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The problem with bios
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I don't think it's a bad bio. In the course of fiddling with mine over many years (for various purposes), I've found the following principles help:1. The bio should contain any special experience you've had that relates to what you are promoting. I've written some Baha'i material, so for that my bio highlights my Baha'i life and experiences. But for my mysteries, I have no special experience, so I skip this part. A police officer writing mysteries should, however, mention their "day job."
2. Aside from special experience, any general experience that tells people who you are is always good, simply because people like to hear it. In my case, I mention that I'm a veteran software developer (which has nothing to do with writing mysteries), and amateur astronomer (interesting but irrelevant, except that sometimes I work astronomical notes into my stories), and a bonsai-artist-in-training (irrelevant but interesting because, hey, everyone loves to look at a well-designed bonsai but almost nobody knows anything about the art).
3. Whatever family information you're comfortable including is nice because it makes you sound like a real person, which hopefully you are anyway. ;-) I generally mention my wife, kids, grandkids, and pets.
4. What you've published is relevant for an author bio. What you're working on next is also relevant. This section will require periodic updating as you publish more books.
And really, that's about it. The rest is just how to phrase it. You can be serious, witty, professional, irreverent, etc., as suits the material you're promoting and how you want people to think of you.
Unraveling the secrets of the Middle East, and, in particular, the mysteries of Ancient Egypt, one of Alex Carver's preferred travel destinations, has always been a favorite pastime of this award-winning author. Now, he's put his finely tuned sleuthing skills to good use by producing the acclaimed Inspector Stone Mysteries series of mystery/thrillers. From the very first book in this series, Where There's a Will, reviewers knew Carver was a force to be reckoned with as Inspector Stone and Carver's cast of characters quickly captured their hearts, minds, and yes, the perpetrators of the heinous crimes described. The question is: can you find them before Inspector Stone, given how cleverly Carver weaves his tales together?From here you can describe your previous publications, awards, and anything else that strikes your fancy, including your cat, dog, mistress, whatever. (Don't tell my wife I said that.)
Alex wrote: "Thanks, Ted, that's a great bio, and one I shall have to use in the future, but for now, the only award I have is for one of my covers, and I can't say that I won it since it was my designer's work..."How about reviews? Any awards from book competitions? Reader Views? Readers' Favorites? Etc., Etc. Perhaps you need to enter some competitions and get some awards under your belt.
It looks good to me, Alex. I do agree with Marie the part about your book is out of place. Maybe put it at the end or next to the end paragraph of your bio. It actually depends on the reader what draws them in about you. My experience is that a lot of readers have never read my bio or took the time (because there have been a few here and there that have said "Oh, I didn't know this or that about you.") And mine is as real as it gets. I have traveled abroad to other countries myself but haven't detailed that in my bio. Only when I'm writing my books I leave the rest of my real life background for my characters. Because in this world of internet ( we humans have no privacy anymore) you have to be careful when telling something about yourself. Be as intimate as possible but without telling too much. That's what I did with my bio. But there are those who have read my bio and even though my bio is clean and standard. Well let's just say you get all kinds of crazies, stalkers with their lewd and disturbing propositions and so called people who think they mean well.
Alex wrote: "Thanks, Angel, I had to post my bio a while ago for a site I want an ad on and following the advice here I took out the line about my books. I think it's better without it, but, and perhaps it's ju..."You welcome! From reading your bio above. I found it very authentic which made it interesting to me. What you may think isn't interesting about yourself. Someone else may find interesting. Don't sell yourself short, Alex. :)
I think other things can also make a hero. It can be someone who gives useful advice, gives their time to someone in need, shares their life story to help others by giving them hope, brings others together, shares the spotlight with someone else, or sharing their talents with the world through writing books, art, song, etc. I believe we indie authors are heroes because of the adversity we face everyday, as human beings, as artists. What we do brings hope, life and truth to the world. It's why we are blessed with the gift of words, of story. Alex you have a way with words and you share it with the world. There are people out there who connect with your words, your books with you. I have watched you interact with each of us on a very human, real and very relatable level about things going on in your life. That takes true courage and grit. That is true heroism.
Alex wrote: "*blushes* you say the nicest things, Angel, I'm glad you're part of this group."Thank you, Alex. I am glad too. But I'm just being honest. :)
Anna Faversham wrote: "Angel - you have the right name!"Thank you, Anna! My mom named me Angel. It's my real birth name. She said God told her to name me that when I was born.
It’s a great name for a writer, Angel, since it’s derived from the Ancient Greek word for ‘messenger’. You’re obviously intended to be a communicator of words!
