Priya Doraswamy of Lotus Lane Literary Recommends...

You’re ready to submit your manuscript to agents and excitedly or nervously working on your pitch. The Author Bio is looming large and you’re trying to figure how to funnel your entire essence, your whole life, into one paragraph that will prompt the agent to say, Yes, this author is solid! For so many of us, writing about ourselves is a painful process because we are self-conscious about trying to find that fine line between not wanting to sound pompous or downright dull. If you’re stuck crafting the bio, my advice is to find that place within you when you’re most relaxed—say, after you’ve had a few choice drinks, or a round of yoga—and think about what you’re most proud of, and what your friends and family are most proud of about you, and craft your bio accordingly. If you are a debut author and do not have big writing credentials, that’s okay. You can talk about a passion you pursue, along with your educational credentials or work credentials, and a little about your family, if you are comfortable sharing. If you are a published author and don’t have a great track record of previously published books or have had more than one agent along the way, that’s okay. You should mention such in your query letter or include it in your Author Bio. But always be mindful to avoid exaggerating—certainly, never be tempted to submit fake information!—because the author-agent-editor-publisher relationship is founded on trust, and is sacrosanct. 

—Priya Doraswamy of Lotus Lane Literary