Biography Geography: WTF?

Writing and Selling Your MemoirI noticed this weird thing when I was updating my own bio (something you should probably do at the start of every calendar year, just to make sure it's up to date and doesn't talk about upcoming books that came out in October 2011, not that I am guilty of that… no, not at all): most author biographies start with geography. 

Is it me, or is that a little bizarre?

I mean, I'm guilty of it, too. I noticed this while I was formatting my about.me page, and my first thought was to say that I'm from Pittsburgh. Now, being from Pittsburgh isn't inherently interesting except that anyone else from Pittsburgh who is around my age probably knows at least four to six people that I know, because even though Pittsburgh is a biggish city, it's like a bunch of small towns all stuck together, joined permanently by a strange dialect, sports, slight weirdness, and a very midwestern friendlyness. 

But is it the most important thing to know about someone, where they're from? Aside from anyone else from Western Pennsylvania that I might possibly know, or who knows my mother in law (more likely), is this crucial information for a person to have? Hardly! 

But that's the default! WHY is it the default? I do NOT KNOW. It is SILLY. It's giving the most prime real estate of a paragraph, the first sentence, to a mailbox. Why? I have no idea. 

 

Then, after geography, comes the Parade of Past Professions. Random lists of interesting jobs that were held before that person became a writer? CHECK! That's pretty common, too – though often much more charming than opening with the geographic birthplace. I know there are some readers who love to support local authors, or feel a kinship with someone who is from the same place they are, but in all the populace that might stumble upon a bio, I have to assume that the likelihood of someone with geographic similarities encountering a bio and making a buying decision based on that similarity is pretty freaking low. 

I asked myself: what's the first thing I as a reader want to know about an author? When I'm looking for information about an author, what is it that I want to know? 

Usually, it's when's the next book is coming out. Depending on the writer, that might be a frequently updated bio, especially if someone is publishing yearly or twice yearly. But shouldn't there be a sort of general rule as to what makes the best first impression in a written author biography? I should think so, but when I search on the topic, the answers are varied, and also often boring. 

So what should be the first thing you want to know about an author when you're looking for information – aside from geography? And hey, if everyone except me wants to know where everyone else is from, and I'm in the minority with this bafflement, I yield to all of you with excellent atlases. We can all road trip. You drive. 

 

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  1. Kris Bock says:

    I wrote an article about author bios, because I saw so many useless ones when I was coordinating writing conferences. I think part of the problem is that people worry about being entertaining and modest, rather than sharing information the audience wants to know. Or they swing the other way and list every minor award any book has ever won, winding up with a long list of awards no one has heard of and burying the one award that was actually impressive.

    Anyway, here’s an excerpt from the article, because I’m too lazy to summarize (and the article rights have reverted to me). (FYI, this was targeted at children’s book writers.):

    What is the [bio’s] job? To sell yourself and your books. Keep that focus in mind and the rest will follow.

    Content: List your books. You’d be surprised at how many authors skip this part. This is your chance to advertise! If you have lots of books, stick to the three or four that are most popular and currently in print. …
    People are more likely to look for your book if they know it fits a genre they like. Titles aren’t always clear by themselves. “Death in Russia” could be a mystery, biography, history, historical fiction, or political analysis. Specify the age range and genre.
    List awards, but don’t get carried away. If each book has four or five minor awards mentioned, the reader bogs down in dull details. List the most prestigious, or combine them – “Ms. Inkslinger’s books have received 11 Readers’ Choice Awards from various states.”

    Relevancy: In general, stick to writing-related information. If someone is considering buying your book or coming to hear you speak, they want to know your success as a writer or speaker. They’re probably not interested in the names of your pets. And since most children write or tell stories, the fact that you’ve been writing since age 7 isn’t terribly impressive.
    If you do include personal data, put your professional information first. Don’t start with your hobbies or childhood, unless it directly relates to your book. (For example, you’re a nurse and you wrote a hospital drama, or you grew up in Guam and your children’s book is set there.)

    Style: … You may need different bios for different uses—playful on a book flap; professional for a newspaper article; focused on your teaching experience for a conference catalog; praising your writing success for a booksigning.

    Length: Unless you’re asked for a certain length of bio, keep it short and to the point. An editor may shorten your writing to save space, so put the most important information in the first sentence. This will definitely include your name, and may include the topic of your presentation and/or the name of one book (the most recent, the most popular, or the one you’ll be presenting).

