Book Publicity Tool Kit, Part 5 – Author’s Information

By Rick Frishman - Jun 15 , 2007

Author’s Information

It may seem obvious, but you need to consider how your personal information is going to be presented. More so than in other forms of media, a nonfiction book draws heavily from the author and how they’re portrayed.

Your Biography

Your bio should paint a portrait of you through your accomplishments. Your bio is your opportunity to blow your own horn—tell the media who you are, what you’ve done, and how you accomplished it. Make its tone light and personable but impressive. Let your achievements show how interesting and accomplished you are so the media will want to cover you and your book.

Be succinct and write no more than a half to two-thirds of a page. Be current and also provide some background. Your bio is intended to convey information, so be direct and concise, not verbose; it’s not the place for you to be poetic.

Outline your training, experience, and achievements in chronological order. Also list your hobbies; interests; and charitable, civic, social, and athletic activities because readers might connect with them. Remember that you are trying to paint a picture.

To get inspiration, read the authors’ biographies in a number of other books. Note the type of information authors provide in order to give readers a sense of who they are.

Your Photograph

Photographs give you and stories about you a human face. The media wants to know what you look like because it personalizes its coverage and creates greater interest. If you look good, capitalize on it. When they see your picture, hard-to-reach producers, reviewers, or reporters may recognize you or like what they see and decide to help.

Submit a professional-quality photograph, not a snapshot or some out-of-focus shot your kid took. The point is to give the impression that you are a professional who cares about how you look.

For a press kit, a 5″ × 7″ black-and-white photograph is sufficient. Color and larger images, which may be more impressive, are more expensive and can get costly if you’re sending many media kits.

As we will discuss in greater detail, plan how you want to pose, the clothing you should wear, and the setting for your photograph. How do you want to be perceived and in what context? If you want to appear professorial, wear your glasses and tweed sport coat and be photographed in an academic setting. For your gardening book, appear amidst your prize-winning roses with a bouquet in hand.

Question and Answers

Send radio and TV producers a list of suggested questions, but don’t send them to print journalists without their consent. Print journalists often want to ask their own questions, not yours.

Radio and TV hosts seldom read items in press kits and they generally just leaf through authors’ books. Usually, they read only what producers put in front of them, and they don’t read that until moments before they go on the air.

If you submit questions that the host could ask you, they may be used if the producer considers them good and in keeping with the program’s style. They may rewrite your suggested questions or change their order, but they usually won’t stray far from their basic meanings. For each question, state how long your answer will run.

“Submit questions that make the interviewer seem intelligent, like he or she has done research and read your book,” Barbara De Angelis, www.barbaradeangelis.com, advises. “For example, say, ‘In your book, you mentioned that more people are now taking antidepressants. Do you attribute that to the fact that they are now under more stress?’ Draft questions that people would actually ask and that are conversational. Include statements that interviewers could also include.”

Publishers frequently hire the Los Angeles media trainer Joel Roberts and Associates to write question-and-answer sheets for their media kits. One of Roberts’s favorite strategies is to write questions that “prompt skepticism.” “We write some questions that challenge what the author has stated in his or her book in order to create the hottest show,” Roberts confesses. “Naturally, we train the authors to answers those questions in a way that stresses their core message.”

For example, a skeptical question to an author who is promoting a book on low-carbohydrate diets is, “Isn’t it true that the high-fat foods that you recommend in your book clog arteries and promote heart disease?” These challenging and confrontational questions give authors opportunities to explode myths and misinformation and tell audiences about new positions advocated in their books.

By crafting skeptical questions, you are telling the media, “Hit me with your best shot. Go for it, I can take it.” Hosts love this tactic because it generates controversy, makes them look powerful and as though they really did their homework. It also moves the interview to the author’s strength.