Author bio examples for books

How to write a first time authors autobiography synonym. The advice in this post is aimed at your bio on your individual book pages although much of it will still be relevant to your main author page. Some people create an about me page while others just create a column for a short overview of their biographies. How to write an author bio that sells books ben zackheim.

You author image should be professional but it doesnt have to be professionally taken and reflect the tone of your writing. Aug 09, 2018 the purpose of your author bio isnt simply to describe you accurately and summarize your life or work. 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. In todays guest post, editor jessi rita hoffman explains how to craft professional and compelling backcover copy. She is an editor, instructor, and awardwinning writer with over 15 years of experience. How to write a kickass amazon bio to sell more books. Author jeff goins uses elegant simplicity on his webpage. If youre afraid the above sentence may describe you, well, dont be too hard on yourself.

The bio you write today will look completely different in five years time. When most people think of online bios, they probably can readily name a few common short bio examples first. How to write the perfect author bio for your books query letter. 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. Here is a great blog post from rachelle gardner about how to write a terrific author bio. A wellexecuted author bio will intrigue potential readers and entice them to buy your book. How to write your book acknowledgments with examples. Have a look at a few creative examples on every platform for inspiration. A biography is simply an account of someones life written by another person.

The acknowledgements section is where you recognize and thank everyone who helped you with your book. Pop the champagne cork, and put a party hat on your cat. A degree in a writingrelated field is obviously relevant, but even if you studied another subject, it still adds insight into your experiences with language. Its easier to trust a bio that appears to have been. Its easier to trust a bio that appears to have been written by an objective observer. Here are some reallife author bios that combine most or all of the tips above. How to write an author bio that will help you sell more books.

Once you have written a short, medium and long bio, save each of them on your computer, usb or cloud storage system. These sites can provide inspiration for any authors or publishers looking to launch or redesign an author website. Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon books best sellers. New authors sometimes rush this decision, writing the first. Writing an author bio examples of professional bios. 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. Hes best known for writing science fiction, including the new york times bestseller redshirts, which won the hugo award for best novel. Until then, will keep making things up and writing. But, have you put equal thought into ensuring your author bio and author photo match your target readers as well. 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. Tucker has sold over 5 million books as a 4x nyt bestselling author and is the cofounder of scribe. Sample short bios for literary journals the balance. For a powerful bio that gets results, it needs to be customized for the book. By benjamin graham and david dodd, features the foreword author over the book s actual authors.

When i first wrote this article how to write an author bio when youve never been published, the yahoo shine website was accepting guest posts. Many writers struggle to figure out how to write an author bio for themselves. But at the end of that email, youll usually realize they want you to provide an author bio. Jan 16, 2017 not only are her books available for purchase, but she offers free resources, tips and quizzes, podcasts, and even live video on facebook. Keeping a few key ideas in mind can make the process a lot easierand the results more successful. About the author examples that youll actually want to read. Before you write your masterpiece of an author bio, ask yourself the following questions. None of them resorts to using overused cliched adjectives. Your book is riveting, but your author bio is a snooze. As ive advised before, you should dig into the online store that youre selling on.

Apr 17, 2020 therefore, you are free to make your bio funny, personal, formal, conversational, and the like, depending on the platform youre writing it for. How to create a noteworthy author photo that captures fans. With fiction books, you can get away with a single bio for multiple books, but not with nonfiction. Model other bios check out other professionally published books in your genre for samples of how your author bio page should look and read. This article will cover both what you need to include in your author bio and some examples of tight professional bios. If youre planning to specialize in and write about, for example, blogging for christian writers, then your short author bio may read laurie pawlikkienlen is a fulltime freelance blogger and preacher who has been writing theology articles since jesus walked the earth. Amy krouse rosenthal is a person who likes to make things. T he idea of writing about authors is, for me, irresistible.