  2. I think the most interesting bios of authors are the quirky ones. Specifically, bios that offer kind of the Top Cool Facts, or something of the like. “(Insert author’s name) loves dogs as pets, but loves Cheerios for breakfast, more. S/he obsesses over the show Downton Abbey, and believes chocolate deserves its only holy place as a Food Group.” These always stand out to me as being neat, and a lot more enjoyable to read. They offer an insight into the writer that humanizes, and personalizes them in a way that the “Gender/geography/X number of kids” diatribe never can. Even if all the “factual fact naming” is a complete lie, they’re still fun.

  3. SB Sarah says:

    Sandypo, I sure did, 3rd through 5th grade!

    That is very funny. Seriously, it’s like a game at this point.

  4. SB Sarah says:

    Inez: THANK YOU.

  5. SB Sarah says:

    Elizabeth Carter posted this comment on Facebook when I linked to this page, and I think she made a very good point, so I’m reposting it here:

    “I think we haven’t caught up with the fact that where someone is from or where they spent a good chunk of their formative years just doesn’t mean what it used to mean. Years ago, before travel became much easier and affordable and before cheap phone calls and the internet, where someone was from told you a lot about them. They’d likely have a particular accent, certain interests, viewpoints, etc. Now with all the advances in the past 40 years or so, growing up on a farm doesn’t mean you can’t be into the latest fashions or be active in a subculture that you’d be exposed to in a big city.

    All that said, I also think “about me” things are written the way the author would speak in person. While “Hi, I’m Jane and I grew up in Denver” sounds fine in conversation, it’s boring to read. I do think it’s a chance to get to know the author, so I do want to know what *they* think I should know.

    It’s hard to strike a balance, but I like to know some personal bits as well as accomplishments. I guess half-resume, half-funny/interesting facts and stories.”

  6. SelenaBlake says:

    Thanks Larissa! I’d love to say it’s easy but as with most things, it took a few revisions. I’m big on creating lists of keywords. It’s how I write my book blurbs too. I tried to think of all the things that I love the most and/or make me “unique.” And then looked for a logical way to string them all together. I’m glad you think it works. Bio’s rarely get close inspection so it’s nice to get feedback.

  7. rainyisland says:

    Okay. I’ll say it. I know you are all talking about connections to the material, and I second being the super-specific answer. BUT as an American who has spent many years as an expat in Europe, every time a historical romance author mentions the x-week trip to the magical land of England that changed their lives, I cringe and vow to forget it read it if I ever want to buy their books again.

  8. Tam says:

    My favourite YA author bio would have to be Kendare Blake’s bio on Amazon (author of the entirely terrific ghost-story-romance ‘Anna Dressed in Blood’).  It reads:

    She loves to travel, is an advocate for animals, and cheats a lot when she plays Final Fantasy. Adopted from South Korea at the age of seven months, she arrived with the following instruction: “Feed her chocolate.” Though not medically advisable, she and her parents are eternally grateful for this advice.

  9. Rebecca says:

    I disagree with Elizabeth Carter’s post.  Location DOES still matter in terms of accent and outlook.  It’s true that the internet has created communities of interest that could not have existed before (e.g. this discussion board), but anyone who thinks that one can be just as cosmopolitan in a small town as in a big city (or just as attuned to the inconvenience of the weather in a big city as in a small town, and so on) is kidding themselves.  Virtual reality is not a substitute for actual reality.  And a two week vacation is not the same as having lived somewhere for a year.  But it’s not always necessary to specify IF the author’s location is not relevant to the book.

    That said, in my own bio I’ve tried to explain how my location, education and profession(s) (and yes, they come first) are related/relevant to the books I’ve written.  It’s the equivalent of a CV: address + education + work experience = why are you qualified to write about this particular topic.  My Amazon bio also deals with the touchy question of ethnicity, purely because I got tired of fielding the “Oh, you speak Spanish [without a cringe-worthy American accent] and write about Spain, are you Hispanic?” question, and thought it might be simpler to get it out of the way by answering it up front.

    I think my favorite author bio is Terry Pratchett’s.  It’s evolved over the course of his books, the “Small Gods” edition reads (in part): “Terry Pratchett was born in 1948 and is still not dead.” [Holla!  Granny Weatherwax reference!!!  Also, potentially poignant in the future.]  “He started work as a journalist one day in 1965 and saw his first corpse three hours later, work experience MEANING something in those days.”  [Heads-up on Captain Vimes and the City Watch novels, and perhaps a clue to William de Worde in “The Truth” – who appears many years after this bio.]  “After doing just about every job it’s possible to do in provincial journalism…he joined the Central Electricity Generating Board and became a press officer for four nuclear power stations.  He’d write a book about his experiences if he thought anyone would believe it.” [Ponder Stibbons and the High Energy Magic building ahoy!]  It goes on, but this gives a sample of how to write a bio that extends the reader’s understanding of the books you write.  As always, Pratchett is the gold standard.

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