7/19/2020 How To Write An Author Bio & Why (With Examples)

BOOK WRITING 11 min

How To Write An About The Author

(With Examples)

Tucker Max
Tucker has sold over 5 million books as a 4x NYT Bestselling Author and is the
co-founder of Scribe.

Don’t Have Time Right Now?

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7/19/2020 How To Write An Author Bio & Why (With Examples)

an authority on your book topic, readers will buy your book

and read it. One of the best ways to be seen as an authority is

to have a great Author Bio.

For business the short bio can sometimes be more important

than what’s actually in the book—the sad but true reality is

that more people will read your author bio than your actual

book.

It takes a long time to read a book, but it’s very easy to make a

snap judgment based on a short paragraph, and most people

do that.

This is doubly true for media and social media. Most people in

media work very hard under tight deadlines and don’t have

time to read long books or even pitch emails. But a good

author bio cuts right to the point by saying: this is an

important person I need to pay attention to.

How To Write Your Author Bio

Writing about yourself is a task that many even full time

writers shy away from. Don’t make this mistake. A few simple

steps can get an effective bio that will impress interested

readers and help sell your book:

Step 1. Mention your credentials on your book

subject:
It’s important to establish your credentials in your book’s topic

area. Share

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For example, if you’re writing a diet book, mention things like

professional degrees, nutrition training or accomplishments,

places you’ve worked, awards you’ve won, etc. Any credential

that clearly signals your authority and credibility in your space

works.

If you struggle with what to say about yourself, remember the

idea is to make it clear why the reader should listen to you.

What credential do you have–if any–that signals seriousness

to the reader?

For some types of books and authors, this is harder to do. If

there’s no clear way to signal direct authority or credentials—

for example, you wrote a thriller or a romance novel—then

don’t make up things or try to “invent” authority. Focus on the

other parts of the author bio.

Step 2. Include achievements that build

credibility or are interesting to the reader
(without going overboard)
You’ll also want to include things you’ve accomplished in your

life, especially if you don’t have direct credentials and

authority in the book subject matter. This will help your

audience understand why they should spend their time and

money reading what you’ve got to say.

If you have something about you or your life that is unusual,

even if it’s not totally relevant, you should still consider putting

it in your bio.

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Unless you’re a household name author (Steven King, JK

Rowling, Malcolm Gladwell), most people buying your book

won’t know who you are.

So how will they learn about you?

And why is this even important?

How to Write Your Author Bio [5 Step C…

C…

That’s what this blog post will explain: how to properly write it,

and why your author bio matters.

Why Your About The Author Is So

Important

Even though very few authors think about it, and even fewer

publishing guides talk about it, the “Author Bio” section

impacts sales, reputation, book marketing and social media.

“Author reputation” is consistently cited as one of the main

factors that influence a book Share

buying decision. If you’re seen as
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For example, if you were a Rhodes Scholar, or you started a

major national organization, or won a national championship

in ping-pong—whatever. The point is to show the reader that

you have done things that matter, even if they don’t matter to

the book.

If you’re lacking on credentials or exciting things, you can

always put in your passions and interests. Anything that you

enjoy doing, writing about or consider a hobby, especially if

they are relevant to the book topic.

That being said, do NOT ramble on and on about things that

reader doesn’t care about. Put yourself in your readers shoes,

and ask yourself, “Does this fact really matter to anyone but

me?”

Step 3. Mention any books you’ve written, and

your website (but don’t oversell them)
If you’ve written other books, especially on that subject, make

sure to mention them. If you’re a bestselling author (New York

Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today or even Amazon) or

won awards, even better.

If you’ve won multiple accolades and listing them all is

becoming tedious, aim for brevity instead. Simply writing

“John Smith is an award winning author whose works include

…..” is more than enough to show your readers you know what

you’re doing.

If you have an author website, an author page (on Amazon or

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another 3rd party site) or anything
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your brand then you should make sure you include it at the

bottom of your bio (assuming this meets your goals).

