Blogger: Kathleen Y’Barbo
Janet here: Thanks once again to Kathleen Y’Barbo for standing in for me by allowing me to post the last of a three-part series on the author bio that Kathleen wrote for our blog several years ago.
As you’ve seen from Part 1 and Part 2, Kathleen’s advice remains golden. Today you’ll work at writing your 300-word bio.
I’ll be back with a post of my own next week, having focused my energies these weeks on returning home after the Wine Country fires and pulling my life back together. Who would think it would take so many shopping trips to restock one’s fridge and freezer!?
Now, here’s Kathleen:
The past two weeks we’ve been talking about author bios. First came the one-line summary, and then, last week, I challenged authors to answer questions I called “The Four Ws of You.” If you’ve done your homework, you can answer these four questions:
1. Who are you?
2. What have you written?
3. Why do you write?
4. What else do you want them to know?
If you’ve not yet stopped to consider the responses you’d give to these, do that before going any further. You’ll be glad for the exercise in creating a bio that will not only catch the attention of professionals, but will also showcase your voice. Now that you’ve practiced, prepared, and reviewed, let’s see what we can do to enhance your work.
First, you’ll need an opening line to hook your reader. 
To find that, go back and review your one-line bio. This should be your opening hook. Polish it if you’re not happy with the impact of the sentence, and make it shine. This sentence will also answer the first question of who you are.
Now move on to the second question and look at the list of books, articles, or other pieces of writing you’ve done. Which of these are most fitting to use?
I suggest choosing a few key items that best represent the type of writing you wish to continue doing.
If you have a few nonfiction pieces that support the novel, list those too. Or perhaps you’ve written a novel then published articles from your research. All of this fits well in the middle section of your bio.
Next, consider why you write. This is a section that may or may not be appropriate to your bio depending on whether you are writing for the Christian or general markets. If you choose to include this, try to go beyond “because God says so” to
craft a statement of purpose.
Again, keep this brief and use words that reflect your voice.
Finally, look over your bio and
do a quick word count.
The entire paragraph should add up to no more than 300 words. Why, you ask? Because when publishers put together sales packets for their sales force, a 300-word bio is almost always included. So, do the work now and rest easy later.
In most bios, an obligatory ending thought is included to
allow the reader to know where to find you.
Thus, I suggest the bio end with this: Read more about Amanda Author on her website at (web address here) or connect with her on Twitter at (twitter name). If you use other social networking sites, consider a mention of them in a prominent place on your website so as not to clog up your final sentence with a string of web addresses and Facebook page listings.
And what of those who like to end with this stunner: Norman Novelist lives in Name City with his wife, Nancy, and their dog?
Yawn. How many times have we read this?
My challenge for this week is for you to come up with a fabulous ending to your 300-word author bio.
Yes, you can certainly use the cozy ending, but if you do, please, please, please make it interesting. How? Well…that’s up to you. Show me what you come up with. I can’t wait!
TWEETABLES
What should you put in your author bio? Click to tweet.
Is your author bio boring? Here’s how to spruce it up. Click to tweet.
300 words! Oh my. For once in my life, I have too many words (I blame the extras on old age and long life). Time to fire up the delete key.
* Many thanks, Janet and Kathleen, for my new writing project. And blessings, Janet, on your return to “normal.” May it be better than ever.
OK, 219 words. Lean, lithe, and lethal, yeah?
* When God wants elegant and winsome prose, he turns to such as Beth Vogt and Beverley Lewis. But sometimes even the Almighty needs a blunt instrument.
* Andrew Budek-Schmeisser, author of “Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart” and “Emerald Isle”, has worked in fields as diverse as college teaching and paramilitary contracting. A practicing Soto Zen Buddhist and Evangelical Christian, he brings to his work the marriage of East and West, and the meeting of cool academic elitism with the white-hot savagery of combat in the world’s unwashed armpits; his writing is aflame with the urgency of compassion, and with bitter contempt for those who theorize while the innocent bleed out.
* His writing has dealt with subjects like PTSD, abortion, and just how quickly will a lynch mob form if a healer loses his powers?
* Living in rural New Mexico with his stunning wife and a large group of extremely loyal Pit Bulls, his passionate practice of high-performance driving has informed his writing by bringing him into close and regular contact with many law enforcement jurisdictions.
* Now facing the rather tiresome challenge of pancreatic cancer, he is fully living out his LifeMotto:
– The good may die young, but badass lives forever.
* You can find him on Twitter @BudekSchmeisser, but rest assured that he can quite easily find YOU.
Ha, Andrew! You found me, and I’m not afraid.
I like it.
Wonderful, Andrew! I especially enjoy “the world’s unwashed armpits” very vivid.
Well done, Andrew! You have such a natural voice for this.
Hi Andrew, as always you stretch your readers! I so love that you write with, “the urgency of compassion.” People need this.
I also love the part about your stunning wife and extremely loyal pit bulls. You sure have an Andrewian way with words 🙂
OK, here is my exactly 100 word one that I finally finished after editing last week’s version. I’ll post the 300 once it is done! Thanks so much Janet and Kathleen! This is a great exercise.
