How to write an author bio for a query or submission
The bio is the shortest part of a query letter and the one writers agonise over most. It matters less than you think: agents decide on the pitch and the pages. A good bio does one job — tells the reader who you are in a way that is relevant and true — and then gets out of the way.
What the bio is for
In a query, the bio answers: is this person a professional, and is there anything about them that makes this book more credible or more marketable? For fiction, it is a minor factor. For memoir and nonfiction, it matters much more, because your expertise and platform are part of what is being sold.
Write it in the first person in a query letter ("My short fiction has appeared in..."). Magazine contributor bios, by contrast, are usually written in the third person.
What to include
Two to four sentences, roughly in this order of priority:
- Relevant publications. Named magazines, anthologies, or outlets. Don't list everything; pick the strongest two or three.
- Awards and selective programs. Contest wins or shortlists from recognised competitions, fellowships, residencies, an MFA.
- Experience that informs the book. A paramedic writing a novel set on an ambulance crew should say so. So should a former competitive climber writing a mountaineering thriller.
- A single human detail, optionally. Where you live, or one line about your life, if it fits the tone. Keep it to one line.
What to leave out
- How long you've been writing or that you've "always wanted to be a writer". Almost every querying writer could say this.
- Praise from beta readers, family, or writing groups. It reads as inexperience, not endorsement.
- Self-published sales unless they are genuinely strong for the category; modest numbers are better left unmentioned.
- Your age, health, or personal hardship unless it is directly relevant to the book (as it might be in memoir).
- Social media follower counts for fiction, unless very large and relevant. For nonfiction, real platform numbers belong in the proposal.
- Anything invented or inflated. Credits are easy to check, and a padded bio does far more damage than a short one.
If you have no publishing credits
That is the normal situation for debut novelists, and agents sign them all the time. Two good options:
- Write one or two honest sentences connecting you to the book — your job, where you grew up, a relevant interest — and stop.
- Skip the bio paragraph entirely and go straight to the sign-off. This is perfectly acceptable for fiction.
Never write "I am an unpublished writer" or apologise for not having credits. It adds nothing.
Examples
With credits:
My short fiction has appeared in [Magazine A] and [Magazine B], and a story from this collection was shortlisted for [Named Prize]. I hold an MFA from [University] and teach composition in Ohio.
No credits, relevant experience:
I spent eleven years as a 911 dispatcher in rural Montana, which shaped the night-shift world of this novel. I live in Missoula with my partner and two very loud dogs.
No credits, nothing obviously relevant:
I'm a high school chemistry teacher in Leeds, and this is my first novel.
All three are fine. The third is short because there is nothing more that would help, and that is exactly right.
Magazine and contributor bios
When submitting to literary magazines, the bio sits in your cover letter or in a field on Submittable. Keep it to two or three sentences and follow any word limit in the guidelines. If accepted, you'll usually be asked for a contributor bio in the third person: "Alex Morgan's fiction has appeared in [Magazine]. She lives in Portland, Oregon." Keep a current version saved somewhere you can paste from quickly.