Hi! My Name’s . . .

[rolanni]

I was talking with a colleague the other day about author bios, and, tangentially, the purpose that such exercises in sentence structure is supposed to accomplish.

I thought that there was a place, and an audience for, a breezier, flirtatious bio, like this one. My colleague felt that an author should maintain some distance, perhaps some dignity, in order to be taken seriously by potential readers, and was arguing in favor of something along the lines of this:

Sharon Lee and Steve Miller live in the rolling hills of Central Maine with three insistent muses in the form of cats, and a large cast of characters. Best known for their work in the Liaden Universe®, Lee and Miller have seen published seventeen collaborative novels. Baen Books is currently releasing all of the Liaden novels in several omnibus volumes. The next original Liaden novel, Ghost Ship, will be published in August 2011.

For more information about the Liaden Universe®, see http://www.sharonleewriter.com

So, what do you think? Should a writer keep their distance and their mystique in a bio? Does a playful tone make you doubt the author’s craft? Tell all! Inquiring minds want to know!

Originally published at Sharon Lee, Writer. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[keristor.livejournal.com]

I'm going to disagree slightly wit hmost of the comments (so far), and say that it depends not so much on the book but on the intended audience for the bio. The one your collegue suggested would be perfectly in keeping with a list of authors with short information about each, for instance, where a longer and more 'friendly' one would be out of place. On your own website, however, the one you have which is more 'chatty' is appropriate (I don't find that overly 'chatty' anyway, no more than Anne McCaffery's "the rest is subject to change without notice", and it seems a reasonable balance for an author bio on a book).

Incidentally, the phrase "the next original Liaden novel" implies to me that there are some which aren't original, perhaps plagiarised! I suspect that it is meant to indicate that it may not be the next published novel (because of the reprints, 'omnibus' editions, etc.). I may however be the only person who read it that way...