I’ve often seen accomplished professionals with weak bios. I'm talking about people with PhDs who don't list their credentials or experts who've spoken at major corporations or been featured in national news outlets that don't include that in their bio. One client told me they didn't include a significant project they'd worked on with a big Hollywood producer because they didn't get paid to do it. My response? So what! No one knows that, and no one cares.
As an author, you may have different bios for different needs. For example, you may have a speaker bio slightly different from your author bio on the back of your book. Regardless, any bio should have the same basic structure.
Your bio should read like a short introduction to your life's work and your most recent/relevant work—all in a few sentences. Include only the most significant, most important information, like your current profession, business, the title of your current book, degrees if they're from a well-known institution, prominent media if you've been featured in something national, places where you've spoken that are worth mentioning (like Apple, Amazon, Omega, TedX, etc.), and of course, your website. You should have a few versions of your bio: very short (50 words), short (150 words), and long (up to 500 words) – all available on the press page of your website. For anything longer, post a link on your website's bio page and make a PDF download of your CV. I also find it's nice to end with something personal and, of course, how to find more information about you and contact you.
Here's a good example of a medium-length bio:
Dr. Ken Druck is one of the world's leading experts on grief and resilience. Since losing his own daughter in a tragic accident and working with families after 9/11, Sandy Hook, and Columbine, he has dedicated his life to providing roadmaps for getting through life's most daunting and difficult times and navigating its daily ups and downs. Dr. Ken is a bestselling author of several books, including his most recent, How We Go On: Self-Compassion, Courage, and Gratitude on the Path Forward. He is a recipient of the prestigious Distinguished Contribution to Psychology award and a noted speaker for conferences, special gatherings, and global organizations. Dr. Ken lives in San Diego with his family and beloved Boxer, Jack. Find him at www.kendruck.com.
Your bio aims to frame yourself precisely as you want to be seen and provide a consistent message across all channels. By making your bio available quickly and easily, you're making the media's job easier, which puts you a step ahead of 90% of others and makes you more likely to get featured and asked back!
This is a newsletter by Ariel Curry, co-host of The Hungry Author’s podcast, acquisitions editor, and author. In this issue, she talks about what makes her transfixed by a story or how an author so thoroughly and uniquely addresses a topic that she can’t help talking about it for weeks afterward. Ahhhh, a publicist’s dream! Getting your book out to the world is about getting it to readers who become evangelists for your book! And you never know where they’ll hear about your book; it could be in a newsletter, on a podcast, at a book club, or just in conversation among people (some of whom happen to have large platforms).
Ariel has a new book with her co-author, Liz Morrow: Hungry Authors: The Indispensable Guide to Planning, Writing, and Publishing a Nonfiction Book(Rowman & Littlefield, 2024). Look for an interview with them shortly.
SOMETHING TO WATCH
I don't really watch TV much, but recently I've been watching an old series I'd never heard of, THE LOOMING TOWER, which "traces the rising threat of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida in the late '90s and how a rivalry between the FBI and CIA during the time period may have inadvertently set the path for the attacks of 9/11." It's based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name by Lawrence Wright. Other than too many awkward sex scenes with Jeff Daniels that I never really need to see again, it is a fantastic portrayal of a horrible sequence of events. Now I’ll have to go back and read the book to see how well it was adapted.
SOMETHING TO LISTEN TO
Last week, I recommended listening to Jerry Seinfeld on The Tim Ferriss podcast, but I still needed to finish that interview. Now that I have, I definitely recommend listening to the whole thing when you can (or Start around 36:00 for this story). My favorite part at the end is when Tim asks Jerry if you could put one thing on a billboard, what would it be? Jerry answers with a story about how a friend of his asked him to come speak at a comedy class at The Improve in LA. He accepted the spot and started the lecture with, “The fact that you’ve signed up for this class is a very bad sign.” He explained there was nothing someone could teach you that you couldn’t learn better and faster than by just getting out there and doing the work! His quote for a billboard, I’ll leave here as …
The battle for your attention is real and I appreciate you giving me a few minutes! Please feel free to share this with anyone who needs it. If you’re interested in working together, find me at Parallel 33 PR or get my Good Author ebook by subscribing to this newsletter.
Cheers!
Carina
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