Once upon a time, I imagined those paragraphs about authors that I read on the back of books were written by people at the publishing house or assistants. If you’re a Big Deal Author, maybe you do have people who write those for you, but every single published author I know writes their own bios.

If writing your own bio freaks you out, welcome to the party. When I first tried to write one, I felt weird talking about myself in third person, and I had a hard time gauging what was important and what wasn’t. But bios are a valuable and necessary tool if you’re hoping to get published, even just in the digital space, and with practice they stop feeling so awkward.

Let’s start with a few pointers.

Bios should be written in third person, especially if this is something you’re putting in your book proposal. If it’s on your website or social media page, first person might make sense, but bios that are used for media purposes are always in third.

They should reflect who you are and why you’re qualified. By which I mean, why you’re qualified to write this blog post, write this book, be speaking on this topic, etc.

When writing a bio, youth can be a drawback, because—to put it frankly— you haven’t had time to do much yet. Here are some ideas for what you can put in a bio as an unpublished writer:

  • What you write
  • Why you write it
  • Any awards you might have won for your writing or articles you may have had published
  • Your blog or notable places you’ve guest blogged
  • Ditto but for podcasts or YouTube
  • Any special education you have (college degree or whatever)
  • Something that qualifies you to write this book (if you’re writing about missionaries in Africa and you were raised in Africa by missionaries, you should mention that.)
  • A few things you’re passionate about, particularly if they’re unusual
  • Any writing societies you’re a member of

You want a bio that makes you sound interesting because people like to read books written by interesting people.

Here are a two excellent examples of bios of young writers who have previously guest blogged on Go Teen Writers:

Lydia Howe is a twenty-something adventurer who grew up traversing the globe, first through the pages of books, and then in reality. Nowadays she’s living the clichéd life of working at a coffee shop and writing. When she’s not surrounding herself with words you can find her riding through the fields on Chadwin, her trusty lawnmower. She enjoys blogging and recently joined the worlds of Booktube and Bookstagram.

Caitlin Eha fell in love with books at a young age and never recovered. Today she is pursuing her dream of being a published novelist and screenwriter, in between the multitudinous demands of adult life. She is also a staff writer for the website Geekdom House (geekdomhouse.com). When she has a free moment, she enjoys reading, fencing, archery, cosplay, and time with her Lord. Caitlin can be found on her blog, caitlineha.wordpress.com, and on Wattpad @authorcaitlineha.

I love how both of these show such personality!

If you have questions or want to post a bio in the comments for feedback, you’re welcome to!