Rick mofina is a former journalist who has interviewed murderers on death row. Veronica roth, divergent veronica roth is the new york times bestselling author of divergent, the first book in a trilogy that she began writing while still a college student. Amy krouse rosenthal adds some fun to the mix with an author bio that is both humorous and relatable, not unlike her books. Until then, will keep making things up and writing them down. Nonfiction short author bio examples cascadia author services. By benjamin graham and david dodd, features the foreword author over the. Create a compelling author bio with this formula mill city press. The information in this book is meant to supplement, not replace, proper name your sport training. Please welcome author nicolas frame with some good advice on writing your first author bio. You say, jane doe has been a ghost writer for four years. However, as a firsttime author, you can write an attentioncatching autobiography by discussing relevant educational and work experience, as well as joining professional organizations.

The one thing you will be asked for more than anything else is your author bio, and it could be the one piece of writing you spend the least amount of time on, but that is a mistake. An author bio is always written in the third person. How to write a standout author bio the happy selfpublisher. John scalzi writes books, which, considering where youre reading this, makes perfect sense. Nonfiction books benefit from bios written in the third person because doing. From the about page of meagan fisher, web designer. An effective author bio is short and highlights basic professional information about the author. You dont say, i have been a ghost writer for four years. Build a better author bio for twitter jane friedman.

So youve written your book, youve chosen your title and cover design, and youre breathing a sigh of relief. In fact, writing your author bio for your books query letter might have you scratching your head and wondering. Sample book hardcover july 3, 2006 by sample author author, sample editor, illustrator 5. From the about page of ryan parman, full stack engineer and product developer.

You may find that a single bio is not enough for the same book. Publishers frequently put the foreword author s name on the cover, sometimes more prominently than the name of the book s author. The short biographies explain a persons basic life facts and their importance, but the long biographies would go. How to write a short professional bio with templates and. Its a way to display your appreciation to them in a public and permanent forum. How to write a kickass amazon bio to sell more books author. Publishing credits include dozens of magazine articles, roleplaying game content for both tabletop and online mmorpgs, short fiction.

This post showcases the best personalbranded book author websites on the market today. Super consistent messaging helps to support all of her books. Besides examples or photos of your works, another important page to include is an author bio page. Your professional writing bio should be no more than one paragraphtwo at the most. If you sell books on amazon, your author picture shows up in two places so you have two places to capture fans or deter them.

Back cover copy includes the book summary and author bio. Lets assume youre on twitter because its part of your author platformwhether youre in relaxed mode or professional mode. Your author bio will continue to change as you work on new projects and build your cv. Short bio examples that follow the above guidelines. Here are a few author bio examples, with quick explanations of why they work. But, many people asked for an easy to follow template, and this is what we use with our authors. How to write an authors page for a book pen and the pad. The third example shows how part of the back cover copy the author bio.

Jonathan swift 1667 1745 angloirish writer born in dublin. Here are a few author bio examples of some terrific authors that i found on twitter in only 15 minutes. 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. How to write an author bio when youve never been published. Jul 12, 2010 just be sure that the author bio in your query or cover letter is professional, succinct, and helpful to literary agents and editors of literary journals. There is value in young readers learning that an author. Its how readers get to know you beyond the pages of your book. This is especially important for historical fiction or when writing about real places. Pitch article ideas to big and little blogs, websites, online magazines. How to write your first author bio writing forward. Famous plays include macbeth, romeo and juliet, merchant of venice and hamlet. For fiction writers especially selfpublished ones, who you are matters little in comparison to the quality of the story youve written and an attention grabbing synopsis. Be sure to let me know if i missed any this should be on this list. For nonfiction authors, the author bio is a critical marketing tool as who are you are is often as or more.