Again, you don’t want to brag here so just be humble and

simply put something like “Find out more about John at

www.johnsmithwriter.com”. It should be simple and have a

clear call to action.

Step 4. Drop some relevant names, if they’re

appropriate (without being crass)
Yes, name dropping can put off readers if it’s done wrong. But

there’s a right way to do it.

For example, if you are relatively unknown, you can say

something like, “The woman that Seth Godin called “the most

important writer of our time” reveals to you the secrets of…”

This way you are trading on Seth Godin’s reputation, and

establishing your credentials at the same time (assuming he

said this).

Also, if you’ve worked for or with very well-known people,

name dropping is not seen as bad; it’s seen as an effective

signal to the reader of your importance and ability. What

matters is that there is a reason that you are using someone

else’s name that makes sense, and is not just a gratuitous

name drop.

Step 5. Keep short and interesting (without

leaving anything important out)
While your readers are interested in finding out more about
Share

you, they don’t want to get 

bored,
 or
 listen to arrogant

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bragging about how great you are. If your bio is too long, or

too full of overstated accomplishments and awards, it will turn

your readers off and actually make you look less credible.

Typically, if you keep your word count under 150 words you’re

ok. Anything longer than that means you’ve gone on too long

about your accomplishments, your personal life or both. Cut it

down to the most important things.

Step 6. Always Write in Third Person, Never

First Person
Third person is “She is.” First person is “I am.” This is a small

thing, but if you write in first person, it is a major sign of first-

time amateurism.

Template for Author Bio Info

This is a template to write your author bio. I’m not saying it’s

the very best way to write an author bio, in fact, many of the

best examples below do NOT fit this template. But, many

people asked for an easy to follow template, and this is what

we use with our authors.

1. First sentence: “[Author] is [statement to establish

credibility on this subject and / or authorship of previous

books]”

2. Second sentence(s): Statement(s) further establishing

credibility or qualifications of author to write the book.

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3. Third sentence (optional): Historical “before that”

information that is at least tangentially relevant to the

book, or very compelling in another way.

4. Fourth sentence: Endorsement of author’s credibility by

others, awards, or some other social proof, if available.

5. Fifth sentence: Tidbit of personal information.

6. Sixth sentence: Link to website or other resource (if

relevant).

Here is how that looks in practice:

Will Leach is the founder of TriggerPoint Design, a

leading behavior research and design consultancy

specializing in using behavior economics and decision

design to drive consumer decision making. He is a

behavior design instructor at the Cox School of

Business at Southern Methodist University and has

more than twenty years of behavior insights

experience working with Fortune 50 companies to

solve their most important behavior challenges. Will is

the only two-time winner of the EXPLOR Award for his

work in behavior design and is known as America’s

foremost authority in applying behavior science to

marketing. Will lives in Dallas with his wife and family.

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If You Can’t Write About Yourself, Have

Friends Help You
People, especially writers, have a hard time writing about

themselves. Often, the Author Bio is the most difficult part of

the marketing process for an author to write effectively.

If you are unsure about whether your author bio seems either

incomplete, or too arrogant, run it by a few friends for

feedback.

For example, when I was doing my first bio, I made all the

mistakes I outlined above. I eventually had to have my friend

Nils Parker write my bio for me. It’s always easier for your

friends to praise you and see the amazing things you do.

If you don’t have writer friends, then hire a freelance writer to

help you. It won’t cost much, but their creative writing know

how will pay big dividends for you.

Author Bio Examples

I’m going to show you a lot of different bios. Some are the best

author bios I’ve read, whereas some feel like they were written

by cheap self-publishing companies. The point is to give you

an idea of how many different authors did them, so you can

find your own author bio writing style:

Example 1 – High Status And Short: Lynn

Vincent
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This bio is the perfect “less is more” for an author with a lot of

credentials. When you have done what Lynn has done, you can

just say it quickly and succinctly.

Lynn Vincent is the New York Times best-selling writer

of Heaven Is for Real and Same Kind of Different As

Me. The author or coauthor of ten books, Lynn has

sold 12 million copies since 2006. She worked for

eleven years as a writer and editor at the national

news biweekly WORLD magazine and is a U.S. Navy

veteran.

