Author bio on book cover

To edit book or author information, navigate to the book or author s page, then click on the edit data link in the lower right side of the box containing the book or author s information. On virtually every traditionally published book, the exciting and graceful words working their magic on the back covers werent written by the author, but by a professional copywriter. Apr 12, 2018 for nonfiction authors, the author bio is a critical marketing tool as who are you are is often as or more. Jul 12, 2010 the author bio in your cover or query letter should be goodand while this article stresses the importance of having strong publication credits, its not unheard of that a writer with no experience and a weak author bio will gain national attention. The author biography should either be on the last page of the book, or on the cover of the book but not both. Please remember to be accurate in your edits, as your changes will. Write the bio for the site where it will live, and mention your reading interests. Sell more books with a kickass amazon book page author marketing experts, inc.

May 28, 20 this bio page is made in three colors that work together wonderfully white, red and black. The back of a book cover is the perfect place to put this social proof. I cover mobile, he explains, as well as internet services and the. He has always had a passion for reading and writing from a young age. Some authors choose one or the other, though i recommend taking advantage of both. His first book, the house of morgan, won the national book award, washington. Creating the best description of you nikki lynne on what makes a good author bio. Doing life a biography of elizabeth jolley by brian dibble. Theres not much space on the back cover, so every word counts there.

Here are some tips and tricks for writing a short bio. Your books author bio tells potential readers who you are, and why they should trust you and buy your book. The author photo is cheeky and suits well with the style. Id show the book to people at book fairs and signing events, and theyd flip the book over, read the bio, and laugh. Along with an impressive cover letter and query, your manuscript must include an author bio. The books message of kindness has inspired the choose kind movement, and has been embraced by readers, young and old, around the world. The covers we choose for our books are much more significant than many authors think. How to write an author bio page book edits by jessi. Its an invigorating feeling, receiving ones first acceptance letter from an editor. Derek murphy is a selfpublishing author, book marketing specialist, cover designer and.

Chungah rhee is the founder, recipe developer, and photographer of damn delicious. Composing a professional writing bio for a cover letter or query letter is difficult, whether youre a new writer with no publication credits, a midlevel writer with significant publications, or a professional writer. Learn how to write an author bio that gets readers attentions. Make sure you have entered the title, subtitle, author name, and series information on the paperback details tab.

Lara prescott is the author of the secrets we kept, an instant new york times bestseller and a hello sunshine x reese witherspoon book club pick. Her debut novel, wonder, has been on the new york times bestseller list since march, 2012, and has sold over 5 million copies worldwide. How writers can avoid the 6 most embarrassing author bio. What began as a grad school hobby is now a top food blog, with millions of readers coming to her site for easy. A clean and acceptable short bio with credentials might go something like this. Creating the best author bio for your cover or query letter requires careful thought and attention so you make the right choices. Book summary and author bio on the back of the book. Ference lives in cave creek, arizona with his wife rachel and three children nathan, lena, and victoria. It takes a long time to read a book, but its very easy to make a snap judgment based on a short paragraph, and most people do that.

What to put in your books author bio nonfiction authors association. Ron chernow is the prizewinning author of six previous books and the recipient of the 2015 national humanities medal. Keep it brief your books author bio page should be shortjust two or three brief paragraphs. The books message of kindness has inspired the choose kind movement, and has been embraced by readers, young and. So, weve provided the hints, tips and instructions. John doe received an mfa in fiction from writing university in 2006. How to build the back of a book cover with template reedsy. How to write a memorable author bio with template reedsy.

Please remember to be accurate in your edits, as your changes will be reflected on anyones shelf who has that book. For nonfiction, establishing yourself as an expert and differentiating your book from the others written about the same. Leave four lines for your signature and then type your full name. Reeves looks simple but has all the useful and interesting information one might look for. Use your author bio to sell yourself as part of the book and connect with readers. Sometimes a book can stand out just be being the most simplistic of the bunch. The importance of book covers andi oconnor on book cover design and formatting cosmic energy reading for january 2020 the age of light oracle nikkies tutorials on book cover design and formatting.

