then you
Kathrese:can use your bio and your photo and whatever else in a page in
Kathrese:your reader magnet. Your newsletter service provider
Kathrese:MailChimp, mailer light, and so on will want a version of your
Kathrese:bio. And they'll want that kind of information, you can use your
Kathrese:picture there to your landing page for your reader magnet. You
Kathrese:don't need a website at first, but take advantage of the
Kathrese:landing page. Nearly every service provider enables you to
Kathrese:create and then if you want to offer your reader magnet through
Kathrese:book funnel, then you'll need your bio there too. So it
Kathrese:becomes very useful when you have a book. Of course your via
Kathrese:will appear in the eBook or on the back cover of your print
Kathrese:book or on the cover of your audio book. Also, you need to
Kathrese:update the profiles you have and add a few more. If your book is
Kathrese:on Amazon. Be sure to set up your Author Central page with
Kathrese:your bio and claim your book. Create your author profile on
Kathrese:Goodreads and BookBub. Finally, and use your bio and claim your
Kathrese:book. If your book is going wide set up a profile on books to
Kathrese:read and Kobo Barnes and Noble and everywhere your books are
Kathrese:going to be sold. Set up a basic website with a homepage and your
Kathrese:about page and a newsletter signup form to deliver your
Kathrese:reader magnet. I promise you don't have to blog if you don't
Kathrese:want to. In their future. Remember you will need to keep
Kathrese:your author bio updated. Put a yearly task in your calendar
Kathrese:like I said before to read it through and decide if it needs
Kathrese:to be updated this year. Thank you for joining me today if you
Kathrese:have questions about writing or needed story diagnostic, please
Kathrese:go to writing for suits.com That's all I have for today
Kathrese:until next time keep writing my friends keep writing