Alex wrote: "...the more I think about my bio, the more I realise I've lead a pretty boring life, lol."Same with me. Except maybe a few bits I don't want to put in my bio in the first place. :-P
Josie wrote: "It’s a great name for a writer, Angel, since it’s derived from the Ancient Greek word for ‘messenger’. You’re obviously intended to be a communicator of words!"Thank you, Josie!
Angel wrote: "I think keeping the bio simple but maybe tell an interesting story about yourself, maybe a little humor added in."The first part of a bio should tell the author's relevant backstory...it should provide the compelling argument as to why the reader should want to read what the author has to say. Those first few sentences of the bio are important because they are the ones that establish credibility in the reader's mind for the author's ability to produce a viable product. If they are buying a mystery/thriller, the fact the author may have a background in criminal justice establishes immediately the expectation his or her book will provide a good read in that genre. Similarly, a background in clinical psychology may provide potential readers with good reasons to purchase a new authors first romance. I'm throwing these out off the top of my head. But the fact is, you have to tender something to lend credence to your argument that you have the background and ability to create something the reader absolutely, positively must read (isn't that the very definition of marketing in our world?).
As always, Ted, you're very helpful. I hesitated to comment on Alex's bio as they are definitely not my strong point. It never occurred to me that working in Psychiatry/Psychology might be useful to establish my credibility. I always just sat back and hoped it showed through. Doh.
Anna Faversham wrote: "As always, Ted, you're very helpful. I hesitated to comment on Alex's bio as they are definitely not my strong point. It never occurred to me that working in Psychiatry/Psychology might be useful t..."It absolutely might! It's all how you spin it. It's not the facts that matter; it's the spin you impose on the facts. (Cohen's Second Law)
Anna Faversham wrote: "As always, Ted, you're very helpful. I hesitated to comment on Alex's bio as they are definitely not my strong point. It never occurred to me that working in Psychiatry/Psychology might be useful t..."I should note: for most of my career, I wrote proposals to federal and state governments in the areas of defense, homeland security, and anti-terrorism. The value of the contracts sought ranged from $5,000 to $300,000,000 and up. Critical to each proposal was a Management Section that included the resumes of the personnel proposed for the job. Each resume had to be tailored to the specific position for which that person was proposed...which meant that we had to interview each person, dig out what in that person's background and work experience was relevant to the specific position for which they were being bid, and relate that experience to the position. Metrics also were critical ("Developed a new technique for monitoring cash flow that resulted in first-year savings to the government of $150 million.")
In our world, we have to tell a story that creates credibility in the readers' minds. We have to give them reasons for laying down their hard-earned money for our books. All we have to sell is ourselves--our backgrounds--our backstories. What have we accomplished in our lives that provides the wherewithal to create something in which they might be interested??? That's the fundamental, underlying question the bio should answer. And lending credence to anything we might say are any awards we have won, quotes from reviewers, and so forth.
Regarding reviews...yes, they do cost money, but absent awards, the best thing you can do, for example, is purchase one review from Readers' Favorite or Feathered Quill (these houses are among the least expensive) and use a quote from the review on your back cover and your Website. Hell, get two. Post the 5-STAR seal on your Website as well, as I do. Enter the Indies Unlimited competition (which Dale and I do most weeks), get your friends to vote (Dale and I enjoy calling in the cavalry every week), and if you win a week's competition or an Editor's Choice Award (and they are running seven months behind on those), post their emblem as well...anything that establishes your creds as a writer.
'Nuff said. I am retiring to my cave. It's cold out here! (;>)
Interesting, very interesting...It's late now, but I am marking this with * and will read and put into practice what I feel I can.
Thank you.
Anna Faversham wrote: "Interesting, very interesting...It's late now, but I am marking this with * and will read and put into practice what I feel I can.
Thank you."
I hope it helps...dig up your accomplishments, get some reviews, apply for some awards...build your creds.
Experts and those who have been in the business will say you need a thorough bio and it needs to be almost the same everywhere...those experts are wrong. What you want is like 3 or 4 different bios, each of different lengths and they can tell the same info but worded differently and you can always add new things to certain sites.No one wants the same ole bio but as long as you have the same photo it helps people realize it's you and they read and get to know you more. My Amazon bio and website bio are my longest and most thorough and rightfully so as they are where my readers are the most.
I also have small genre bios under each of my books. For my poetry my bio talks about my passion and background in poetry. For my western horror It tells of my interest in both genres and connects with a classic western movie. The idea is you want to appeal to the reader by truly connecting yourself to the genre you write in or your book is in.
I like your bio, except I think the sentence about your book seems out of place. The rest sounds great to me.