How do I write a good author biography?

As a reader, you might not pay too much attention to the About the Author section of a book, but now that you are in the position of publishing your own book, you’ll look at it from a new perspective. An author bio isn’t just a description of your personal life; in fact, it’s a crucial part of the marketing of a book.

So, before we discuss what makes a good author bio, let’s consider the purposes of the About the Author section.

Real Estate

Before getting down to the nitty-gritty of what to put into a bio and how to present it, it is important to estimate how much real estate we have to work with.

In a previous post, I discussed where to place this author bio, as well as the blurb and reviews. If you haven’t decided on that yet, I recommend thinking about it now. It would be a shame to write a nice long bio only to have the graphic designer tell you at the eleventh hour that you need to cut it in half because there’s just not enough space for what you’ve written.

Once an author has decided where to place the bio, it’s time to estimate how many words will fit in that place. It might be a good idea to take a book off the shelf to use for comparison.

Branding

An often overlooked yet critical aspect of the author bio is the role it plays in the branding of an author. In a very short space, they are being presented as a certain type of character; the impression that is made here will be forever embedded in the minds of readers. A book might be full of the world’s most evocative short stories, but if the bio presents the author as the world’s most methodical accountant, readers might never pick it up. Likewise, a bio that focuses on an author’s fun-loving personality probably isn’t the best choice to help build credibility in a book about the finer points of the law.

And it’s not just what an author says here but how he says it that matters. If an author wants to portray himself as a scientific sort of fellow – like the next Einstein – presenting a dry list of phenomenal accomplishments might be the perfect choice. But to portray an author as a passionate and caring individual, a descriptive and poetic style of writing might be a better choice.

Nonfiction

The goal of a nonfiction title is to teach the reader some important lessons that will enhance his life. But before the reader invests his time and money into a book, he wants to know whether the author is really qualified to teach the subject at hand. This is where the author bio can help. It’s an opportunity to convince the reader that the author is well-versed in the book’s subject. By briefly stating the author’s training, experience, and accomplishments in the field, a bio can assure the reader that the author is indeed an expert and reading the book will be worthwhile. None of this requires revealing any personal information that is not public knowledge, and it establishes the author as a credible authority.

Fiction

When it comes to a work of fiction, the goal is not to convince the reader that the author is the next Albert Einstein or Sandra Day O’Connor. On the contrary, putting aside all of the fantasy in a book, readers want to connect with the real author.

A readership is curious to know who the author really is. What does he do besides write? What are his favorite hobbies? Does he have a family? If the author satisfies them by sharing a little about his personal life, he might gain a bigger and better following, and that is what most fiction authors are looking for.

What to Write

Now that we’ve discussed goals and a target word count, let’s make a list of what can be included in a bio.

  • Education – This is a very basic detail that tells a lot about you. If you write that you received a degree in economics from UCLA in 2010, that small statement tells the reader worlds about you: what you majored in, where you earned your degree, and your approximate age.
  • Experience – Tell the reader what you have been doing professionally since you graduated college. Did you go to graduate school, train in a laboratory, or work on Wall Street? Did you establish your own successful business?
  • Awards – If you received an award from a prestigious institution at any stage in life, let the reader know. Awards can impress your readers, whether they’re for a discovery, a social cause, or excellence in your field.
  • Other titles – If you are already a published author, then mention the name or names of your other titles. This will impress readers and generate some publicity for your other books.
  • Memberships – If you belong to an elite group, such as the board of directors of a Fortune 500 company, let your readers know.
  • Family life – People love to know if you are married, have children or pets, and where you live. Talking about your family is a way to create a human connection with readers.
  • Social media – In the modern-day bio, authors can reach out to their fans in a very personal way by sharing their website URLs and social media addresses. By encouraging readers to follow you on Facebook or Twitter, you can establish a solid marketing channel so that when your next title is released you can make sales to established readers of your work even easier.

Use this list to create an outline for your own bio. For the moment don’t worry about the actual writing, just make your unique list of what it should include.

How to Write It

Since the bio has very limited real estate (100-200 words) to get its whole message across, an author should be prepared to write a rough draft and then revise it again and again until each word shines. I would also recommend gleaning some ideas by looking at famous authors’ bios to see what they focused on and how they presented it.

Here are some important tips to keep in mind:

  • Short and sweet – Keep the writing concise yet interesting.
  • Third person – Always write as if you aren’t the writer of the bio.
  • Matter of fact – Avoid sounding like you are bragging; merely state the facts.
  • Hook – Show how you are unique.

Additional Versions

Finally, it’s a good idea to write a few more versions of your author bio besides the one that is going in your book. If a book will be sold on Amazon, as most books are nowadays (especially self-published titles), then a longer version of the bio will be used for an Amazon Author Page. And if an author is interviewed by newspapers or television reporters, they will certainly request a full bio with more detail than the short-and-sweet version from the book.

Although your motive for writing a book might be altruistic in nature, don’t be too shy to show off a little. The author bio is an excellent opportunity to establish yourself as someone whose book is worth reading – which you are. Be proud of yourself and your writing.