Agent asks an author bio?

You might think about including things in your life experience that relate to what your book is about, if any.

I was told at a writing conference recently that if you don't have anything published or were not paid for anything related to writing, don't put one, but if you're required to put one, write in whatever you think would be relevant to writing the book. For example, is the book about a graphic designer and you're a graphic designer? Does it take place in Europe and you spent a summer over there as an intern? If nothing comes to mind, just talk about yourself. Where you're from, what you do for a living, how old you are. I would include that you're a part of writers groups and if you've attended any writing conferences, but agents don't care how long you've been writing or how many books you've written that aren't published.

I have no pro pub creds so my biography is pretty tongue-in-cheek, about wresting writing time from my kids, not having experience and not letting it stop me. Hopefully it makes them laugh.

I got asked the same question and had the same problem. I included my current job, marital status, my favorite book genres, and a pointer to my FB page. Really, like a paragraph or so. I think the agent just wants to get a picture (metaphorical) of you as a person.

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Leave out the projects you're working on and the ones that haven't been published. Include such items as Dennis did, or quirky bits about yourself, or anything about you that relates to what you've written that you're querying.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Best thing to do is look at author bio's in books and Amazon for a good idea. Here is Stephen King's off Amazon:

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are the Dark Tower novels, Cell, From a Buick 8, Everything's Eventual, Hearts in Atlantis, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and Bag of Bones. His acclaimed nonfiction book, On Writing, was also a bestseller. He is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

You don't need to list previous successes of course, what it boils down to is tell the reader a little bit about yourself in the 3rd person, for example if you have interesting hobbies or interesting anecdotes you could list them there.
'John Smith is a avid fan of hang gliding, collects thimbles and lives in London with his wife and twelve cats' would be perfectly fine, if a little short.

If you have social media profiles (Instagram, Twitter, etc) try looking at those for ideas. I tend to distil my core passions on there (writing, books, tea, my dog, long works). Mentioning your passions in your bio adds a lot more life and colour to it than only mentioning writing achievements.

Also, if you visit any of the popular blogs that do interviews with writers, most writers have a bio paragraph after their posts. Some of them are fascinating -- I'm particularly fond of the bios on the press kit pages of SL Huang (a member here, who writes awesome thrillers about a female mathematician badass and has a history as a stuntwoman) and Mary Robinette Kowal (who writes regency romance and is also a professional puppeteer).

The vary length of the press kit bios is also a fascinating lesson in what to prioritise.

goddessofgliese said:

An agent read my partial and now requested full along with an author bio. Not sure what I put in the author bio, since I've never been published before. Could it be something as simple as this: I've been writing for 10 years and this is the 4th book I've finished. I belong to a local writers group that includes several published writer. I'm currently working on the following projects: (blah, blah, blah?)

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Go to the library or book store and look at the author bios included. That'll give you an idea of what goes into them, and publication history doesn't have to be any part of it.