Neil gaiman will eventually grow up and get a real job. For a powerful bio that gets results, it needs to be customized for the book. Nonfiction back cover copy for nonfiction, establishing yourself as an expert and differentiating your book from the others written about the same topic will help sell your book. Jul 12, 2018 as with any biographical account, a poets biography must include the basicbirth, childhood, mark of independence, major life events and death. From the about page of ryan parman, full stack engineer and product developer. Here is a great blog post from rachelle gardner about how to write a terrific author bio. Poet of the people henry holt, winner of the americas award for childrens literature and an orbis pictus honor for outstanding nonfiction, and waiting for the biblioburro random house, a christopher award winner. Consider the purpose of your annotated bibliography andor your instructors directions when deciding how much information to include in your annotations. Pop the champagne cork, and put a party hat on your cat. When it comes to an author bio for new writers, examples usually help. The back cover bio is a chance to impress a potential reader, while the inside bio is often the last impression made on a. You can craft your pages in numerous ways short and long descriptions, a mission statement, product links, milestones, etc. A bibliography, by definition, is a detailed listing of the books, journals, magazines, or online sources that an author has used in researching and writing their work.
The book title is written in sentence case only capitalize the first word and any proper nouns. Its how readers get to know you beyond the pages of your book. Reeves looks simple but has all the useful and interesting information one might look for. Sample book hardcover july 3, 2006 by sample author author, sample editor, illustrator 5. A biography can be short in the case of few sentences biography, and it can also be long enough to fill an entire book. The author photo is cheeky and suits well with the style. I prefer the new version, and it also ended up being a third smaller, which is good putting the old and new side by side i much prefer the new one, and it also points to my online presence better now. A twitter bio is super short, and you can only make a strong impression if you choose carefully what to write. Henneke duistermaat is an irreverent copywriter and marketer. The bio you write today will look completely different in five years time. Here are a few author bio examples of some terrific authors that i found on twitter in only 15 minutes. Learn to write an attractive author bio by following the six rules of author biographies and our breaks down of two professional sample bios. Keeping a few key ideas in mind can make the process a lot easierand the results more successful. A biography is simply an account of someones life written by another person.
May 02, 2016 how to write an author bio even if you dont have experience may 2, 2016 march 20, 2017 craft, resources one of the most fearsome things about getting published is the dreaded author bio. You are a student in a prominent lowresidency mfa program and an aspiring writer. For nonfiction authors, the author bio is a critical marketing tool as who are you are is often as or more. Your author bio will grow naturally and organically. Apr 22, 2014 while all five of these tips will help you make a better bio, tips 2 and 3 are the best advice for how to write an author bio that sells books. Here are a few author bio examples, with quick explanations of why they work. Your work has been published or is forthcoming in 4 a. If youre writing this for an agent or publisher, remember books that didn. Creativity is your selling point, so dont shy away from some creative problem solving when it comes to filling the 160 character quota in your twitter bio. Not only does the yellow and black color combination visually attract a potential customer, the book s message, and the author s brand is clearly defined in just a few short, powerful words. The back cover bio is usually very short because of limited space.
This bio page is made in three colors that work together wonderfully white, red and black. With fiction books, you can get away with a single bio for multiple books, but not with nonfiction. Chungah rhee is the founder, recipe developer, and photographer of damn delicious. She has more than 25 years of writing, teaching, and social work experience. If theres no clear way to signal direct authority or credentialsfor example, you wrote a thriller or a romance novelthen dont make up things or try to invent authority. Good facebook bio ideas and facebook bio examples some of the best facebook bio pages use the space to give viewers a quick explanation of the page and to list a call to action. If an author is unknown, alphabetize that source using the title instead. How to write an authors page for a book pen and the pad. The foolproof formula for a compelling author bio mill city press. Your books author bio tells potential readers who you are, and why they should trust you and buy your book. Blog21 beautifully branded book author website examples. May 22, 2012 10 tips for writing a great author bio guest post lauren clark is a duolit indie ninja and author of two indie books stay tuned and her new release, out today, called dancing naked in dixie which was formatted for paperback and ebooks by your favorite duolit chicks. It is important to note that it must be a complete list including every source used during the research phase not just the ones referenced in the text in any styles of writing. Reader endorsements are more valuable than the author bio.
The author bio blueprint that will snag clients elna cain. Oct 22, 2015 writing your author bio can be a daunting task, but a wellcrafted bio can help readers learn more about what makes you and your books so interesting. So this is how to write a bio, and it is to help those writers who are just starting out and anyone having trouble. Instead, concentrate on getting solid writing experience and clips.
