What Works Best in Your Author's Bio

3 min read

What Works Best in Your Author's Bio

Author's biographies in short and long-form figure into book marketing campaigns in many ways. As interesting as your book is, people often want to know more about you before deciding to read your work. Knowing what to include in your bio can give you a leg up in your PR efforts. Seasoned publicists have advice about what works best in a biography and why short and long versions are helpful. It's easy to follow a few tips before you start writing yours, and it may be a process where you begin with several rough drafts before settling on the best one. Doing it in advance so you are timely also makes sense.

You'll want a more extended version of your bio for electronic and printed media kits. The shorter version you'll write works for all other marketing materials, and you'll want a very brief one for your social media profiles. It often works well to try several versions and sleep on them. You may pick one in its entirety or splice together parts of several to reach your final version. If you're working with an editor for your book, they may be willing to give you thoughts on your draft bio, and the same goes if you have a publicist. You want to include relevant credentials and ensure things relate to your book.

It's always good firm to write bios in the third person. Writing in the first person will surprise people and may be met with skepticism. The third-person style is more professional and speaks of you more aspirationally. There are no rights and wrongs about what to include, but the purpose is to help people understand why you've written your book and the knowledge or talent you bring to the equation. If you need help with what to include, look at bios for other successful authors in your genre for inspiration. You want to avoid copying them, but their ideas will spark some of your own.

When writing a bio, you want to strike a balance between saying enough to impress people but not so much that you lose their attention. A target length of 250 to 300 words may be a good starting point. For most people, that's enough to get across the main points without carrying on too long. If you have awards, degrees, or other relevant credentials, it's good to include them. Some creative flair is okay and helpful, but don't go too far. If you're unsure, ask a couple of others to read it and give you candid feedback. The goal is to spark people's interest in you and reading your book.

Business Name:- Smith Publicity, Inc.

Address:- 1415 Marlton Pike East Suite 402, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034

Phone:-  856-489-8654

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