Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Making a bio

This is topic Making a bio in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by gobi13x (Member # 6837) on :

I was looking at some places to submit and it said to include a bio. I was not sure what to include. I know that if you have been published somewhere then that is a good thing to add, but what do you put in if you are new to the publishing market.

Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :

That's easy. you just tell then who you are, what you do, and what your interest are. If its boring I'll let you have mine.

I'm 42 year old former runner up for the Heisman trophy. I finished second out of 4873 in my graduating class at Harvard. My hobbies are atom splitting, alligator wrestling, and checkers. My current career is as an editor for the Wall Street Journal. On the weekends I battle forest fires.

They'll be impressed,....or something

[This message has been edited by snapper (edited February 07, 2008).]

Posted by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (Member # 4199) on :

or you can use mine.
my job is to "clear" supply routs and get shot at.
my hobbies are playing with fire, colicting guns, and thinking of new ways to keep myself intertained when there is nothing to do on the FOB.
i am 21 years old and happly sirving in the US ARMY.

RFW2nd

Posted by Igwiz (Member # 6867) on :

Often, they are looking for a bio in 3rd person.

Here's a sanitized version of mine:

Name is an aspiring writer of numerous genres, including horror, speculative fantasy, and science fiction. He has work forthcoming in the February issue of Bob's Amazing Friggin Magazine. He lives in Snuffwump with his wife, daughter, and three brain-dead dogs. His favorite subjects in school were readin', writin', and 'rithmatic.

Generally, they want it around 100 words. 150 tends to be the top limit, unless you're Stephen King, Clive Barker, or Harlan Ellison.

Hope this helps,

[This message has been edited by Igwiz (edited February 07, 2008).]

Posted by Lynda (Member # 3574) on :

You might try doing some writing for the non-fiction market to get more writing creds. Magazines and newspapers are often looking for filler articles, or even features. That's how I got my feet wet in the writing biz.

Posted by ChristineT (Member # 7789) on :

I may be way off but when they asked for my bio, I included my educational background, experience in writing and something personal to make the reader smile. I was also asked to send a picture. Imagine what you want said on the back flap of your book about you and write that.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

Well, besides the fact that my life is composed of dullness and failure in equal parts, I'm uneasy about telling too much of who I am---I figured I'd save it for my autobiography, which'll be hard pressed to be interesting.

That being said...if you feel the need to lie, make sure it's about something that can't be easily checked. I just read something the other month about the background of a prominent (and currently deceased) SF writer and editor---seems he, er, shoveled with both hands about where he came from. I don't know if it affects my opinion of his work...it does lower my opinion of him as a person somewhat. (It did take till recently to find him out, though.)

Posted by jeffrey.hite (Member # 5278) on :

quote:
That being said...if you feel the need to lie, make sure it's about something that can't be easily checked. I just read something the other month about the background of a prominent (and currently deceased) SF writer and editor---seems he, er, shoveled with both hands about where he came from. I don't know if it affects my opinion of his work...it does lower my opinion of him as a person somewhat. (It did take till recently to find him out, though.)

How would it effect your thoughts on the writer if it were a penname? Lets say for instance (me) I use a penname to keep crazy people away from my kids. Or at least that is why I tell myself I do it. Basically I am a very private person and if my writing ever does take off I don't necessarily want it to effect the rest of my life. So I have a persona that I created. Nothing outlandish, my persona has many parts or my life in him, but he is more or less someone else.

I suppose this could be a different thread entirely, but if you do have a penname how far should you take it? I know your real identity only needs to be known by you and your publisher ( since they will be signing the checks hopefully with lots of 0's), but in the case that you use a penname what would you do about a bio?

[This message has been edited by jeffrey.hite (edited February 08, 2008).]

Posted by NoTimeToThink (Member # 5174) on :

jeffrey.hite - have you already picked out the person who will pretend to be you when you hit it big?

gobi13x - Christine T's advice looks good to me. Think about what you want on that book jacket...

