Publishing a Novel: Author Bio

Me at Cape Cod

In an inch or so of space, your few words must accomplish about ten things in the author bio. That’s the paragraph which goes right under your author photo. You spend years with all the space you need to write your book. You carefully craft your character arcs, add brilliant description passages, type out pages of dialogue for days on end. You tell the whole story, or a good bite, of someone’s life. Then, with a little more than an inch, you tell your own story.

If you’ve published other books, your bio is a snap. You fill it up with a string of titles. You earned it. Let’s face it, writing is your life! But if you are a debut author, you have to be clever.

In your allotted area, you must be relatable; give some personal history; add something quirky about yourself; mention your education, and how it relates to your story. Humor is good if you’re not writing about some disaster. Say something about who you are. Do not mention your cat. And all through this condensed bio of you, let the reader hear your voice. (That’s technical writer-talk.).
Writers are the most generous people. Many have published blogs on details like these for new publishers. I have done my homework. I reduced my bio to 70 words, a little under an inch and a quarter. And I did mention my CAT.