Sample notes show full citations followed by shortened citations for the same sources. Aug 15, 2012 theres nothing wrong with putting your most recent book title in your bio. Share branding, website 21 beautifully branded book author website examples. Please keep in mind that all your text, including the writeup beneath the citation, must be indented so that the author s last name is the only text that is flush left. Short bio examples that follow the above guidelines.
By daniel siegel a therapists skill base and experience are vital to good therapy. Until then, will keep making things up and writing. How to write an author bio when you dont feel like an authoryet from anne r. Hes best known for writing science fiction, including the new york times bestseller redshirts, which won the hugo award for best novel. In the same way that a business card introduces you, a bio serves as a short introduction to your writing. Build a better author bio for twitter jane friedman.
Quite often, i will find agents who request i send both my query and an author bio and several other things. Here are 6 examples and the books in which they could be used. Writing an author bio examples of professional bios. Learn how to write for magazines and online websites. Copyright page samples you can copy and paste into your book. Include any books youve published, even if they were in a different field. But be careful, the same rule applies as with the onesentence twitter bio. This article will cover both what you need to include in your author bio and some examples of tight professional bios. Social media social media bios dont need to be about how much you love long walks on the beach or netflix, especially if youre a writer. How to write a kickass amazon bio to sell more books. W, is the author of growing forward when you cant go back. How to write an author bio short ramona defelice long. She specializes in the evaluation and treatment of learning, developmental, emotional and attention disorders. Find something that screams you and include it in your author bio.
What began as a grad school hobby is now a top food blog, with millions of readers coming to her site for easy weeknight recipes and. How to write an author bio from gina gagliano at first. Back cover copy includes the book summary and author bio. A bibliography is a listing of the books, magazines, and internet sources that you use in designing, carrying out, and understanding. How to write an author bio when you dont feel like an authoryet. Once you have written a short, medium and long bio, save each of them on your computer, usb or cloud storage system. One of the shortest is the author blurb, the two or three descriptive lines at the end of a published work. Writing your author bio can be a daunting task, but a wellcrafted bio can help readers learn more about what makes you and your books so. Writing your author bio can be a daunting task, but a wellcrafted bio can help readers learn more about what makes you and your books so interesting.
If you have three sentences, for instance for an author bio, then you can say a little more. Also, consider the bio needs to be fairly concise if you are putting your bio on the back of printed book. Some authors choose one or the other, though i recommend taking advantage of both. While your books are a great way to introduce yourself, an author bio can set you. The short biographies explain a persons basic life facts and their importance, but the long biographies would go an extra mile and include more. Its a chance to broadcast my name and my services out to hundreds, if not thousands of people online. Your bio should be updated frequently, especially every time you have another work published or win an award. How to write an author bio that will sell childrens books. How to write a terrific author bio rachelle gardner. So a synopsis is literally a way to see together, in one quick read, the unique and compelling aspects of a story. For firsttime indie authors, writing a compelling author bio can be difficult. If you have two or three reader endorsements and a short book description, too little space remains for a long author bio. Your author bio is an important book press kit element because it is pretty much the only tool you have to make the case that you are the best person to write this book and to write it well. The word synopsis comes from the greek prefix sun meaning together and opsis seeing.
Just the other day i was asked how to write a bio by a fellow writer on twitter. The following story, taken from daniel siegels 2017 networker symposium dinner storytelling piece, highlights the need to bring vulnerability and some measure of risk into the treatment room, letting go of any secret ambition to become a master of the therapeutic universe. You should regularly maintain your bio on places like your bookbub author profile so fans and potential readers seeking you out can learn more about you and why they should pick up your latest book. Laurie created the she blossoms blog series in 2008 and has been writing fulltime since then. Dec 12, 2019 a book s subtitle shores up the book title and helps tell the reader what to expect to get inside the book. The apa intext citation for a book includes the author s last name, the year, and if relevant a page number in the reference list, start with the author s last name and initials, followed by the year. How to write an author bio that will help you sell more books. How to write your first author bio writing forward. How to write a short professional bio with templates and. Jan 15, 2010 one of the most common questions i get from new selfpublishers is, what do i put on the page. How to write a biography for a poet pen and the pad. One of the best modern examples of literary biography, with its artfully chosen detail and narrative arc combining with a close reading of major texts.