Posted by jeffrey.hite (Member # 5278) on :

I assume you mean in person... Not really, just me with a different name, or as they say in "Meet the Robinson's" Tom Sellleck.

[This message has been edited by jeffrey.hite (edited February 08, 2008).]

Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :

Hey, I write under a pseudonym too. You wouldn't know it to look at me, though, would you?

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

Well, Alice Sheldon had everyone fooled by her bio as James Tiptree Jr, and all of it was true except for the implication that she was male and not female.

Posted by jeffrey.hite (Member # 5278) on :

quote:

Hey, I write under a pseudonym too. You wouldn't know it to look at me, though, would you?

No, I thought Babbler was your last name...

But I doubt you use that on your publications... If you do I will be heading to the books story right after work looking for you. So would you be under the B's the I's ?

My point or rather question is, how far would you go with developing that other persona. My original question to Robert Nowall, or really anyone who wanted to answer was, would that made up name and persona effect the way he views the author if it were done for legitimate reasons. Of course there is the whole question of what makes a legitimate reason, but forgoing that...

Edited because I referred the the wrong person of at least thier penname.

[This message has been edited by jeffrey.hite (edited February 08, 2008).]

Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :

I think you asked Robert Nowall. I don't care about a pseudonym, but how many lies you tell me surrounding the name may effect my judgment when I learn the truth.

Posted by Marzo (Member # 5495) on :

Did anyone else get stricken by the sudden need to run out and do interesting things for the purpose of an interesting dustjacket bio?

...or am I the only painfully boring one here?

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

...well, if that recent biography is accurate, Alice Sheldon / James Tiptree, Jr. shoveled more lies than just being a woman and not a man. The writer I had in mind was Lester Del Rey, who, for some unknown reason, apparently completely disassociated himself from his background and family and made up a new ancestry. (There was a brief note in Locus about it a month or two back.)

Heinlein and Asimov also, apparently, made a number of selective omissions in their respective reported biographies. (You wouldn't think Asimov would have, what with those thick autobiographies and all that autobiographic material in the rest of his work as well, but there was more, according to some posthumous biographies.)

One can tell less than the whole truth, but one could also call that "lying" as well.

Posted by Alethea Kontis (Member # 3748) on :

Always put where you're from. People (and publishers) like that.

A pet peeve of mine is listing all your pets, and their names. I so don't care. But that's just me.

My new bio is: Alethea Kontis was a child actress, Chemistry major, and student of Andre Norton and Orson Scott Card. Her current professions include: author, editor, publisher, fairy godmother, and goddess. Her sister was in Vogue, her father was on the Discovery Channel, her godfather's face was a Phish album, and her grandfather was a pirate. She hopes to one day be half so cool.

(I suppose I should have put were I was from, huh? Shoot.)

Posted by Crank (Member # 7354) on :

quote:

A pet peeve of mine is listing all your pets, and their names. I so don't care. But that's just me.

Check out this timing. I recently submitted a piece of work, bearing a bio that ended...

"...a Labrador Retriever named Athena, and a guinea pig named Athena's Dinner."

S!
S!...C!

Posted by Alethea Kontis (Member # 3748) on :

Hah!
Nice one, Crank.

I'm tempted to get a pet, just so I can name it Peeve.

Posted by jeffrey.hite (Member # 5278) on :

Slightly off subject here, But I once had a dog that I named after the owner of one of our software vendors, just so I could call his name and say "Bad Dog!" when I got home at the end of each day. My wife didn't understand the joke and we ended up getting rid of the dog.

Back on Subject. I have to agree that I really think you are digging too deeply if you are listing your pets names.

-Jeff

[This message has been edited by jeffrey.hite (edited February 15, 2008).]

Posted by Marzo (Member # 5495) on :

quote:
I have to agree that I really think you are digging too deeply if you are listing your pets names.

If it's an alphabetized list of 20 goldfish, I'd have to agree. But something always makes me smile when I read "Miss Author lives with her husband, John Doe in Generic Town, with their cat Mrs. Chippy."

Or even better, an author without a partner, and only a cat.