Example 2 – High Status But Undersells:

Michael Lewis
Contrast this to Michael Lewis, who is a very well known

author, but still leaves quite a bit out of his bio that would help

many readers understand who he is and why they should care

(even Michael Lewis is not famous enough to assume people

know him).

Michael Lewis, the author of Boomerang, Liar’s Poker,

The New New Thing, Moneyball,

Share The Blind Side,
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Panic, Home Game and The Big Short, among other

works, lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife,

Tabitha Soren, and their three children.

Example 3 – Bad Amanda Ripley

Many authors have different bios on different books (because

they leave the bio writing to their publisher, which is a huge

mistake). You can see the difference in the author Amanda

Ripley.

Her bad bio is strangely both boring and overselling:

Amanda Ripley is a literary journalist whose stories on

human behavior and public policy have appeared in

Time, The Atlantic, and Slate and helped Time win

two National Magazine Awards. To discuss her work,

she has appeared on ABC, NBC, CNN, FOX News, and

NPR. Ripley’s first book, The Unthinkable, was

published in fifteen countries and turned into a PBS

documentary.

Example 4 – Good Amanda

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Ripley
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Contrast that to this good bio, where she comes off as much

more of an authority—mainly because her other books are

mentioned, as were her awards.

Amanda Ripley is an investigative journalist for Time,

The Atlantic and other magazines. She is the author,

most recently, of THE SMARTEST KIDS IN THE

WORLD—and How They Got That Way. Her first

book, THE UNTHINKABLE: Who Survives When

Disaster Strikes–and Why, was published in 15

countries and turned into a PBS documentary. Her

work has helped Time win two National Magazine

Awards.

Example 5 – Bad Doctor Bio: Dr. David

Perlmutter
This is a long, uninterrupted string of hard to process things.

Dr. Perlmutter is very qualified, but mentions everything

(including medical school awards) which detracts from the

overall effect.

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David Perlmutter, MD, FACN, ABIHM is a Board-

Certified Neurologist and Fellow of the American

College of Nutrition who received his M.D. degree

from the University of Miami School of Medicine

where he won the research award. Dr. Perlmutter is a

frequent lecturer at symposia sponsored by such

medical institutions as Columbia University, the

University of Arizona, Scripps Institute, and Harvard

University. He has contributed extensively to the

world medical literature with publications appearing

in The Journal of Neurosurgery, The Southern Medical

Journal, Journal of Applied Nutrition, and Archives of

Neurology. He is the author of: The Better Brain Book

and the #1 New York Times Bestseller, Grain Brain. He

is recognized internationally as a leader in the field of

nutritional influences in neurological disorders. Dr.

Perlmutter has been interviewed on many nationally

syndicated radio and television programs including

20/20, Larry King Live, CNN, Fox News, Fox and

Friends, The Today Show, Oprah, Dr. Oz, and The CBS

Early Show. In 2002 Dr. Perlmutter was the recipient

of the Linus Pauling Award for his innovative

approaches to neurological disorders and in addition

was awarded the Denham Harmon Award for his

pioneering work in the application of free radical

science to clinical medicine. He is the recipient of the

2006 National Nutritional Foods Association Clinician

of the Year Award. Dr. Perlmutter serves as Medical

Advisor for The Dr. Oz Show.

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Example 6 – Good Doctor Bio: Dr. Benjamin

Carson
Contrast this to Dr. Carson, who focuses only on the

credentials and status signifiers that the reader would care

about and understand, like his specialties and companies he

works for.

Dr. Benjamin Carson is a Professor of Neurosurgery,

Plastic Surgery, Oncology, and Pediatrics, and the

Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins

Medical Institutions. He is also the author of four

bestselling books—Gifted Hands, Think Big, The Big

Picture, and Take the Risk. He serves on the boards of

the Kellogg Company, Costco, and the Academy of

Achievement, among others, and is an Emeritus

Fellow of the Yale Corporation.

