What you include in the back matter of your book depends largely on the editorial contents of. How to write a terrific author bio rachelle gardner. How to write a memorable author bio with template reedsy blog. Its something that will let readers get a sense of who you are, and is an important part for pitching media and book proposals, sums up marketer rachel conegorham, formerly of penguin random house. Courtney lives in the rocky mountains with her husband, a mediumsized dog, and an attack cat. Id show the book to people at book fairs and signing events, and theyd flip the book over, read the bio, and laugh. Your website address should be included on your book cover. This is a good example to follow for any author writing a book or article. Back cover copy includes the book summary and author bio. Book summary and author bio on the back of the book.
A book proposal argues why your book idea is a salable, marketable product. How to write a book proposal the creative independent. Nonfiction back cover copy for nonfiction, establishing yourself as an expert and differentiating your book from the others written about the same topic will help sell your book. The book proposal is a 1550 or so page manuscript that a writer. Here is a great blog post from rachelle gardner about how to write a terrific author bio. Write an extended bio for your website, proposals, interview sheets and media kits. Essentially, the book proposal is the way an author sells his or her book to a potential agent or publisher. How to write an amazing author bio book marketing for. Theyd walk off with a copy of the book based on the bio. A book proposal serves as a brief but indepth overview of your book idea, your approach to the topic, the book s organization and flow, and a sample of the writing. However your warmth as a person can come through in a well written bio. Courtney milan is a new york times and usa today bestselling author of historical romance.
The anatomy of a compelling book proposal the bindery. How to write a kickass amazon bio to sell more books. This ones short and tothepoint, and the last time i. Proposal guidelines for book authors please be sure that your proposal package includes all of the following information. Writing an author bio examples of professional bios. It can be helpful to begin with a bio you already use at your website or at linkedin. There are several books available on writing book proposals. Book proposal a business plan for your book and how you plan to ensure sales success keys to a great synopsis the steve laube agency july 27, 2016 i posted my ideas on some keys to a great book proposal, a few writers said they were challenged to write a synopsis. If you published a paperback version of your book on createspace, you can enter the bio in the author biography section for your book. Think of your author bio as a twopart argument for your stamp on the book. There isnt an equivalent field in kdp, but when you include this information on createspace, itll automatically get included on the kindle version of your book on amazon. The literary agents guide to writing a nonfiction book proposal by andy ross.
Sell more books with a kickass amazon book page author marketing experts, inc. Write your bio in first person for query letters, third person for most other purposes including proposals, book jackets, article bylines. I offer consulting on all aspects of the publishing business. Im a great courses professor and also teach interactive classes throughout the year. He establishes his credibility as an author with a reference to his first. Dont try too hard to be funny, but include something that makes you seem like a real person. Creating a compelling book proposal is your first step to getting your book. How to write your first author bio writing forward. It is a difficult task and one most writers wonder the purpose of. I know you dont like to brag and boast about what youve accomplished. Learn how to write an author bio that gets readers attentions.
Your fiction proposal should include the following items and should be attached as a single file to an email with submission. I learned to write book proposals directly from the editors to whom i pitched my first ideas. My book, book title will be a genre work which will center around the topic of book topic. First, remember that, when writing your bio for a book pitch, you should be writing in the first person. The keys to a great book proposal the steve laube agency.
I often flip to the author biography early on in my read of new book proposals. Explore our book authors and editors pages to learn more about publishing a book with springer. And if youve already finished your memoir, youre still going to need to write a full proposal to accompany your submission in. That is why your book proposal bio may well be the only place you use. Writing an author bio examples of professional bios by freelance writing not only is it useful to know what you need to include in an author bio, it is also useful to. Its easier to trust a bio that appears to have been written by an objective observer. This page will direct you to some examples of book proposal sections so that you can put together a winning book proposal. Writing your book proposal bio the steve laube agency. The about the author section of a nonfiction book proposal. This isnt a time for a jacket bio thats something your publisher will write and will write in the 3rd person. Reading is an intimate endeavor in which the reader and the author are engaged in a kind of relationship. Once you wow your potential readers with an excellent front cover, the next part of your book thatll hook them is your back cover copy, which is publishing speak for the information that appears on the back cover. It also provides an overview of you as a potential author, with a focus on your expertise and qualifications to write the book you are proposing and your author platform within the. Pop the champagne cork, and put a party hat on your cat.