Sep 14, 2015 while most authors provide neat, tight biographies in the backs of their books, others need no introduction, as their magnificent reputations precede them. Are they still publishing new and inexperienced writers. William shakespeare 1564 1616 english poet and playwright. For example, fred jones studied computer science at ohio university and writes poetry says something about the authors area of interest. Now you have to decide what goes on the back cover. If youve never been published before, it might be challenging to come up with things to list in your bio. How to write a memorable author bio with template reedsy blog. For example, in my bio for book 1 of my ya fantasy, i wrote. Keep it brief your books author bio page should be shortjust two or three brief paragraphs. See all 2 formats and editions hide other formats and editions. Ginny wiehardt wrote about fiction for the balance careers. Im not saying its the very best way to write an author bio, in fact, many of the best examples below do not fit this template. For nonfiction, establishing yourself as an expert and differentiating your book from the others written about the same.

Glynnis campbell is a usa today bestselling author of swashbuckling. Neil gaiman will eventually grow up and get a real job. Publishers frequently put the foreword author s name on the cover, sometimes more prominently than the name of the books author. John green i write books, including looking for alaska and the fault in our stars. Learn to write an attractive author bio by following the six rules of author biographies and our breaks down of two professional sample bios. 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 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. Start by writing your bio for one platform, and then customize it for everywhere else you put it up at. Give the reader a birdseye view of your writing life or what led you to write your books. How to write a terrific author bio rachelle gardner.

I dont know but its your job as a freelancer to find out. Im the author of the award winning ya fantasy novel, henrietta the dragon slayer, the first of a. Crafting your author bio christian authors network. One of the best modern examples of literary biography, with its. How to write a great author bio that will connect with readers.

Like any sport involving speed, equipment, balance and environmental factors, this sport poses some inherent risk. When writing a book, there are two potential places to include your author bio. The back cover bio is a chance to impress a potential reader, while the inside bio is often the last impression made on a. Book summary and author bio on the back of the book. Travis heermann has been a freelance writer since 1999. Novelist travis heerman wrote heart of the ronin, an historical fantasy novel set in japan. In this article youll find 12 short author bio examples for your nonfiction book and. Here are some examples of how to pull it off without soliloquizing. Its an invigorating feeling, receiving ones first acceptance letter from an editor. Shakespeare is widely considered the seminal writer of the english language. Many fictional authors can write believable stories because of their experiences andor education related to their books contents.

How to write an author bio page book edits by jessi. A list of famous writers authors poets throughout history. Learn how to make the most out of your author bio by experimenting with these tips. Run it by your editor your developmental book editor should give the page a final pass, so dont forget to include it. For firsttime indie authors, writing a compelling author bio can be difficult. At author central, you can share the most uptodate information about yourself and your works with millions of readers. Jun 26, 2019 weve compiled 45 stellar examples to give you some ideas. Write the bio for the site where it will live, and mention your reading interests. Im the interactive web designer at sports illustrated. For example, author dan brown shares in his bio how he developed his fascination of the interplay between science and religion. When it comes to an author bio for new writers, examples usually help. Have you written a bio thats likely to attract followers or turn them away. October 22, 2015 by diana urban 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.

Chungah rhee is the founder, recipe developer, and photographer of damn delicious. Some authors choose one or the other, though i recommend taking advantage of both. Below are a few examples of back cover copy for fiction. 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. Sell more books with a kickass amazon book page author marketing experts, inc. Author bios speak volumes about us and a wellcrafted one can mean the difference between a sale and a snub. May 28, 20 whether you are a designer, writer or an artist, having a portfolio website is a great way to increase your customer base.

Within only one page, author vince frost leverages a strong use of graphic design to capture interest. Nov 16, 2017 youve got your book ready to go, but its time to consider the auxiliary writing you must do in order to support the publication of your masterpiece. Add your biography, photos, blog, video, and tour events to the author page, your homepage on. How to write an amazing author bio book marketing for.

And the micro bio of an author for his author page on amazon. Your books author bio tells potential readers who you are, and why they should trust you and buy your book. 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. While your books are a great way to introduce yourself, an author bio can set you. But at the end of that email, youll usually realize they want you to. Theres a right way and wrong way to do this, so lets take a look. Youre writing the author bio page for your book, and are unsure what should go there and what shouldnt. Now that the writing is done, it is time to write your author bio.