How to use this Page

When you write an author bio, what you include depends on, well, you.

Bio for Query

Writing a query letter requires a compressed bio of just a couple sentences.
Here, you want to touch on the highlights of your career. I might write:
Published in eight languages, I have books with Greenwillow/Harpercollins, Philomel/Penguin, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Sylvan Dell. My website, www.darcypattison.com, has half a million visitors each year.

Just as you need a bio ready for multiple purposes, you should have author photos ready. I try to have a photo in 100x100 pixels, 250x250, 500x500 and at least one with a 300 dpi (high resolution) for print situations.

Include work history? Probably not, unless it directly relates to your story.
I might write:
The main character is hearing impaired and I hold a Masters Degree in Audiology (doing hearing tests) and have worked for the Arkansas School for the Deaf.

Otherwise, your lips are sealed. Nothing about grandchildren who love your story; nothing about jobs that don’t directly relate; nothing about the newspaper who interviewed you about your invention that has nothing to do with this manuscript. Everything must relate to THIS manuscript. Otherwise–mums the word. Absolutely, no padding.

Expanded Bios

There are times for a longer bio, on your blog or when you send out press releases about your new book, that’s the place to list everything–if you like. For example, when my new picture book Desert Baths (a story about how desert animals take baths) comes out in late August, I’ll be ready with standard bios to send around with the press release.

I try to condense everything into a one-page document, because, really, who will read every word? I keep an updated bio that has a letterhead with all my contact info (email, phone, fax, mailing address), and just print this out and slip into an envelope or attach to an email. If appropriate, sometimes, I’ll take a yellow highlighter and make something jump out. For a picture book submission, I might emphasis that The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman was an honor book for the 2003 Irma S. and James H. Black Picture Book Award from Bank Street College.

Bios, in this sense, aren’t curriculum vitae, which are academic biographies which list all your publications, your speaking engagements, work history academic history, etc.. I keep one of those up to date, but rarely use it because it’s too long to send around easily; if any one asks, though, I’ve got it and don’t have to create it.

What you’re trying to do is establish specific credentials, highlight relevant

Oxford Bibliographies Online is a series of intuitive and easy-to-use “ultimate reading lists” designed to help users navigate the vast seas of information that exist today. To introduce you to the doors this new online tool opens Andrew Herrmann, Associate Editor of OBO, has excerpted some suggested reading related to Greek mythology.  Use his study guide below to impress the date you bring to see the Immortals.

Andrew Herrmann, Associate Editor, Oxford Bibliographies Online

300, Troy, Percy Jackson & the Olympians, the reboot of Clash of the Titans, the forthcoming Immortals…Hollywood has been brushing up on its epic hexameter (or more likely picked up a Spark Notes guide to Homer) and has re-imagined the swords-and-sandals genre for the 21st century. While it is fun to see these classic works morph from the original Greek texts into flashy, raging battles between Brad Pitt and Eric Bana, classicists and mythology buffs alike often shudder at the blatant inaccuracies presented in these films (if Hector had killed Agamemnon in Troy, we wouldn’t have the Oresteia!). For those interested in knowing what happens in the true classic tradition, OBO recommends the following works on some of the central figures of these films.

Zeus, leader of the Olympians, has a rich mythology which extends beyond Liam Neeson’s now famous “Release the Kraken!” line in Clash of the Titans. Pura Nieto Hernandez’s Mythology entry offers a good starting point for those interested in this lightning-wielding god:

Dowden, Ken. 2006. Zeus. Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World. London and New York: Routledge.
In spite of its brevity, this introduction accomplishes a lot. Not only does Dowden concentrate on the cult of Zeus, he also provides the reader with ample mythological information about his rich subject. His careful presentation and analysis of the previous large bibliography makes this book a good introduction even to the study of ancient religion. Good illustrations add to its appeal.

Poseidon, father of Percy Jackson in the recent Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and soon to be played by Kellan Lutz in the upcoming film Immortals, is the stormy god of the sea. The Greek Religion entry by Angelos Chaniotis points users to a detailed study on the worship of Poseidon in ancient Greece. However, this one is not in English, so brush off your dictionary or head over to Oxford Language Dictionaries Online:

Mylonopoulos, Joannis. 2003. Pelopónnesos oiketérion Poseidonos = Heiligtümer und Kulte des Poseidon auf der Peloponnes. Liège, Belgium: Université de Liège.
Thorough discussion of the cult, sanctuaries, festivals, and political significance of Poseidon in the Peloponnese; an exemplary study in terms of method, approach, and combination of diverse source material for the interpretation of the cult and sign