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One of the most important documents you may write is your author biography. It tells people who you are, explains why they should read your work and describes your qualifications for authoring your book or blog.
I’m not talking about writing a resumé. This is a story of your experience as it pertains to your book(s), your blog, your speaking, and your career.
However, you need to write more than one version of your author bio, as it is known. You need a bio for:
- Your blog or website
- Each one of your social media accounts
- Your media kit
- Speaking appearances
The bio you post on your website or blog is different than the one you provide to the person who wants to hire you to speak. You’ll also have different versions for the media and for media appearances as well as for your social media accounts. After all, the lengthy “story” you write about ourself for your blog’s “About” page won’t fit into 140 characters on Twitter. Nor is it appropriate for most other social media sites or for an introduction when you speak at a conference. You may need a different (shorter) bio for a conference catalogue, too. Then there’s the fact that you write the bio for your website in the first person, and you need a third-person bio for most other uses.
As you can see, writing your author bio means writing several bios.
Nonfiction Writing Prompt #41: Write Your Author Bio
To complete this nonfiction writing prompt, write four different author bios for different uses:
- A 100-word third-person bio
- A 140-character bio for Twitter
- A first-person “story” bio to use for your blog’s “About” page
- A two-to-four paragraph third-person bio for your media kit
If you get stuck, read the bios on several authors’ sites. See what they include on their “About” pages, in their media kits and even on their social media sites.
Compare and contrast. Find something you like, and mimic it.
Did you find it difficult or easy to write your author bio? Tell me below in a comment.
For more information on writing all types of nonfiction—and becoming an expert in a topic area so you can land article, guest blog and book contracts, join the NFWU. When you do, you’ll receive 15 months of Nonfiction Writers’ University (NFWU) challenges, assignments and event recordings. Plus, you’ll have access to live coaching (and archived repays of past coaching sessions) as well as introductory gifts worth almost $150 in value! Members also get additional bonuses during the year.
Next NFWU event: 4/22 at 3 pm PT: How Agents Evaluate Your Work with Gordon Warnock, literary agent and founding partner of Fuse Literary. (Membership required.) To find out more about or to join the NFWU, click here.
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