As ive advised before, you should dig into the online store that youre selling on. For some types of books and authors, this is harder to do. If a source has more than one author, alphabetize using the first one. So, weve provided the hints, tips and instructions. Link twitter gives you the opportunity to list one link in connection with your bio though you can stuff your bio with morenot recommended, since you may come off as a promotional whore. But at the end of that email, youll usually realize they want you to. Jul 07, 2011 your author bio is an important book press kit element because it is pretty much the only tool you have to make the case that you are the best person to write this book and to write it well. Please welcome author nicolas frame with some good advice on writing your first author bio. Before you write your masterpiece of an author bio, ask yourself the following questions. John scalzi writes books, which, considering where youre reading this, makes perfect sense. Hes best known for writing science fiction, including the new york times bestseller redshirts, which. Its an invigorating feeling, receiving ones first acceptance letter from an editor.
Sell more books with a kickass amazon book page author marketing experts, inc. Not only is it useful to know what you need to include in an author bio, it is also useful to see examples of how your vital information should look. How to write a short professional bio with 8 bio examples. Take the time to think carefully about what you want readers to remember when they hear your name. About the author examples that youll actually want to read. There are some hard limits when submitting an online bio e. A wellexecuted author bio will intrigue potential readers and entice them to buy your book. We hope these templates and samples will help you writing your own bio with style and professionalism. In this article youll find 12 short author bio examples for your nonfiction book and youll also learn the 6 steps that are instrumental in creating a bio thats. For more details and many more examples, see chapter 14 of the chicago manual of style.
List the sources in alphabetical order using the author s last name. The third example shows how part of the back cover copy the author bio, in this case can show up on the inside flap of a hard cover book. In this section, you need to shelve your modesty and come out sounding confident in your own ability to write this book. Jul 03, 2018 i call this my author bio blueprint and im going to share it with you. How to write a memorable author bio with template reedsy blog. Poetspecific notable points include inspirations, quality progression and vices. An author s page, or author s bio, is typically located at the end of a book and is meant to tell readers a little about the author of the book. An effective author bio is short and highlights basic professional information about the author.
And the micro bio of an author for his author page on amazon. However, as this is my first novel and i dont have much writing credentials, writingspecific education, or publication credits, i dont want to write a pathetic bio that points to the fact that i am inexperienced. From the about page of meagan fisher, web designer. How to write an author bio from gina gagliano at first second books even if youre hoping a traditional publisher will pick up your book and take care of all the cover copy for you, its a good idea to hone your author bio. Nonfiction short author bio examples cascadia author services. Its the media relations tool that tells reporters, producers, bloggers and other media gatekeepers that your personal history gives you the perfect credentials for this novel or that your professional. How to write a kickass amazon bio to sell more books author.
You may find that a single bio is not enough for the same book. How to write an author bio that sells books ben zackheim. Theyd walk off with a copy of the book based on the bio. How to write an author bio to accompany your byline. For examples of the same citations using the author date system, follow the author date link above. May 28, 20 this bio page is made in three colors that work together wonderfully white, red and black. For some reason, the page has the power to intimidate some people, with its small print and legalistic language, not to mention all those mysterious numbers.
Exclude all sorts of irrelevant information your eye color, the number of times you won candy crush, etc. Author bios tell about a writer, his work, his professional experience andor personal background. How to write an amazing author bio book marketing for. How to write a memorable author bio with template reedsy. Put a short author bio on the back cover and a longer one at the end of the book. Apr 23, 2015 how to write a great author bio that will connect with readers from chris robley at bookbaby. Even if youve written a great title for your book, a subtitle can provide more pertinent information to help draw the reader in and prompt them to open the book, learn more, and, hopefully, buy it. Id show the book to people at book fairs and signing events, and theyd flip the book over, read the bio, and laugh.
Then we massage it and create a thirdperson long bio, firstperson letter to family and friends, a website bio, social media bio including a short version for twitter speaking bio and media bio. A short biography downloadable bio and brochuremonica brown, ph. An author bio that will snag clients and make you more money. Here are some reallife author bios that combine most or all of the tips above. Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions. Write the bio for the site where it will live, and mention your reading interests. One of the reasons i even guest post is to show off that one piece of hot real estate my author byline. How to write an author bio even if you dont have experience. Her blogs get an average of 70,000 unique visitors per day over 2,000,000 unique page views a month. These examples of long and short author bios, plus tips for writers of magazine articles, book contributions, book proposals, or blog posts, will help you learn how to write your own author bio biography to accompany your byline. How to write a bibliography examples in mla style a.
Just dont make your bio sound like your book release is the only reason youre on twitter. Creating an author bio should not be your focus if you havent yet written an article. Its nice to have all these different versions, because then you just pull up the appropriate bio and edit as necessary. Your author bio will continue to change as you work on new projects and build your cv. When writing a book, there are two potential places to include your author bio. A touch appropriate humour can go a long way in taking the snore out of a bio.
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