Novel Marketing listener Samantha Johnson, author of The Beginner’s Guide to Vegetable Gardening, recently wrote:

I discovered the Novel Marketing podcast a few months ago, and since then, I’ve listened to nearly all the episodes in the archive. Great stuff! I now have a lot of new marketing ideas to try, and I’ve learned ways to fine-tune the things I’ve already been doing.I’d love to see you guys discuss how to write the perfect author bio. I know you’ve touched on this briefly in the past, but an entire episode would be awesome.”

Samantha, your wish is our command!

Bios are one of the most overlooked aspects of an author’s marketing, but it’s one of the first things a potential reader, interviewer, publisher, or agent will look for.

Most people assemble a few personal facts, mention their success highlights, and believe they’ve written a good bio.

Trained public speakers learn how to introduce a person using their bio. Professionals take your three-paragraph bio and edit it to a couple of sentences that will interest the particular audience and whet their appetites for what you’re about to say.

Sadly, it’ doesn’t always happen that way. Often, the conference director, who has not been trained as a public speaker, will simply read all three paragraphs of a very boring author bio. When that happens, you, as the featured speaker, have lost half the audience before you’ve even begun.

When I’m asked to speak, I always provide a long bio and a short bio. The person introducing me can choose from the buffet of information in my long bio and deliver only the parts that will interest or entertain the audience in attendance.

But I also provide a short bio for the MC who isn’t prepared or doesn’t know the protocol. That way, the audience and I don’t have to endure the long reading of the long bio.

Your bio is your introduction and therefore needs to be entertaining, provocative, or at the very least, not boring. It should hook the audience and pique their interest.

Generally speaking, the audience doesn’t care where you went to college or how many kids you have. They are wondering how you will impact them. There are exceptions for nonfiction writers. For example, if you’re writing a parenting book, your readers will be very interested to know how many kids you have and whether they’re grown or not. But for novelists, readers will be less interested in your personal history and more interested in how you’ll entertain them through your writing.

Your bio should entertain or provoke them in some way, and whatever you include should invoke emotion.

Here are some tips for writing a bio that will hook your audience.

How to write an interesting author bio:* Tip #1: Be relatable but keep some mystery.* Tip #2: Use humor.* Tip #3: Tell us where you live, even if you’re not specific.* Tip #4: Give people a sense of your voice.* Tip #5: Write your bio in third person.* Tip #6: Remember, it’s not about you.  * Tip #7: Give your authority.* Tip #8: Customize your bio for different audiences.* Tip #9: Watch your length.* Tip #10: Give a call to action.* Two Examples...