Practically, the back cover of fiction books tend to include a tagline also known as a logline or the shout line, a blurb, possibly a brief author bio. Cover creator will use these details to generate your cover. For nonfiction authors, the author bio is a critical marketing tool as who are you are is often as or more. Spine finished books that are more than pages long also need spine text that shows the main title and authors last name as part of the cover design. But at the end of that email, youll usually realize they want you to. The bio you write today will look completely different in five years time. Over the years ive seen everything from a finely designed book cover, to one the author created himself. While all five of these tips will help you make a better bio, tips 2 and 3 are the best advice for how to write an author bio that sells books. Once you have written a short, medium and long bio, save each of them on your computer, usb or cloud storage system. Nov 20, 2019 thank the editor for reading your work, and close with the standard sincerely, or best regards. The secrets we kept is laras debut novel and will be translated into over 30 languages and adapted for film by the ink factory and marc platt productions. Testimonials are incredibly persuasive in transforming potential readers into readers. Below are a few examples of back cover copy for fiction. Look at kings photo again and imagine thats the author of an alternative history book about nazis.

Just be sure that the author bio in your query or cover letter is professional, succinct. Our friends at bookbub carried out an ab test in which they sent group a a book description with a testimonial and group b a version without a testimonial. The back cover of your book should include a short bio of the author, letting readers know the most salient aspects of your life, your business, and your career. Learn how to make the most out of your author bio by experimenting with. Authors names on book covers book talk librarything. You should regularly maintain your bio on places like your bookbub author profile so fans and potential readers seeking you out can learn more about you and why they should pick up your latest book. This is typically done for a scholarly, nonfiction book.

Nine things that need to be on your book cover alicia dunams. Theres a right way and wrong way to do this, so lets take a look. To help readers find your books, make sure to add your books in your author central account. This is typically the last page of a book and is on the left hand side. Rick mofina is a former journalist who has interviewed murderers on death row. If youre afraid the above sentence may describe you, well, dont be too hard on yourself. Avoiding embarrassing gaffes in this vital paragraph will help you to appear professional, successful, and friendlythe type of writer every literary agent and editor loves to work with. Novelists will rarely depend on the bio to sell the book, but as book launch. As an already established author, you have probably saved your bio in a file, updating it as you go. Please welcome author nicolas frame with some good advice on writing your first author bio. In todays guest post, editor jessi rita hoffman explains how to craft professional and compelling backcover copy. The author page is your chance to tell readers something interesting about yourself, so make sure you include any details about your background, awards you have won, other books you have written, and personal details customers might want to know. How to write your first author bio writing forward.

Include achievements that build credibility or are interesting to the reader. Why you need an author bio both inside your book and on the. The authors name was significantly larger on the cover. How to write an author bio that sells books ben zackheim. You dont say, i have been a ghost writer for four years. When writing a book, there are two potential places to include your author bio. This bio page is made in three colors that work together wonderfully white, red and black. Reading is an intimate endeavor in which the reader and the author are engaged in a kind of relationship.

How do you write an author bio for a cover letter or book. That short introduction you see on the back cover of a book jacket or in an anthology of short stories is called an author bio short for biography. While your book cover design is the most important tool when marketing a book, your author bio is easily number two. Nonfiction back cover copy for nonfiction, establishing yourself as an expert and differentiating your book from the others written about the same topic will help sell your book. Novelists will rarely depend on the bio to sell the book, but as book launch specialist joel pitney suggests. Back cover copy includes the book summary and author bio. If you are citing a book cover, or part of a book cover, make sure to keep in mind that you are still citing a book. Frys book, making history, deals with a reimagined history where hitler was never born. Here is a great blog post from rachelle gardner about how to write a terrific author bio. Date artwork created, title of book, author or editor name, publisher, year, front cover. So youve written your book, youve chosen your title and cover design, and youre breathing a sigh of relief. How to write an amazing author bio book marketing for. Literary agents look to author bios to ascertain whether writers are dedicated craftspeople or wellintentioned amateurs.

