The golden opportunity of advertising yourself--for free!--that you're missing

Did you know each time you pitch, you have a golden opportunity to advertise yourself for free? It's your bio—your "verbal selfie"—a few sentences about yourself that accompany your article and give editors and readers a glimpse of the person behind the product.

Bios are powerful marketing tools, but many writers fail to take advantage of them by either not providing them or providing weak unimpressive ones. Here's how to avoid common pitfalls and leverage your bio for maximum mileage:

1. Shy? Clueless? Reluctant? Get over it.

So you suffer from what I call Ego Phobia, acute fear of knowing...

Read the full article in the June 2015 post of Freelance Writing

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Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

615 words
Nonfiction/Writing
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"I loved the article"

Brian Scott

Editor

Freelance Writing

13 Mistakes to avoid while writing your bio

Biographies are invaluable to a writer. A strong bio makes a strong impression and is a powerful tool to advertise and sell the writer's writing skills. A good bio can lead to repeat business with editors whose attention is captured, a loyal readership whose interest is retained and new clientele whose imagination is piqued, which is great for your business and credentials. And writing a good bio should be a piece of cake for a wordsmith. Yet writers often stumble at this important task.

Here are some common mistakes to avoid while writing your verbal selfie:

1. Going on and on about it

No epics...

Read the full article in the April 2015 issue of Writers Weekly

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Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

1150 words
Writing
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"It has some solid points and some good humor"

Zachary Petit

Associate Editor

Writer's Digest

Who are you? (How to write a good bio)

"Please provide a short third-person bio along with your submission." The familiar polite request beams up at me cheerfully from the guidelines of an illustrious magazine. It is just what I have been dreading.

If you are the type who breaks out in sweat when asked to introduce yourself in front of a sea of unknown questioning faces, then you are not alone. It is the single worst request in the world, guaranteed to put anyone in an anxious quandary. What to reveal? How much of it? Why do they want to know anyway? Now visualise the number of onlookers multiplied by a few thousands, as in the readership...
Read the full article in the September 2010 issue of Writing World

or

Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

1820 words
Humour
US publication

Who are you? (How to write a good bio)

“Please provide a short third-person bio along with your submission.” The usual polite request beams up at me cheerfully from the guidelines of a well-known magazine. It is just what I have been dreading.

If you are the type who breaks out in sweat when asked to introduce yourself infront of a sea of strange questioning faces, then you are not alone. It is the single worst request in the world guaranteed to put anyone in an anxious quandary. What to reveal? How much of it? Why do they want to know anyway? Now visualise the number of onlookers multiplied by a few thousands, as in the readership of a...
Read the full article in the March/April 2010 issue of New Writer

or

Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

2270 words
Humour
UK publication
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Words from the Wise

"It has some solid points and some good humor"

Zachary Petit

Managing Editor

Writer's Digest