He and his wife, Candy, co-founded the Carson

Scholars Fund (www.carsonscholars.org), a 501(c)3

established to counteract America’s crisis in

education by identifying and rewarding academic role

models in the fourth through eleventh grades,

regardless of race, creed, religion and socio-

economic status, who also demonstrate humanitarian

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qualities. There are over 4800 scholars in forty-five
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states. Ben and Candy are the parents of three grown

sons and reside in Baltimore County, Maryland.

Example 7 – Good Balance: Tim Ferriss

Tim does lean aggressively into the idea of listing all the cool

things he’s done and noteworthy outlets that have talked

about him, but still makes his bio interesting and relevant to

the reader of his books:

Timothy Ferriss is a serial entrepreneur, #1 New York

Times best- selling author, and angel investor/advisor

(Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Uber, and 20+ more).

Best known for his rapid-learning techniques, Tim’s

books — The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body,

and The 4-Hour Chef — have been published in 30+

languages. The 4-Hour Workweek has spent seven

years on The New York Times bestseller list.

Tim has been featured by more than 100 media

outlets including The New York Times, The Economist,

TIME, Forbes, Fortune, Outside, NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox

and CNN. He has guest lectured in entrepreneurship

at Princeton University since 2003. His popular blog

www.fourhourblog. com has 1M+ monthly readers,

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and his Twitter account @tferriss was selected by
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Mashable as one of only five “Must-Follow” accounts

for entrepreneurs. Tim’s primetime TV show, The Tim

Ferriss Experiment (www.upwave.com/tfx), teaches

rapid-learning techniques for helping viewers to

produce seemingly superhuman results in minimum

time.

Example 8 – Out of Balance (Confusing &

Overselling): Cheryl Strayed
Cheryl is similar to Tim, but runs several unrelated things

together in a confusing way, and mentions things that no

reader would ever care about (e.g., the director of a movie

based on her book). This same bio could be 25% shorter and

much stronger.

Cheryl Strayed is the author of #1 New York Times

bestseller WILD, the New York Times bestseller TINY

BEAUTIFUL THINGS, and the novel TORCH. WILD

was chosen by Oprah Winfrey as her first selection for

Oprah’s Book Club 2.0. WILD won a Barnes & Noble

Discover Award, an Indie Choice Award, an Oregon

Book Award, a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award,

and a Midwest Booksellers Choice Award among

others. The movie adaptation of WILD will be

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released by Fox Searchlight
  in December
 2014. The

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film is directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and stars Reese

Witherspoon, with a screenplay by Nick Hornby.

Strayed’s writing has appeared in THE BEST

AMERICAN ESSAYS, the New York Times Magazine,

the Washington Post Magazine, Vogue, Salon, The

Missouri Review, The Sun, Tin House, The Rumpus–

where she wrote the popular “Dear Sugar” advice

column–and elsewhere. Strayed was the guest editor

of BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2013 and has

contributed to many anthologies. Her books have

been translated into more than thirty languages

around the world. She holds an MFA in fiction writing

from Syracuse University and a bachelor’s degree

from the University of Minnesota. She lives in

Portland, Oregon with her husband and their two

children.

Remember: Your Bio Grows as You

Grow

Treat your author’s bio as a living document. Just because

you’ve written it once, doesn’t mean it’s finished. As you grow

and change as a writer so should your bio, and the best part is

that it’s easy to change a byline.

Also, remember that if you are writing for different genres or

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different topics that some of

 your
 accomplishments
 and past
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works will be more relevant to your readers than others. It’s a

good idea to tweak your author bio for the next book you

release.

Getting your author bio right is an important task. In fact, this

small section is usually the ONLY source of information

potential readers have about you (except maybe Google), and

that’s why it is one of the most important pieces of marketing

material you write for your book.

Take it seriously, get it right, and it will help you sell books.

Tucker Max
Tucker has sold over 5 million books as a 4x NYT Bestselling Author and is the co-founder of
Scribe.

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