Whether you choose to put it on the front of the book with a free offer or on the back with your bio is your choice. Guidelines for your fiction proposal hartline literary. How to write a compelling bio for your book proposal chad r. And, i also did end up writing my own backcover copy, and later, my own books. How to write the about the author section of your book. Download and fill out the proposal and send the completed form to our proposal mailbox including the following details in the subject line of your email proposal in subject area author name. If there is no dust jacket intended for the print edition on which the author s bio typically appears, it may be included in the back matter. I suspect that the last time you considered buying a nonfiction book you took a look at who the author was.
It acts as a business case or business plan for your book that persuades a publisher to make an investment. Its an invigorating feeling, receiving ones first acceptance letter from an editor. On one new page most of us have led onepage lives, tell editors everything you want them to know about youin order of importance to the sale of your book. Frank schaeffer born august 3, 1952 is an american author, film director, screenwriter, and public speaker. The only sections that wont include part of your platform are the chapter synopses and the sample chapters. The third example shows how part of the back cover copy the author bio, in this case can show up on the inside flap of a hard cover book.
You dont say, i have been a ghost writer for four years. Overview describe your book in two or three paragraphs 500 wo. Every author has had to face the difficult task of creating a book proposal. Please welcome author nicolas frame with some good advice on writing your first author bio. By benjamin graham and david dodd, features the foreword author over the book s actual authors. The advantage to writing your author bio first is that you focus on platformrelated information youll then mine for the rest of your proposal. The about the author section of a nonfiction book proposal answers the question, who are you. Novelists will rarely depend on the bio to sell the book, but as book launch specialist joel pitney suggests. Just know that your book is a marketing tool that will help you build traffic to. John scalzi writes books, which, considering where youre reading this, makes perfect sense. Im not saying its the very best way to write an author bio, in fact, many of the best examples below do not fit this template.
The book publishing proposal is from a book author proposing a new book title to a publishing company. I like this one because it contains ten reallife proposals that sold. You want the back cover to be all about the book why the person who is holding it must buy it. The disadvantage is that a memoir book proposal may be up to 25 pages in length just to cover the business proposals and market research that youll need to present.
They can provide feedback and advice on how to move forward. But at the end of that email, youll usually realize they want you to. Now that you have decided to partner with elsevier, the next step is to create a proposal. He is the son of the late theologian and author francis schaeffer. So, weve provided the hints, tips and instructions. Give a fairly brief summary of your book here, using a few paragraphs. October 22, 2015 by diana urban writing your author bio can be a daunting task, but a wellcrafted bio can help readers learn more about what makes you and your books so interesting.
Nonfiction book proposal outline ted weinstein literary. Instead of writing the entire book, then trying to interest an editor or agent which is how it works with novels, you write the proposal first. Every other section of a nonfiction book proposal markets you as the author. But in the about the author section of your book proposal youve got to overcome your natural inclination to be reticent. How to write a compelling bio for your book proposal. Publishers frequently put the foreword authors name on the cover, sometimes more prominently than the name of the book s author. Really, that is not want you want on your back cover. Some authors include a list of their previously published books. For nonfiction authors, the author bio is a critical marketing tool as who are you are is often as or more. If youd like to refer back to the template as you read this guide, you. Your books author bio tells potential readers who you are, and why they should.
The about the author section of a fiction book proposal is not as much about credibility. He became a hollywood film director and author, writing several internationally acclaimed novels depicting life in a strict evangelical household including portofino, zermatt, and saving grandma. Sample about the author page getting your book published. I write for publishers weekly and publish the hot sheet. You have to promote and sell your book in that spot. How to write your author bio for your book proposal. Writing a book has many steps, so learn how to write author biographies for your book proposal in this free video clip. This is the nittygrittythe part where you learn exactly how to get published. Just to add a quick hopefully relevant note here, considering the name of the publisher responsible for this blog i did in fact submit what could be termed a more experimental or even slightly radical proposal for a series of readers to oxford university press a few years ago. Include any subhead or taglines that your books title may contain. Sometimes youll see a back cover that shows the author image and bio. Come right out and say all the positive things about yourself and your writing credentials that an agent would say if she were representing you.
As mentioned in my discussion on how to get published, if youre interested in writing a booklength work of nonfiction, you dont need to write the entire manuscript before you make the sale. You say, jane doe has been a ghost writer for four years. Youll discover how to navigate the insider world of publishing, get an agent, write a killer book proposal, finish your book on time, and leverage the power of book buying psychology. You are also welcome to listen to free audio recordings of teds book proposal bootcamp and other workshops and media appearances. Visit amazon author central, click on your book, and add it in the about the author section or if you published a paperback version of your book on createspace, you can enter the bio in the author biography section for your book. Christina doe resides in minneapolis, mn with her husband, two children, and their saint bernard, hugo.
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