Author’s are frequently asked to submit a short bio to be included with publication or for use in promotion. However, the operative word ‘short’ is often overlooked or ignored and, what is submitted could be likened more to a resume or a curriculum vitae. This is generally a turnoff to the requester of the bio, who made a specific request, and can often lead to the author’s submission being rejected for no other reason.
We all have a myriad of accomplishments that we take pride in and, of course, there are places to tout those accomplishments. The author bio is not one of those places and, if not, what the heck is an author bio anyway?
An author bio is a snippet, a brief message, that, much like a jingle, should seek to grip the reader’s attention and provide a quotable and memorable takeaway. This should also be accomplished within a single paragraph and that single paragraph should aim for about three sentences.
The writing of your author bio must always be in the third person – even though you are the one writing it. Never use personal pronouns like ‘I’ but always refer to yourself by name. Take, for example, Melinda Spencer’s Amazon author bio (60 words over 4 sentences):
ML Spencer lives in Southern California with her three children and two cats. She has been obsessed with fantasy ever since the days of childhood bedtime stories. She grew up reading and writing fantasy fiction, playing MMORPG games, and living, as mom put it, “in her own worlds.” ML now spends each day working to bring those worlds into reality.
Most publications will request an author bio of less than 300 words and often closer to the 100 to 150 word range. I have seen publications limit the bio to somewhere between 50 and 75 words. You might think this a stretch but take a look at Cati Porter’s Amazon author bio that strings 51 words over 2 sentences:
Cati Porter is the author of three books and seven chapbooks, most recently The Body at a Loss (CavanKerry Press, 2019) and Novel (Bamboo Dart Press, 2022). She lives in Inland Southern California with her family where she runs Poemeleon: A Journal of Poetry and directs Inlandia Institute, a literary nonprofit.
Your author bio should also reflect what your writing is about or you will disappoint your reader, who might actually feel hoodwinked. Look back at Melinda’s bio and you will find it clear that she not only writes fantasy fiction but is fascinated by it. Likewise, Cati is clearly into poetry and although the title Novel might cause a momentary pause it too is a book of poetry from a publisher that specializes in such. Also, consider the Amazon author bio of Ben Alirez. Although a bit longer it stills weighs in at less than 100 words and even though the images invoked by his titles are genre suggestive they are tempered by his clarifying declaration of hope and promise.
Ben Alirez is retired after working more than 30 years with the City of Los Angeles, much of it writing correspondence, policies, procedures, and report writing. In 2004, he co-authored a young adult paperback with Paul Langan entitled “Brothers in Arms.” Four years later, he produced “El Gato’s Revenge,” a novel about a promising inner-city boxer struggling with tragedy and vengeance. Ben has now dedicated himself to writing encouraging stories of hope and promise, including “Embers of Innocence” on the COVID-19 pandemic, and a continuation of “El Gato’s Revenge.”
The author bio’s may also include pertinent education, achievements, recognitions, or awards that pertain to your genre or subject matter. Winning a league bowling trophy would not be applicable if your genre is westerns but most definitely so if you’re writing about bowling – or even sports in general.
It’s also a good idea to include something of a personal nature in your author bio to help make a connection with your reader. This could have a serious nature but it could also be something you can have some fun with. In each of the three short bios presented above there are brief allusions to the authors, themselves, as people, and brief is all that’s necessary. You can also further personalize your bio by giving it some of the tone and character found in your writing and, if relevant, indicate how your own personal experience makes you an authority. Take for example Rich Curtin, one of my favorite contemporary authors, who writes mysteries set in and about Moab and the four corners area:
Rich Curtin is the author of the popular Manny Rivera Mystery Series. He has spent many enjoyable days and nights hiking, jeeping, rafting, and camping out in the backcountry of the Four Corners area. He is intimately familiar with the canyon country about which he writes, and has been an Amazon Kindle Top-100 Author. He is a retired Executive Vice-President of Southwest Research Institute.
One piece of advice I was given many years ago was; to always have several author bios written and at hand for different purposes and for the different requests you might receive for a bio. Based on that advice, and upon specific bio requests, I keep them filed and available, though not always up to date, in a Scrivener project that includes bios with word counts of <=50, <=150, <=250, and <=500. I was once asked to provide an author bio that was exactly 50 words long. I also keep it on file which, for what it’s worth, is:
Samuel Thomas Nichols is an uprooted Oklahoman who came of age on the south end of the Santa Monica Bay. He is the author of several novels, numerous short stories, poems, songs, and musical compositions. He resides empty-nested with his wife Denise in the foothills of the San Bernardino mountains.
In conclusion, when asked to submit an author bio follow the guidelines. When you write an author bio; write in the third person, keep it succinct, make it quotable and memorable, add some personality, and, by all means, have fun with it and make it you.
Samuel Thomas Nichols
