How many times have you stumbled upon a book by an author unknown to you and had hunted online to know more about the author before you buy the book?
Well, when your to-be readers are doing the same thing, an author profile comes in handy to give them all the information in a single page. Author profiles have become a part of the book marketing; something which gives all the information that a reader wants easily. In this blog, we will see what are the must-haves in an author profile and the importance of including them.
The Essentials of An Author Profile
Author Biography
First and foremost, an author profile should have a nicely-written biography of the author. Of course, since you are an author, that wouldn’t be so difficult. But make sure to sit down and phrase the bio in such a way that it contains a major portion of your professional life conveyed in the simplest way.
Your author biography should contain the accomplishments in your career as an author – details about any awards or prize you have won, any special award for your books, special mention of your books in major publications, etc. This will give that feeling of importance to you and therefore add value to your books too.
Don’t fail to add the most essential details like the genres you write, any pseudonyms you had earlier, where you are from and so on. Some authors would like to mention a short detail of their journey to become an author. Some others would like to mention a quirky fact or two about their lives, their hobbies and so on. It is up to you to decide any extra details you want to mention.
Generally, author bios are written in third person and authors who have bios on their own website sometimes prefer to keep it in first person.
Profile Picture
The next most important thing to add credibility to your author profile is your profile picture. Have a nice headshot added as a profile picture in your author profile. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a professional picture. Anything with a good clarity and a visibility will do. Preferably, set a profile picture that speaks about the genre you write. For example. if you write children’s books, then a wide-smiling, friendly image will be apt. If you write romance novels, a pleasant and soft looking picture will do. Similarly, depending on the genre you write, choose your profile picture.
Book Details
Add the books that you have released till now along with the links from where they can buy. Keep your author profile updated with your new releases. Have a clear view of the books along with the book cover, the date it was released, the genre and where they can buy it.
Contact Details
Adding contact details doesn’t necessarily mean you need to put out your personal mobile number for the whole world to see. Mention your professional email ID for readers to reach out. Alternatively, you can also include a contact form for readers to leave you a message.
Social Media Handles
Nowadays, nobody is without social media. Your readers would want to connect with you over your social media profiles, follow your updates and so on. This will also be a better way to leverage your social media for book promotions. Therefore, whatever social media profiles you are active on, add a link to your profile in the home page.
Add-Ons:
Apart from the above details, here are a few details that you can mention if needed.
- A link to your personal blog where your readers can read more about your thoughts and opinions.
- A link to your profile on any decent publication where you regularly contribute.
- A link for readers to sign up for your newsletters.
AllAuthor’s Free Author Profile
If you don’t have a decent author profile yet, then you can create one easily through AllAuthor. You don’t have to think about the designing or remembering the details that you need to add to your author profile. You will have all the options to include your details to create a simple and comprehensive author profile that contains everything mentioned above and more. All you need to do is sign up as an author at AllAuthor (which is free!) and you will get an author profile for free too! You will even get your own domain name in AllAuthor – yourname.allauthor.com
You will even have various theme options to choose from to customize the look and feel of your author profile.
Here’s an author profile of the New York Times best-selling author Carolyn Brown.
Want to get an author profile for yourself? Click here to become a member of AllAuthor.
