When I finished up my first picture book manuscript, I thought that, by comparison, drafting up an author bio for myself would be easy. After all, who knows me better than I know myself?
Boy, was I wrong!
It turns out that I am either an incredibly boring person with no personality whatsoever, or that condensing the highlights of your life and the essence of what makes you an author into a couple of paragraphs is actually quite hard.
Especially when you are so far unpublished and don’t have any accolades or fancy titles to boast.
I still have a lot to learn, but here’s some advice for those attempting to write their first bio – based on my first experience, some research, and some helpful advice I received on Twitter!
- Write your bio in third person. It sounds more professional.
- Tell people who YOU are. If you haven’t published anything and don’t have any awards, talk about your hobbies, passions, and any fun or quirky details about yourself. Why do you want to be an author? It’s important to give your readers something to connect with you about.
- Don’t go overboard with the quirks. It’s nice to come across as relatable so you should absolutely mention one or two of your quirks, but don’t go wild and mention every single idiosyncrasy.
- Relate your life experience to your manuscript. If you have a masters in marine biology, and your picture book is about the ocean, then make sure you touch upon your degree in your author bio! It’s important to establish your credibility, even if you are writing fiction.
- Start with a hook. Just like your manuscript, your author bio needs a hook. What makes you and your writing special or unique? What’s interesting about your life story?
- Keep it short and sweet. Chances are, the publisher you are submitting to is more interested in the first page of your manuscript than your bio, at this stage. Keep your author bio nice and punchy.
- Write in a tone that suits your style. If you’re submitting a gritty YA novel, keep your bio a bit mysterious. If you’re submitting a funny kids story about farts and butts, why not add some humour to your bio? Remember you are creating a brand for yourself.
I hope these tips help you get started.
If you have any tips you’d like to share, please leave a comment below!
Lani xx
lanicoles.com 