HOW TO CRAFT AN EFFECTIVE BIOGRAPHY

 

CRAFTING AN EFFECTIVE AUTHOR BIO

If you’re a writer with few publication credits, or none at all, crafting a compelling bio can be challenging. Don’t worry. You do not need stellar credits to have a great bio.

A BIOGRAPHY MUST BE WRITTEN IN THE THIRD PERSON.

The most effective online bios are both professional and concise. Here’s how to write a short bio that suits your website or brand:

01. Introduce yourself

Begin your bio by stating your first, last name, and your country. If you’re writing in the third person, these should be the first two words of the paragraph. This makes your name easy for your audience to identify and remember.

02. State your company or brand name

Think about whether you want your bio to represent yourself on a personal level, or whether you’d like it to come across as more professional. If you have a personal brand or business - for example, a blog, freelance business or ecommerce site - be sure to mention your brand name at the beginning of your bio. Don’t be afraid if the name sounds simple or redundant. It’s perfectly fine, for instance, to say Mary Smith of Trinidad and Tobago is the founder and CEO of Smith Digital.

Likewise, feel free to mention the name of another company or brand that you work for if you’d like to associate it with your professional accomplishments - e.g., Mary Smith of Trinidad and Tobago is a consultant at Google and the founder and CEO of Smith Digital.

03. Explain your professional role

Next, briefly explain your current position. This is relevant whether you’re the founder of a company, a high-level specialist or a beginner in your field, and it can be similar to the description you have on your resume. Your website visitors won’t necessarily know what your job involves, so elaborating on your primary responsibilities helps paint a picture of who you are and what you have to offer.

Present yourself in a polite, and professional way.

Don’t pad your bio with irrelevant info.

Most editors and readers love the opportunity to discover new writers with unique voices. It does not matter how many publications you have, as long as your writing is strong. Your bio can be as short as a few sentences that mention the country you live in and your profession.

Establish expertise. You will want your bio to influence people to read your work. If the main character in your book has a trait or hobby that you happen to share, or the story takes place in a setting you know like the back of your hand, your expertise will lend your work authenticity. For example, if you write a book that takes place in a bank, it would be a good idea to mention that you’ve worked in a bank for years.

Show that you take your writing seriously. Even though you may not have published any books before, you can show your dedication to writing by mentioning popular writing groups or organizations of which you’re a member.

Keep it short, sweet, and to the point. No one wants to read a long-winded version of your life story. Avoid clichés like “It’s always been my dream to be a writer” or “I’ve been writing since I was three years old.”

Brenda Mohammed

BIO:

Brenda Mohammed, a former Bank Manager from Trinidad, is a renowned, multi-award winning, and bestselling author who has published 50 books. Her genres are memoirs, romance, science fiction, mysteries, psychological thriller, children’s books, Christian books, poetry, self-help, magazines, and anthologies.

She is Founder of the How to Write for Success Literary Network and is President CIESART INTERCONTINENTAL - TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO,

Her superb writing skills won her several literary awards in the USA, Peru, Kazakhstan, Seychelles, Nigeria, India, Romania, Argentina, Morocco, Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, and the UK.

SELF PUBLISHING WITH BRENDA MOHAMMED - PREPARING YOUR MANUSCRIPT

 

PREPARING YOUR MANUSCRIPT

If you are publishing a poetry book, to prepare your Manuscript, compile all of your poems in a Word Document with one poem on each page. Choose a suitable font.

I use Arial.

Some poems may be longer and may take more than one page, but that is okay.

You can also use a short quote above each poem, and an image for each poem. To insert images, make sure they are saved on your computer and use the Insert button for pictures in Microsoft word. To resize the image to fit the page, use the Format button.

Make sure that your Word document is formatted exactly the way you want.

Check your page breaks, line and paragraph breaks, title page, and perhaps chapter titles if you have them. These might be your poem titles, if it is a poetry book.

If you are using Microsoft Word, follow all instructions at the top for Design, Layout, References, Table of Contents, etc.

In Design, you will select a theme, font, spacing, etc.

With respect to Layout, here is where you choose the book size, margins, and indentations.

In References, you select Table of Contents. Readers love a clickable Table of Contents in the EBook Format.

To design the Table of Contents is a bit tricky, but it is worth your reputation as a reputable writer, to provide one for your readers. Some writers omit this important feature from their eBooks, and lose future sales.

Highlight the headings one by one. If it is a poetry book, the headings will be Poem titles.

Right click on Heading 1 at the top. Click on Modify. Right click again on Update Heading 1 to match selection.

After you have done that for all Headings, go to the first page where you want to insert the table, click on Reference, and then Table of Contents.

Your clickable table will appear.

Page numbers will not work with an eBook, so do not insert them.

You should insert page numbers in the Print book.

Do not include anything in either the headers or footers.

Save your document in .docx format.

That is your Manuscript.

For any other type of book, follow the same procedure.

When you publish on Amazon, use Amazon Kindle Create. You can download the App free.

With Amazon Kindle Create you can highlight your headings, sub-titles, and resize and reposition images too. The result will be a beautiful eBook that your readers will love.

To publish a paperback book, insert the page numbers and convert your manuscript into a PDF, ensuring that all Chapters start on a new page.

There are many videos on YouTube that show you how to publish EBooks and Paperback books on Amazon, step by step.

In another lesson I will give you links for videos.

Brenda Mohammed

Best-selling and multi-award winning author of 50 books.

Founder of How to Write for Success Literary Network.

President – UHE – Trinidad and Tobago

President – CIESART – Trinidad and Tobago