About The Author (You)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR (YOU) Admit it, you’ve struggled over writing your bio. I know you've. We all have. But there’s hope, believe me. A quick, one-paragraph bio is one thing each creator needs, but there’s nobody right way to do it, no “will need to have” info, so it requires virtually as much creativity because the novel it accompanies. First off, that is your bio and nobody can (or anyway, nobody ought to) inform you what it ought to or shouldn’t say. Not snug addressing your private life? Then don’t. No matter what I say as this publish goes on, overlaying all that is that you need to pay attention to your individual consolation zone. That having been mentioned, I suppose a great author bio is written first so the tone of the bio matches the book, the genre, and/or the viewers. If your guide is a severe, adult fantasy full of political intrigue and tragic death, skip the funny, clever bio. I know this one from onerous expertise. I once wrote a fairly serious navy SF story for an anthology, th en offered this fully mismatched and sick-advised bio, which I totally regret and need I might take again: Philip Athans. What can I say about Philip Athans? Women want to be with him. Men wish to be him. He currently lives in the Seattle area with a couple of actually fortunate gals. And yes, he's one rattling nice lookin’ man. However true that could be, it didn’t match the story, the rest of the anthology, and the style in any respect. So yeah, know your viewers and write appropriately. Here’s my “commonplace” bioâ€"you could have seen it in a single kind or another somewhere before. I maintain this on my laptop, and paste it in almost every time I’m asked for a bio, however not exactly every time. Again, I switch things up relying on the time, place, tone, and so on. Philip Athans is the founding companion of Athans & Associates Creative Consulting, and the New York Times finest-selling author of Annihilationand greater than a dozen other fantasy and horror books inc luding The Guide to Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction and the soon-to-be-launched Writing Monsters. Born in Rochester, New York he grew up in suburban Chicago, where he revealed the literary journal Alternative Fiction & Poetry. His blog, Fantasy Author’s Handbook, is updated every Tuesday, and you may observe him on Twitter @PhilAthans. He makes his residence in the foothills of the Washington Cascades, east of Seattle. This starts with my name. Do that. If you’re a part of an anthology, for instance, this makes it easier for the writer to fold your bio in to the present textual content with out adding a headline. And anyway, that is, by definition, about you, so why not own that up entrance? The subsequent factor is “what I’m doing proper now.” Most of the writers I know have some sort of “day job”â€"as long as you aren’t ashamed of it, go forward and tell us that, especially if what you do for a living, or did for a living, helps reinforce your “credentials” f or the guide at hand. If you’re writing navy SF, as an example, and can say that you simply’re a retired Navy SEAL then by all means, sure, do that! And your writer photo could be a “selfie,” like this one! Next comes previous credit, which serves two simultaneous purposes: It says “I’m a professional, take me seriously” on the similar time saying “Buy my different stuff.” If you don’t have any previous credits, okay. Everyone starts someplace. Don’t fret, just depart that out or higher but, personal it: This is [your name]’s first novel. You’ll by no means be able to say that again! Then I mixed where I’m from with a much older credit score. This is all optionally available, and truthfully I’m undecided why I talked about a literary journal that revealed its fifth and last concern in 1987. But there it is. Then I promote slightly more. I send folks right here and to my Twitter account so that they may turn into considered one of my Unholy Minions. If y ou don’t have Unholy Minions you’re in massive bother. They’re the only individuals who read anymore. But critically, some kind of social media/internet presence isn't optionally available, so for the sake of your profession, a minimum of tell us you’re on Facebook! Then I like to end with the tiniest bit of private the place-is-he-now, telling all people the final space in which I reside. I assume the place I live is a pretty attention-grabbing place. If you reside someplace uninteresting, think about what else you possibly can “reveal” here. Do you've children (and are you okay telling that to the world?). Do you've a cat? A canine? A collection of . . . one thing that gained’t make you look like a crazed maniac? Do you've a hobby of any kind? Just like your day job, the place you reside, your hobbies and interests, and so on, might be of interest to your readers in the event that they tie again to the subject material of the e-book. Does one of the characters in you r e-book endure from Alzheimer’s Disease and you helped look after a relative who fell sufferer to that terrible disease in real life? It’s not exploitive to say that, it helps your readers know that your presentation of that character is honest. On a much lighter note, do your characters experience and raise horses? If so, do you? Do they have a bloodhound and you breed and show bloodhounds? Is it set in your home city, or a city you as soon as lived it? Any and all of those connections might help breathe some life into your bio. I generally tell folks that I’m a lifelong SF/fantasy fan, a lifelong Trekkie, and a first technology (D&D) gamer . . . because all of these issues are true and tend to say, “Phil isn’t just trying to cash in on the Harry Potter craze, he really likes these things!” And that’s not a foul message to ship (as long as it’s true). Genre readers just like the genres they learn. Who knew, proper? â€"Philip Athans About Philip Athans Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: