First, the bio from one of my favorite novels, The Ballad of
Pinewood Lake, by Jory Sherman.
Jory Sherman is a
widely published author and poet whose works have appeared in numerous literary
journals and anthologies. He is the author of many novels, several of which
have won major literary awards, including the Western Writer's of America's
Spur Award for The Medicine Horn. He
has been inducted into the Writers Hall of Fame.
After Sherman's bio, I would flip through some pages and
pick a random spot to begin reading, knowing that this is a book worth
examining more closely due to the fact that there are some big-time
credentials. Ideally, I would find a beautiful passage and then want to read
everything he wrote!
Second, the bio from my favorite nonfiction book, Strengthen
Your Nonfiction Writing, by Mary Horner (I had an "in" with the
selection committee!). Because my book is about writing, I
went heavy on the credentials regarding writing and education. I wanted to let
readers know I was a credible source.
Mary Horner is an
award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in more than two dozen
publications. She currently teaches communications at St. Louis and St. Charles
Community Colleges. She earned a master's degree in communications from
Lindenwood University, and a bachelor's degree in English from the University
of Missouri-St. Louis, where she also earned the Writing Certificate. She
completed the Core Curriculum program in medical communications with special
emphasis in editing/writing from the American Medical Writers Association. In
2005, she received The Best Mom award (from her kids).
If I were rewriting this, I would move the second sentence
to the end, so instead of moving from past to present tense, and then to past
tense again, I would move from past to present tense only once, and would
probably add a future project. The future project would give readers something
to look for later, or let readers in the future look for other books I've
written. Finally, when this book came out I didn't have a blog. I do now, and
would provide a URL, and let readers know I'm on Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram.
At the end I added a little humor. What information do you include in your bio?
Write (a bio) soon,
Mary