Kristen Joy Wilks lives in the beautiful Cascade Mountains with her camp director husband, three fierce sons, and a large and slobbery Newfoundland dog. She has blow-dried a chicken, fought epic Nerf battles instead of washing dishes, and discovered a stealthily smuggled gardener snake in the bubble bath with her sons. Her stories and articles have appeared in Nature Friend, Clubhouse, Thriving Family, Splickety, and Havok Magazines. She writes funny romances for Pelican Book Group, including Copenhagen Cozenage, The Volk Advent, and Athens Ambuscade. Kristen writes about the humor and Grace that can be found amidst the detritus of life.
Brilliant. And I STILL love the blow dried chicken part!
Thanks, Kathleen!
OK, this one is exactly 300 words. Feels a bit long, but I wanted to see what 300 looked like. Enjoy!
Kristen Joy Wilks lives in the beautiful Cascade Mountains with her camp director husband, three fierce sons, and a large and slobbery Newfoundland dog. She has blow-dried a chicken, engaged in epic Nerf battles instead of washing dishes, and stared into incredibly twinkly eyes while considering earnest advice such as: “I don’t think you should try so hard NOT to swear at Daddy, Momma.” Her stories and articles have appeared in Nature Friend, Clubhouse, Thriving Family, Splickety, and Havok Magazines. Her story Day of the Cyclones is included in Nancy B. Kennedy’s book Miracles and Moments of Grace: Inspiring Stories from Mothers. Pelican Book Group published her debut novella Copenhagen Cozenage, as well as The Volk Advent, and Athens Ambuscade. Kristen is an ACFW member, a semi-finalist in the Genesis contest, a double winner in the 2017 OCW Cascade contest. Her debut novella Copenhagen Cozenage has recently been picked up by a Norwegian publisher and placed third in the 2016 International Digital Awards. When Kristen is not refraining from profanity or shooing smuggled gardener snakes out of bubble baths, she loves to write about the humor and Grace that can be found hidden amidst the detritus of life. Much like the shiny quarter one member of their household swallowed and then found in the pot five days later. If God is good enough to grant us these gems, she figures that someone should be putting them to the page. Kristen can be found wandering around Camas Meadows Bible Camp snapping photos, tucked under a tattered quilt in an overstuffed chair at 4:00am writing a wide variety of implausible tales, or at http://www.kristenjoywilks.com. If you would rather enjoy photos of charging bison, Newfoundland dogs, and attacking squid then by all means visit her “What I’m Writing About” board on Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/kristenjwilks7/what-im-writing-about/
Argh! I see some repeated words now … at least it is exactly 300 words though! That’s what’s important … right???
Janet, I’m so glad you’ve reached the part of restocking your fridge and freezer. That means it’s clean enough to eat there, and have the capacity and appliances to cook minus the ash. It’s amazing what is needed in a fridge and freezer, especially when you get to the condiments!
Kathleen, thank-you for this three part series. It has been a great way to work into the 300 word bio. I will work on mine tomorrow, as I just arrived home from helping a friend with some
projects and then post it.
Thank you again!
You are most welcome!
Thanks for cheering me on, Elizabeth. Reconnecting with “normal” is much more complicated than one would think.
?You’re welcome. I love to encourage people. After those fires you need to give yourself time and permission to get back to “normal.” I don’t know, but that still think it would be difficult. I am still praying…
I’ve been following this blog for a while, but since I’m not yet in a place to really focus on my writing for publication, I’ve been lurking more than participating. This series inspired me, though, so I wrote a bio just for fun. It’s not 300 words, but it’s a start. Perhaps down the road I can make it into something more substantial, once I’m able to get the writing side of life more organized. 😀
*Elizabeth holds a degree in English, because after attempting majors in music and medicine, she realized she needed to pursue something both quiet and chemistry-free. She met her husband shortly after graduating (which changed her mind about chemistry), and now she is the homeschooling mother of five (and can’t remember what quiet is). Elizabeth is currently unpublished, although a small contribution will appear in Janet McHenry’s “50 Life Lessons for Grads” next Spring. She hopes to have a slightly longer list (and bio) in 20 years. In the meantime she chips away at various manuscripts-in-progress while chasing kids, remodeling her home with her husband, and preparing for baby #6. Her writing, while varied in genre, endeavors to keep Christ and truth at the center of it. You can follow Elizabeth on Twitter (@fogwood214) for occasional snippets that tickle her fancy or on Instagram (fogwood214) for pictures of flowers, weather, and food.
I loved reading this, Elizabeth. Especially the part about you changing your mind about chemistry. Very fun and it tells us something more about you, your life, and goals. Nicely done.
I agree with Kristen Joy. This was a fun bio to read, filled with cleverness and delightful riffs on your life. Well done!
And welcome to the Comments section of the blog. I hope to see you here more often.
In my opinion, Andrew’s bio tops us all. (Your story – your life, is so inspiring. You are fighting the good fight, and it is making a real difference for all of us, Andrew.) This was a fun exercise, so I thought I would post a draft of what I’m working on. Thanks providing us with the challenge!
Joanne Reese is a practicing humorist and a humble student of love who is writing an inspirational romance series set in the farming community of Sundance, California. She writes primarily to untangle thoughts and to nurture the treasures she picks up along the way. But beyond this restorative approach, Joanne longs to serve her reader with stories of redemption that foster an awareness of the unmatched love of God. Joanne resides in the Central Valley of California with her husband of close to a quarter of a century, two of her children still at home who are peering over the edge of the nest, and a cat and dog who both claim favoritism and persistently fight to occupy her lap. You can be Joanne’s friend on Facebook, and read her book reviews for some good recommendations on Goodreads. You can also contact her at http://www.JoanneReese.com.