As an author, part of preparing for publication will be building your platform and brand. That means putting yourself out there and showing the world who you are. So, you’ll need a professional bio. You’ll also likely need several versions of your bio to use on various platforms and you’ll want the tone and style of your professional bio to reflect your brand and be appropriate to your genre, or area of expertise.
You may be using different versions of your professional bio for:
- Your book cover
- Promotional materials
- Your website
- Social platforms
- Author pages
Some will be longer than others and some will be more or less formal in tone and style, but overall, they will reflect who YOU are, and stand out in a way that aligns with your brand, your genre, or your industry. As things change, you may find you need to update your bio.
But how do you know which tone and style you should use? What information should you share in your professional bio? How professional IS a professional bio? Do you focus on personality or your accomplishments? We’ll cover this below, and show examples to help you decide.
The Tone and Style of Your Professional Bio Will Reflect Your Brand
When we say professional bio, we simply mean the bio you will put out there in the world to promote yourself. It doesn’t mean it needs to have a professional tone and style to it. Because that’s not going to work for everyone’s brand, obviously.
Even if you are in the business world, a thought leader, or rising entrepreneur, your bio doesn’t have to seem boring and stuffy. Unless, of course, you want it to be.
Tone and style may vary slightly with each version of your bio, so you have some creative freedom.
The longer versions of your bio can be used on places like your website and your author platforms. But social media profiles will mean limited word counts, as will the back cover copy on your book.
Some Examples of Tones and Styles for Longer Bios
You’ll notice, with more room to play around, you’ll have more freedom with what you want to share. Your long bio is less limited by character count and therefore may be easier to write if you’re struggling with what you should or should not add. Although, even with longer bios, there is such a thing as too long. The main focus will still be keeping the tone and style of your professional bio consistent with your brand. And just a tip: Your bio doesn’t have to be linear life story. It should simply hit on all the good and relevant stuff.
Will Your Bio Be More Serious, Creative, or BOTH?
1- Jeniffer’s (the founder and director here at Monkey C Media) Bio on her About page features both a professional and casual bio. Yes, you can do that! Notice the slightly different focus and tone in each?
2- John Jennings does the same with his. He adds a casual version with his professional version.
Both of these professional bios manage to show off their credentials and expertise while also remaining light and fun and show their personalities in a big way.
3- Lucy Kirk is not only a spy thriller author, she is also a memoirist. Both her current books cover the same topic though. The CIA. So she chose to focus on her experience to reflect her first-hand knowledge of the topics she writes about.
4- Fred Haney’s bio is also focused on his expertise and experience, and because he’s in the field of finance, there is a more conservative tone and superfluous details aren’t the focus. It gets right to the point.
5- Bonnie Comfort is a professional by trade, but her latest book is a deeply personal memoir, so she shares intimate and emotional details in her bio.
6- This BookBub blog post has several examples of both long and short bios that vary in tone and style. You’ll likely find some inspiration for the tone and style of your professional bio here!
So, What Will the Tone and Style of Your Professional Bio Be?
Ultimately, you will express yourself in a way you are comfortable with, and share the details you want to share. But make sure what you do share is relevant to your book and your brand. The tone and style of your professional bio will reflect your personality and fit your genre or industry as well.
For instance, if you write children’s books, you may opt for a more whimsical tone. And possibly leave out details of your accomplishments if they don’t directly relate to your book and your brand.
Fiction writers, in general, will need to focus less on credentials and more on personality, passions, and their writing. Whereas business book authors will definitely want to shine a spotlight on the part of their story that lends them trust and credibility.
You may be very proud of the fact you went to an elite university, but if your time there has very little to do with your book, or made no impact on your current situation, you can leave it out. Especially if adding it is at the expense of including something more relevant. Now, you don’t have to omit it. Just don’t make it the focus. Or mention it in a way that IS relevant.
Be as goofy or as serious as you want. Within reason. Tell as many details as you’re comfortable with. Just make sure it all makes sense for your brand, your genre, and your goals.
Just remember, your professional bio should:
- Highlight your relevant achievements
- Reflect your personality in a way that aligns with your brand
- Resonate with your audience
- Make an impact
- Center around your book if you’re an author
The good news is,once you’ve written a longer version and decided on the tone and style of your professional bio, cutting it down to a shorter version will be easier. Don’t be afraid to experiment, or even write too much in your first draft. Look to examples of authors in your genre for inspiration, and definitely make sure it reflects YOU and how you want to be seen by your audience and the world.
If you need help writing your professional bio, Jeniffer wrote a whole book on the topic. You can also reach out to Monkey C Media and see how our team can help you write your perfect professional bio.
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