First of all, Elana Johnson is the shiznit. Please do yourself a great favor and visit her blog and website for advice on writing and publishing. She's a pocket of information by breaking things down into small words that even I could wrap my head around.
She recently re-tweeted an article of hers dealing with writing your author bio for her gig at QueryTracker's blog (another excellent resource) and since I've been futzing around with mine for the last.... month on the the blog, I thought I'd try some of her tips for both websites and in the dreaded query.
Highlights (my interpretation):
- Use your voice. Agents and visitors want to get to know your style, here's a fine way of shaking your bad thing without it resulting in a restraining order.
- Reign in some of your awesomeness the minute you find yourself detailing every.bit.of.your.life. Leave that for your personal blog unless it pertains to your work so keep it brief!
- Read other bios of authors you enjoy. It can give you ideas on what an effective bio should sound like.
Oh man, I can't stand writing bios! I love yours. (And you are so lucky! Five daughters!)
ReplyDeleteMine's four pages (albeit small). Still. I'm thinking it's too long. www.natashafondren.com/natashafondren.html
I LOVE your site design! And the daughters are available weekends and vacations, there's room in the camper for them all, right? RIGHT?
ReplyDeleteCall me crazy but I don't mind Bios. Its the query letters I hate.
ReplyDeleteWow. Mine is only a sentence long. I suppose I need to add more!
ReplyDeletehttp://jcaddell.com/your-hostess/
Love your voice, Stacey!
You've inspired me to take a look at mine again. I know it needs a little freshening. Although I did just have to write one for the website at work. *shudder*
ReplyDeleteGood! The more we focus on how to write tight well-written blurbs about ourselves, the easier it will be to explain your book to prospective agents/editors. If you can't reign yourself in, who can?
ReplyDeleteI was asked to update my Bio. I laughed because not much had changed. I'm still the same.
ReplyDeleteHere's my www.lmpreston.com and blog http://lmpreston.blogspot.com
LM, look at you go! I'm flabbergasted by your schedule and love the line about writing while traveling and watching your kids play. It's such a great peek into your world. :) I didn't realize we were so close either, I'm in northern VA!
ReplyDelete