authors – ArmLin House

What's In An Author Bio?

Your author bio needs to speak to your target audience. This is key to ensure the right reader picks up your books. For example, you wouldn’t market children's books to post-apocalyptic zombie readers. And it's short, only 90 words or less, with the following sections:

Writer Profile

Credentials

Interests/Personal Info

Call to Action

Internet Presence

Headshot

How Do You Write An Author Bio?

Sitting down to write your author bio can be difficult. So, before you tackle it, start by answering the questions below. Provide at least 3 short, striking responses for each. These questions will assist you in compiling a striking bio.

1. Who are you writing for? Men or women? Certain professionals? Kids or adults?

2. What are your publications about? What genres do you write? Who are your characters? Where does your book take place? Is there something historic that readers should know about? Are your works funny or serious?

3. What do you know? What special training do you have? What has happened in your life that influences you? What have you experienced that makes you an expert in your field?

4. How are you involved? What do you do to make the world a better place? How are you involved in helping people? Are you solving problems?

5. Who are you personally? What are your interests? What are your hobbies? What do you want people to know about your family life?

6. What do you want readers to do? When people read your bio, do you want them to go to a blog or website? Or do you want them to go to a popular article you wrote? Do you want them to sign up for one of your classes?

7. What are your most important accomplishments? Have you won a contest or award? What can you tell readers to increase your credibility?

Now use your answers to write your author bio in third person. Pull out your most interesting and highest accomplishments from the answers. Start with something captivating from the list that speaks to who you are as a writer. Continue by building your credibility. Add your interests and personal information, and end with a call to action that could lead to a book sale.

After you write your first draft, remove irrelevant words, then remove some more irrelevant words. Get that word count down to 90 or less. Make changes as needed, but don’t spend more than a half an hour on your bio. Ask a friend to critique your draft, then complete your final copy.

Don't forget about your headshot. Forget that dulled-out selfie and go with a more professional and personalized photo. If you are a doctor, the photo better look professional. If you are a horror writer, consider a dark and mysterious background with a raised eyebrow. It's okay to show off your personality, considering your career. A comedian that looks like an accountant won't attract readers.

Also consider that you will need a different author bio for a number of websites, contests, awards, articles, and more. You will also need to update your bio on your own website and social media accounts regularly. So keep that list around because you're not done!

Wendy Spurlin

I am the founder of ArmLin House, as well as the Chief Editor and Creative Director. For over thirty-five year, I’ve worked in technology, business development, marketing, writing, and publishing jobs. In the last 5 years I’ve returned to school and have become a graphic designer and social media video editor. In general, I have A LOT of experience in A LOT of industries and I love to help people, which is one of our main missions as a company. Learn more about me on my LinkedIn page.

Do you want readers to buy your books? Of course you do. Then don’t just put your books in bookstores, put yourself out there too. Amazon’s Author Central brings both you and your books together in one place that you control. Besides introducing you to Amazon’s customer base, it encourages readers to buy more of your books, and here’s how.

1. Author Follows

Amazon is invested in understanding their customers’ preferences because it results in more sales, and every store wants to sell more products. The Author Follow button is one way Amazon can track what their reader base likes and is more likely to buy. Readers can follow authors from their Author Central page or any of their books’ product pages, but only if the author has an Author Central account. And once a reader follows an author, Amazon will show that author’s books to her in emails and on their website to promote more sales.

Identify the number of followers you have on your Author Central control panel.

Similar to how you would encourage fans to follow your social media accounts and GoodReads author page, you should encourage readers to follow you on Author Central for the reasons previously mentioned. Put a link to the page on your website and include it on your promotional materials. Get your number of followers up, and you will sell more books.

2. Brand Awareness

Your Author Central page reflects your brand as an author. The profile you publish tells readers who you are and what you write. If you are producing a series, customers can easily find the next book or two they’d like to read in highlighted series sections. There are places to tell readers which of your books they should read, along with recommendations for the books you enjoy.

It’s important to note that the author name link on a book’s detail page or in search results directs to an author’s Author Central account. If you don’t set up an Author Central account, this link goes to a page that lists your books mixed with other authors’ books. This means you could lose a sale to another author whose book outshines yours, and I’m sure you don’t want that to happen.

Readers do want to know who you are, including your background, accomplishments, credentials, and that you are a real human. These days, not only do we compete with human authors, we compete against AI more and more. Readers are becoming even more invested in knowing the identity of an author. If they like you, they believe they will like your stories.

3. Google Search Results

Simply stated, Google indexes author page on Amazon. When someone googles your author name, you want all the top search results to be flooded with your website, social media links, and such. More so, direct links to buy your books are better at the top. Since you’ll sell more books on Amazon, it’s best that your Author Central account link be as close to the top as possible after a Google Search. Go google your author name now. Discover where it ranks. Any way that you can increase visibility of your books is a good thing!

4. Book Information Control

There are a number of book information updates you can apply to your books from Author Central: add editorial reviews, update your book descriptions, add author comments to a book page, and more. Editorial reviews are positive testimonials about your book that catch a reader's attention and tell them your book is worth reading. Actively updating your author comments tells both readers and Amazon you are invested in selling books. This option is especially helpful if you have a publisher and a lack of control of your books via KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).

5. Marketing Materials

Again, if you are traditionally published and do not have access to KDP, the marketing materials that Amazon provides in Author Central are extremely helpful to view your book rankings and manage your marketing needs. In the Sales Ranking report, you’ll find your rankings in the various Amazon marketplaces around the world. There is also a BookScan report available for free on Author Central, which expands a picture of your rankings across other bookstores. Author central also provides easier access to your review, so you can use them in your marketing materials on social media or print.

Finally, Amazon Advertising is accessible from Author Central. This is especially handy for traditionally published authors. If you haven’t already realized this, you won’t sell books unless you advertise on Amazon. Having control over your advertising is important because you also have control over advertising budgets.

Part of being an author is getting your name and face and books out there for all to see. And your Amazon Author Central page is an invaluable tool every author needs to further your exposure. It’s easy to set up and maintain, so make an effort to visit your page and update it frequently.

Wendy Spurlin