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How does one construct a bio if one has never been published?

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Carole

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As I am researching...and researching, I am putting together the bare bones of my initial trial at a query. Most of it is fine. Well...maybe not fine, but I do have plenty to work with and it will eventually be presentable. My big problem is with the bio!

I have never been published and it definitely shows when I am sitting here staring blankly at that page. Hmmm...housewife, mother of two, didn't finish college. Yeah, THAT'S interesting! Anyone have any suggestions on which direction to go with a bio when there's not a lot of meat for it that seems relevant? How about experience in the field I am writing about? I do have plenty of that.

Thanks so much :)
 

aka eraser

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Yep, go with what you've got and don't reference what's lacking. You can still tap dance a little around the educational background:

Carole is a mother of two who lives in Smalltown, America. She studied English and Tree Frog biology at Anytown College. Her interest in all things frog-like led to several years of research in the Amazon rainforest where she developed an expertise in amphibian social mores. "Those Amazing Amorous Amphibs" is her first book.


 

Fern

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Any time I'm asked for a bio, it is usually limited to 2 or 3 sentences. That always helps when you are trying to write something about yourself.

By all means, use your experience in the field in your bio. When I write caregiving articles I have "experienced caregiving first hand". When I write on the subject of reunions, I am a "veteran reunion planner" having planned family reunions for more than a dozen years. Readers want to know you have knowledge about your subject. They don't want parenting advice from people with no children, any more than they want someone with a Masters in Psychology writing about operating large equipment such as bulldozers, cranes, etc.

A couple times when I haven't had much, if any, experience in the field the article is about, I have resorted to something like . . ..my name lives in general location & state, with her husband and two children. Surname's writing interests include whatever subjects you write about. She can be reached at email address.

What I did to begin with was to look through the magazine I was submitting to and read bios for those published. That gave me a general pattern to go by..
 

Carole

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Thanks! Now, let's say that I am planning to use an assumed name for my first non fiction book, because...well, I am planning to use an assumed name for my first non-fiction book! It is a very hairy situation and I think it would be best if my identity was kept private. How does that change the bio information you submit with your query? Does it change anything at all? I imagine the agent and publisher will want to know who I really am...kinda makes sense, but is there a different procedure for bio information under thee circumstances?

(Lucky Penny...who told you that you were the only one who is curiously interested in the mating habits of tree frogs? LOL!)
 

Fern

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Go to a book store and read those flaps! If you are writing under an alias and do not wish for readers to know who you are I would not add the very personal info (#kids,husband, etc.) but stick to your background in the field and perhaps add a tidbit or two of info you think a reader might like to know about the writer. . . stuff that others wouldn't necessarily recognize as being you.

I always wondered if it wouldn't be easier to just give another writer all the info and let them write a bio. . .swap out, you know. Its hard to write about oneself.
 

Fern

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Check out the writing novels section up the forum a ways. I just noticed a thread there on the same subject.
 

Lucky Penny

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Carole said:
(Lucky Penny...who told you that you were the only one who is curiously interested in the mating habits of tree frogs? LOL!)

:kiss: tree frog mating habits? hmmmmmmmmmmmm, d*** my memory!! :idea: I honestly don't remember being interested in that! Was that in this lifetime or the last? :roll:
 
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