How To Write a Captivating Author Bio For Your Book
I migCongratulations! You’ve finished your book! It might have taken you a while to get there but you’ve done it! What next? Well, before you can publish your book, you need to give serious thought to the author bio. And this is where things can get a little tricky. You may have used up all your energy on the main body of text, but without a captivating author bio, you might find readers are put off and won’t even get to the good stuff inside.
We’ve therefore pulled together some top things to consider when writing a captivating author bio for you book.
- Keep it short and compelling
- Tell your story in third person
- Create your own history
- List relevant achievements
- Get a second opinion
- Write a few drafts
Let’s take a look in more detail:
Stay short and sweet
You want to create a brief and compelling author bio. It doesn’t have to be your entire life story, just a simple 250 words would suffice. This can always be cut down or elongated for other uses, but on average, 250 words in a good starting point.
Using third person pronoun
It’s always best to tell your story in the third person. It can help you to talk more confidently about yourself and your achievements and makes for a better bio than in first person narrative.
Create your own history
That’s not to say make it up as you go along. But simply work out which parts of your past are relevant to the story you’re telling. It may not be important to know where you were born if the book is more relatable to what has happened to you later on in life. Pick a significant moment or moments in your life that correlate with or help to explain why you have chosen to write the story you have. Consider your professional and personal life, your education, and even the places you’ve travelled.
Only list relevant literary achievements
Again, as with your history, you don’t have to list all the things you have written before hand, or all of your literary achievements. It’s worth including any big prizes or awards as this can help establish credibility, but make sure you don’t oversaturate the audience before they’ve even begun.
Get a second opinion
If you’re struggling to know what you say, or find it difficult to write about yourself objectively, ask the people around you. Friends and family might be better equipped to establish what it is you need to write about. There is no such thing as bad press, so take what they suggest and jot it down. Then work through what is best to keep and what might be worth discarding.
Write a few drafts
As with your main book, you may have to go through a few versions before you get to the right one. Pass them around for feedback, as you would have your book and build upon your bio in the same way. Remember, it’s just as important as the main body of text, so treat it that way.
Remember you’re human
An author’s bio is a way of connecting with the reader. It’s a chance to get them on side and choose to read your book. So, make sure it’s more than just words. Make sure there is some sense of being in there. Whether you create a chatty bio or a heartfelt bio, it needs to be human to create a true connection with others.
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