...I guess I like to have some confirmation that it's okay to be a crazy cat lady (or lad).

Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :

I think it's good to list some "humanizing" factor whether it's pets or whatever, not to go on about it but to mention. Just a list of publications and education is pretty boring and really doesn't say anything about who you are.

Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :

Here's what I've been using as my bio for the Flash Fiction Online (http://www.flashfictiononline.com/) blog posts I've done:

Semi-retired from technology consulting and educational software design/development while the wee folk are wee. Reading, writing, and blogging in my spare time between carpools and playdates. Flash Fiction Online slush reader. Coupon clipper. Vegetarian eater. Global warming worrier. Lifelong learner.

'Course the other slush readers are ribbing me about how I eat vegetarians. Sigh. It worked for me until they pointed that out.

An online bio is a different format/form than what some places are looking for with publications bios, I suspect most are interested in the "his/her work has previously appeared in..." but, since I don't have any of that to report, I just went for facts and humor.

Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :

Vegetarians are excessively low fat and not scrumptious. I'd give them up for something juicier.

Posted by brainie (Member # 7810) on :

My favorite bio ever is in Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

I don't remember all of it, but I do recall one of them talking about their love of banana daquiris, and inviting any fans to buy him one. Or several.

Shoot, now I'm going to have to go find that book and reread the bios.

Posted by Marzo (Member # 5495) on :

quote:
My favorite bio ever is in Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

Hahaha, that one was good. I don't have it on me, but I remember it amused.

Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :

Even GRR Martin adds a light touch and a mention of pets to his bio.

From A Feast of Crows (was anyone else disappointed in that?)

"He has been in the Seven Kingdoms ever since. When he's allowed to leave he returns to Santa Fe, New Mexico where he lives with the lovely Parris, a big white dog named Mischa, and two cats named Augustus and Caligula who think they run the place."

[This message has been edited by JeanneT (edited February 25, 2008).]

Posted by aspirit (Member # 7974) on :

I hope no one reminds me reviving this topic. What do you all recommend in a bio for a writer who didn't graduate with a literary degree, doesn't work for a publisher, hasn't published before, and hasn't attended a workshop?

I don't know I'd care that the author of a submission is a petless vegetarian who studied sociology and trains in how to efficiently give other people boo-boos. Would a slush pile reader care?

Hmm, maybe the last bit is better if omitted.

What do magazines expect when they require a bio with a sub?

[This message has been edited by aspirit (edited November 25, 2008).]

Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :

Have you completed a college degree? mention that. Mention town you live in, current occupation. That's about all I think is necessary/important in an unpublished person's bio, unless there's a specific hook in your past that is relevant to what you're writing/subbing for - e.g., you're entering a contest featuring geo-synchronous orbits and you happen to be the third cousin once-removed of some famous astronaut. Or in my case I'm a technology consultant, so when I write about technology I feel it's appropriate for me to mention my professional background and college degrees as a way to give me some credibility with whomever may (I hear often they aren't read at all) read the cover letter.

Joe Schmoe is a graduate of XYZ college, holding degrees in botany and political science. He works in the kazoo industry, designing better and more efficient kazoos for kazoo bands across the country. He is from Kalamazoo, MI. (Couldn't help myself there, LOL)

Good luck - sounds like you have a reason to need a bio, which is great news!

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

I recommend that you only include a bio if the guidelines specifically ask for one.

All you need to say on a submission cover letter is something like "Here's my story, "Title," for your consideration. This isn't as simultaneous submission. I look forward to hearing from you in email and/or using the SASE I've enclosed."

Posted by steffenwolf (Member # 8250) on :

I've heard similar advice to KDW's from elsewhere, editors of some publications. When doing a cover letter, I hear to keep it as short as possible. Mention previous publications and relevant experience, that is if you're writing a book about killer insects, and you're an entomologist, that's a very relevant detail.

Unless they ask specifically for a bio, in which case I suppose I'd mention where I live and what degree I have. Although I always worry that my degree will work against me. Since I do technical writing as part of my job, some might think that would work against my prose, because they are such different styles.