Evolution of an Author Bio III

This is the third post I’ve done about my ever-changing author bio. The last post was in 2020, and a lot has changed in the intervening two years. So, I find myself once again in need of a new bio. In this post, we’ll take a look at how I construct an author bio, what’s changed, and my thoughts on how to best implement those changes. First, here’s the bio I was using in 2020.

Aeryn Rudel is a writer from Seattle, Washington. He is the author of the Acts of War novels published by Privateer Press, and his short fiction has appeared in The Arcanist, On Spec, and Pseudopod, among others. Aeryn is a notorious dinosaur nerd, a baseball fanatic, and knows far more about swords than is healthy or socially acceptable. He occasionally offers dubious advice on the subjects of writing and rejection (mostly rejection) at www.rejectomancy.com or Twitter @Aeryn_Rudel.

My bio has certainly grown over the years, but I’m still trying to keep it between 50 and 75 words. As usual, all my bios contain the following three basic elements.

• Basic details
• Accomplishments
• Where to go/buy

Basic Details

The who, what, and where. Like I’ve said in these posts before, I wholeheartedly believe you should keep sensitive data out of your bio. By sensitive, I of course mean anything that would allow someone to find you or direct abuse/scams at you. I’m comfortable sharing the city I live in, but other’s may not be.

Here are my basic details in 2020:

Aeryn Rudel is a writer from Seattle, Washington.

One big change here. I am no longer a writer from Seattle, Washington. 🙂

Aeryn Rudel is a writer from Tacoma, Washington.

Now, I could just vague this up and say I’m a writer from the Pacific Northwest, and I might do that at some point because, honestly, Seattle is a little more impressive than Tacoma.

Accomplishments

Okay, this is where things have changed quite a bit. I’ve had some major publication in the last two years, and I’d like to get them into the mix.

My accomplishments looked like this in 2020:

He is the author of the Acts of War novels published by Privateer Press, and his short fiction has appeared in The Arcanist, On Spec, and Pseudopod, among others.

That’s a fair amount, but, as I said, I want to get those other accomplishments in as well. So here’s what I’m going with.

He is the author of the baseball horror novella Effectively Wild, the Iron Kingdoms Acts of War novels, and the flash fiction collection Night Walk & Other Dark Paths. His short stories have appeared in Dark Matter Magazine, On Spec, and Pseudopod, among others. 

I’ve added a fair bit, primarily my novella and my flash fiction collection. I’ve left out the publishers to save space and because they’re not as important to someone who goes looking for these books. I’ve also added brief descriptions of each publication, which is, I think, most important with the Privateer Press novels. Adding Iron Kingdoms is an indication that these books are media tie-in, an important distinction. I’ve kept the short fiction publications, but changed them so they’re all short story markets instead of flash markets. This section has gone from 29 words to 44 words.

Where to Go/Buy

You gotta give folks a place to find more of your work and potentially buy it. So this is a pretty important section.

In 2020, my where to go/buy looks like this:

Aeryn occasionally offers dubious advice on the subjects of writing and rejection (mostly rejection) on his blog at www.rejectomancy.com.

Here’s what it looks like now:

Learn more about Aeryn’s work at www.rejectomancy.com or on Twitter @Aeryn_Rudel.

I shortened this section considerably since I added a lot elsewhere. If I’m permitted a longer bio, I’ll add personal details and try to be witty/funny.

The Finished Bio

Let’s look at the before and after.

Here’s 2020:

Aeryn Rudel is a writer from Seattle, Washington. He is the author of the Acts of War novels published by Privateer Press, and his short fiction has appeared in The Arcanist, On Spec, and Pseudopod, among others. He occasionally offers dubious advice on writing and rejection (mostly rejection) at www.rejectomancy.com or on Twitter @Aeryn_Rudel.

And here’s 2022:

Aeryn Rudel is a writer from Tacoma, Washington. He is the author of the baseball horror novella Effectively Wild, the Iron Kingdoms Acts of War novels, and the flash fiction collection Night Walk & Other Dark Paths. His short stories have appeared in Dark Matter Magazine, On Spec, and Pseudopod, among others. Learn more about Aeryn’s work at www.rejectomancy.com or on Twitter @Aeryn_Rudel.

My 2020 bio is fifty-four words, and my 2022 bio is sixty-three. I’ve gained nine words, but I think those nine are worth it. Now, I find most publishers are okay with bios up to about seventy-five words, but some might want no more than fifty. In that case, I can easily trim the new one down by removing one of the publications, shortening the descriptions, or honestly, removing the where I’m from bit.

If I am given a little extra room from a publisher or if the bio is going into a novella, novel, or collection, I might have a little more fun with it and do something like this.

Aeryn Rudel is a writer from Tacoma, Washington. He is the author of the baseball horror novella Effectively Wild, the Iron Kingdoms Acts of War novels, and the flash fiction collection Night Walk & Other Dark Paths. His short stories have appeared in Dark Matter Magazine, On Spec, and Pseudopod, among others. Aeryn is a heavy metal nerd, a baseball geek, and knows more about dinosaurs than is healthy or socially acceptable. Learn more about his work at www.rejectomancy.com or on Twitter @Aeryn_Rudel.

This one gives a reader a few of my interests beyond, you know, writing. It’s a little goofy, but I think that’s fine.

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So there it is, the fancy new 2022 model of my author bio. Thoughts on author bios? Care to share your own? Let’s hear it in the comments.