[Stylist] A question about author bios...

Thu Feb 14 15:45:34 UTC 2019

Hi Helen and others who are working on an "About the Author" page for a
book,

I know that some of us have written multiple  short bios for publications.
A bio  is always a labor that I find to be difficult - there is so much we
could have in it after a number of years of working in publication projects.
The more we accomplish, the harder this task becomes. Keep in mind we are
writing a bio which is usually fairly short. It's not a resume for
employment or a Curriculum Vitae - which can be many pages in length.

I wrote an "About the Author" project   just this past week for my latest
book is being recorded and the director  wanted me to write a shorter
version of the "About the Author" than what is in my book, to meet their
requirements for the recording process.  
For anyone who is interested, I will paste my completed piece below so you
can see how I approached it. I decided up front what I did not want in my
bio, and that was a list of specific awards and my list of advanced degrees
and professional academic experiences and accomplishments.  But, at the same
time, I needed to imply those things for credibility without getting into
numbers and cold impersonal facts. 

I started working on this piece at 5 am, and barely left my computer until 3
pm - with just a couple times to take the dogs out to relieve themselves.
After I labored so intensely on it, - I submitted my "About the Author"
piece  to a writer's group I belong to for their feedback.  It was so
helpful for they had a few very tiny tweaks that they suggested and they
were just the little things I needed.  I went back into my piece after they
gave me comments and suggestions.  I laid it aside for 24 hours after I did
the final draft, just to be sure it felt right to me.  The following day, I
sent it off to the director. But, this was such a good thing to do because
other authors gave me positive feedback, as well as suggestions to make it
even better.  

I created a short version, under 200 words. Following that, I included 2
optional  statements if they needed more. They were satisfied with the piece
and I told them they have my permission to edit as they need to do when they
work on the  project.  

I found  a number of good articles on-line that helped  me  get started.
I started my project by reading some of them to get a feeling for what I
might want to do in mine.
After doing some research, I listed 4 questions I wanted to answer - to
create the framework for my "About the Author" piece.
-

My 4 Questions:
Who are you - the flesh and blood person beneath the achievements? 
What do you do in your everyday  life/writing life?  
Who is your audience - or - who do you write for?  
Why should I trust you, or want to read your books?
-
I wanted my piece to be truthful, but more than that, I wanted it to present
a breathing, sensitive, flesh and blood person.

After you do some research, then you can consider what you want to say and
how you want to come across to a reader.
You can also look over a number of other "About the Author" pages in books
by authors that you respect. How do they present themselves in their pieces?
Pick out a few that you like a lot and figure out what they chose to put
into their piece.

Below, is the copy and paste  of the piece I created.
It fits with who I am as a person and as an author and visual artist.
I know my niche - that is important.

Helen, I wish you Good Luck!

_____
About the Author - Lynda McKinney Lambert

Lynda McKinney Lambert is an award-winning artist and writer. She wrote her
first book, Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage, in 2003, from journal
entries she wrote while teaching her annual Austrian travel & study course,
Drawing and Writing in Salzburg. In this first book Lynda laid the
foundation for her worldview, that each individual life is a sacred
pilgrimage. 

Walking by Inner Vision: Stories & Poems, DLD Books, is Lynda's second book.
Throughout the collection of 27 stories and 16 poems, she continues the
pilgrimage theme in a year-long journey from January through December.  The
book was published February 17, 2017.

After Lynda retired as professor of fine arts and humanities at Geneva
College in western Pennsylvania, she began writing full-time in her home
office in the Village of Wurtemburg.  She lives a quiet life in her
century-old home with her husband Bob, their 2 dogs and 2 cats, and a
variety of feral cats who drop by for hand-outs and shelter.   Lynda's role
as wife, mother, grandmother, academic, writer, and artist, provides a
perspective in her writings that are published and enjoyed by an
international audience of both young and mature adult readers.

(Optional) 
Note from the Author:
Our shared human experience requires adaptation and adjustment to change. My
academic career path took an unexpected change of direction in 2007 when I
suddenly lost most of my sight due to Ischemic Optic Neuropathy. After I
caught my breath and began to consider how I would live the rest of my life
in a new way, I followed the advice I always gave my students.  ' You can
revise!'
  After rehabilitation for adjustment to blindness, I began working on a
series of essays and poems. Those writings are now in my book: 
Walking by Inner Vision: Stories & Poems, DLD Books, 2017.
A warm thanks to my readers.  

(Optional)
Lynda writes 2 blogs:  
Walking by Inner Vision - official author's website - Visit Here
SCAN-a-BLOG, "A Quiet Place of Inspiration" -  Visit Here

-----Original Message-----
From: Stylist <stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Helen Kobek via
Stylist
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2019 9:00 AM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Cc: Helen Kobek <helenkobek1 at gmail.com>
Subject: [Stylist] A question about author bios...

Hi, all...I'm fine-tuning my author Bio, and wondered what your thoughts on
this: is it necessary, when stating truthfully that one is an award-winning
writer to include the details of the award? Thanks for your feedback...

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