RSSHow to Write Your Bio
Jun 21
A Writer's Blog Comments Off
Here’s a secret. I’m a writer but I hate writing my professional bio. It reads too much like a grocery list. Technically, your bio doesn’t have to include much of a punch. Depending on where it is being published, it’s not always useful as a sales tool (though it can lead new fans to your other projects). A bio can be a passive entry; it doesn’t have to do much more than state the facts of your professional career.
Yet leaving it to just a list of accomplishments is not much more useful than a Wikipedia entry. It serves a purpose, true, but it can act as more than just a roll call for your accolades.
So if you reach the point where you have to draft your bio, consider this:
It should be reflective of your voice
Your bio should match the narrative voice of your work. For a comedian, it should be humorous, maybe even upbeat. For a fiction writer, a sense of creativity should be evident. Give the reader a little taste of your style. It will help them know what to expect when they look at your works.
It should be factual
Fans like to know the skinny. Unless it’s explicitly satirical, don’t make things up. Even if you’re joking, make sure the reader is in on the joke. Nothing scares off a fan faster than a betrayal, or misinformation, even if you think it’s all in good fun.
It should include a call to action
For a writer, the call to action can be as simple as including links to the books’ sales pages, links to amazon or both. A call to action typically is an explicit message that says “buy now” and directs the reader how to do so. If you think that’s too forward for a bio, you still need to give the reader some direction on where to navigate next. Don’t assume they will poke around your website. Lead them to the pertinent pages with links. Make the message clear enough to express this is the next step.
It should include a way to contact you
If you do anything in the public eye, you need to include contact information. In this day and age, it’s not necessary that it be a physical address or a phone number. Maybe an online contact form or an e-mail address is sufficient to contact you. (It depends on your fanbase and why you think they might need or want to contact you). And don’t make them hunt for it. A lot of companies create websites designed to discourage you from contacting them. But these are your fans, not just your customers, and you want to be reached.
It should be enticing
Your overall message, including your bio, needs to be appealing. How you appeal to your fans and what you do to make that connection stronger depends on your message and your product. But don’t lose the opportunity to turn your bio into a point of interest. Does it need to be a sales pitch? No, but it also doesn’t need to be so dry and so straightforward that it becomes instantly obsolete.
It should be up to date
Do I really need to harp on this point?
A bio does not have to be your strongest sales pitch; it does not need to include a muscular call to action. But it can be more than just a means of providing information about who you are and what you do. Don’t discount the value of a good bio by treating it as afterthought. Take the time to write it right and treat it as a vital part of your overall message. Because no matter how much I hate writing and editing my own bio, I know having a good one can only be better for me in the long run.
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Andrew Marx is the author of the upcoming essay collection Thank You Is Implied The Annotated Smart ReMarx featuring some of the best articles from his 17-year career. The book will be available to pre-order in August at annotatedsmartremarx.com.