If youve been published in other literary journals or have an mfa or both, toot your horn. Mar 05, 2020 creating the best author bio for your cover or query letter requires careful thought and attention so you make the right choices. As ive advised before, you should dig into the online store that youre selling on. Keep a cover bio short and sweet and related to the book. And if that doesnt happen, then a convention will ask for a headshot to go on the program book, or a short story market will want one for the website. James arthur baldwin august 2, 1924 december 1, 1987 was an american novelist, playwright, essayist, poet, and activist. About the authora brief biography, nor more than 1 page, about the author. Now you have to decide what goes on the back cover. My back cover copy might say, depending on the book topic and genre. This cover takes this approach with a simple, black and white photo of the person of interest that takes over most of the available space. Its important for indie authors to know how to write an author bio that tells readers. Pop the champagne cork, and put a party hat on your cat.

Heres why you need a fantastic author photo and how you can. How to write a terrific author bio rachelle gardner. Mention any books youve written, and your website but dont oversell. To edit book or author information, navigate to the book or authors page, then click on the edit data link in the lower right side of the box containing the book or authors information. What to include in the author bio for your book authority publishing. Glynnis campbell is a usa today bestselling author of swashbuckling. The trick comes when you have someone famous enough that more than one author has taken it upon themselves to write a biography. The back cover bio is a chance to impress a potential reader, while the inside bio is often the last impression made on a. Now, theres nothing wrong with designing your own cover. Weve also provided space on our web site, in the projects area where you can register your books where you can upload your author bio and cover copy. Then they have to compete with one another to have their bio read instead of the next one. Your author page is your author homepage on amazon.

How to use cover creator to create your paperback cover before you launch cover creator enter paperback details to provide the best customer experience, please follow our metadata guidelines. Lara received her mfa from the michener center for writers at the university. This article will cover both what you need to include in your author bio and some examples of tight professional bios. Oct 22, 2015 writing your author bio can be a daunting task, but a wellcrafted bio can help readers learn more about what makes you and your books so interesting.

His picture communicates none of the books story but a great deal about the tone in which it is written. The parts of a book for self published authors bookstand. Theyd walk off with a copy of the book based on the bio. Writing an author bio examples of professional bios. Over 300,000 authors trust the professionals on reedsy, come meet them. Your name must always be on the front and back cover of your book. As an unpublished author, it is hard to know the exact way to go about doing this. Palacio lives in brooklyn, ny with her husband, two sons and two dogs bear and beau. Heres why you need a fantastic author photo and how you. Youre writing the author bio page for your book, and are unsure what should go there and what shouldnt. Aug, 2015 in todays guest post, editor jessi rita hoffman explains how to craft professional and compelling backcover copy. Your book is riveting, but your author bio is a snooze. These fields are filled with placeholder text to allow you to see how the text flows in the template before selecting it.

These 50 awesome book covers will inspire you learn. Self published author 8 mistakes that will absolutely. Writing your author bio can be a daunting task, but a wellcrafted bio can help readers learn more about what makes you and your books so interesting. If you are citing descriptive copy or a quotation printed on the cover of. If your printer can handle envelopes, type the address, but it is also fine to address the envelope by hand. Thank the editor for reading your work, and close with the standard sincerely, or best regards. Your author bio will continue to change as you work on new projects and build your cv. How to write a kickass amazon bio to sell more books author. When creating a new cover file in cover creator there are two text fields on the back cover title description and author bio. New authors sometimes rush this decision, writing the first. Jun 24, 2015 most of your sales are going to be online. But when you include this information on createspace, it. Here are some reallife author bios that combine most or all of the tips above.

The six rules you should use to write a professional bio. They are going to ask you for a photo of you to put on it. Reading is an intimate endeavor in which the reader and the author are engaged in. For business the short bio can sometimes be more important than whats actually in the bookthe sad but true reality is that more people will read your author bio than your actual book. A life won the pulitzer prize for biography, and alexander hamiltonthe inspiration for the broadway musicalwon the george washington book prize. Exceptions to the reverse situation might include books like lolita, war and peace, and moby dick, where the book title has nominally. The third example shows how part of the back cover copy the author bio, in this case can show up on the inside flap of a hard cover book. Your author photo doesnt need to be professionally created, but should be a highresolution image. Prepare, publish, promote promote your book kindle merchandising programs author central.