WEBVTT
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Hello, I'm Suzanne.
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And I'm Maria.
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And welcome to Publishing Pals Podcast, a podcast where two pals talk about publishing.
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For nearly a decade, we've tried, failed, and sometimes succeeded at being traditionally published.
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Come along with us as we share everything we've learned in this oddly gatekeep, confusing, but incredibly fun and rewarding industry.
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And today we're talking about author bios.
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Yes, or author illustrator bios, depending on what you're querying.
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So I guess we've talked about like a lot of the mechanics of a query letter.
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We've talked about blurb, we've talked about log line.
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I think bio is the next big thing that goes in there.
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And once you've done that, as long as you have your like a genre word count for like your info that you have to put in about your book, then I think that's like your whole query letter.
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So we've done the whole thing.
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So if you're unsure of it as to how to write a query letter, you can look at like the previous episodes we've done and piece it together.
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And do you think I feel like the bio is not the hardest part of the query letter, but I do feel like it trips up a lot of people.
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I think a lot of people overthink it in some ways, and then in other ways, um, they just like maybe dash it off and are like, okay, it's good enough.
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And it may have some red flags in it that you don't even realize.
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Oh, what would you consider a red flag?
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Oh, um I feel like if you talk about your age, it's a red flag.
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I don't know.
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Are you I I feel like you can't be ages, but I feel like if you bring it up in a way that's like, I'm 17 years old and this is my first novel.
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People are gonna be like, okay.
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Um I feel like you have to frame things like age in a very, in a, in a very special way.
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I guess it depends.
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I I would say if you're super, super old, the con would be, you know, this agent might be wondering, well, how long of a writing career do you expect to have, you know, if you're already almost 70 or something, you know, and they're you know, thinking about taking on clients long term, they're thinking about, you know, what they're capable of producing year to year.
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And if you're quite old, then that might weigh in.
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On the younger end, I get, you know, like, yes, less experienced.
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But I do think they're more likely to be like kind to you in your rejections or you're more likely to get like constructive feedback.
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Like there's some kid gloves if they're you're a teenager.
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And I do think, you know, like saying that you're 17 and that you are, you know, like part of your high school newspaper or something is okay to say if you say that you're 17.
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But if you say I'm a working, you know, I'm I'm a writer and I was editor in my high school newspaper.
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But then if someone doesn't have the lens of like you're too young to have done anything else, then it might come off as like, oh, that was a long time ago, probably.
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Yeah, I think it's more like if like there's really no reason to put your actual numbered age in there.
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I think it's okay to sort of hint at your age and there are going to be other clues in your bio that give your age.
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I just feel like any bio I've seen that says, I'm this exact age number is like a little juvenile.
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Yeah, it doesn't need to be in there.
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I mean, I guess you could say I'm a current student at and then your your high school or college name or something.
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Yeah.
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Specifying your age, especially if you're studying something in college that's specific to, you know, it has a major that's specific to what you want to do.
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Yeah.
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And I think if you say, you know, I'm a recently retired um, you know, home like educator, that's great too.
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People will kind of get the gist of, you know, you're you have some life experience without coming out and saying, you know, I've I'm 72 and I just retired.
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You're like, okay.
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Specifically if whatever you did for a living or, you know, whatever you're bringing up is relevant to what you're doing.
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So one thing that I've heard that's not good to say is like to give your whole life story to be like, I worked as this, I worked as this, like, treat it like a job resume where you're you're just listing off things that you've done.
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But it's like, okay, if you're writing an action and adventure book that takes place in the Amazon, it's relevant to say, like, hey, I, you know, like did a year abroad in the Amazon, or I did volunteer work in the Amazon, like studying this and this, or I worked as a biologist and I studied rainforest plants.
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Then that's really relevant.
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But if your book is about like a newspaper journalist in New York, then say, hey, I'm a biologist, I was a former biologist and I studied rainforest plants doesn't make any sense with your query.
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So it's like you you want this to be a shorter paragraph and you you only want it to be relevant.
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So like include the stuff that's relevant to your book or that's relevant to a writing career.
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Yeah.
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Honestly, I think the shorter the better in a query letter to have a bio, the longer bios, I think I think more chances to trip yourself up, more chances for an agent to see something that they have questions about.
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And kind of the more broad and more the more broad, but also the more relevant to your actual story.
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Like keep it focused on what makes sense of why you were the person to write this story.
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Um, and anything else that's not relevant to that, like if you can take it out, take it out.
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It doesn't need to be there.
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Yes, unless it is published writing credits.
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So um they do have in query manager.
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There's a lot of forms that now say, like, have you previously published a book and you put it there instead of in your bio?
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Um, but for example, like I stopped putting this in my query because I think if you the last thing you had that was published was a really long time ago, to me, it feels like, ooh, like I I just kind of don't want it in there anymore.
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Cause I mean, I haven't written and submitted short stories in a long time.
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Um, so I the last one that I submitted was I think 2021.
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And it got into I I think there's there was an anthology and a poetry book that I had credits in.
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But since I'm careing in 2026, I'm like, I don't really want to put something in that's five years old.
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So that's a little bit more give and take.
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I I felt like I had plenty in my bio already.
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If I needed to pat it out, I could have added it in.
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But um, you know, if your work's been published anywhere, there's a lot of short story competitions, there's poetry competitions, there's uh, you know, places where you can submit essays.
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If you have any other publishing credits, or if you have any other, you know, like experience that's relevant relevant to a writing career, like you were an assistant to an editor or something, you know, you can throw that in.
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Yeah.
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Okay.
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So short, what do you think like the bare bones of the bio have to be?
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I think your day job, whether it's relevant or not, or if you don't have a day job, kind of what your like worky experience is, or if you're a student studying whatever, I think you have to put something like that in.
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Yeah.
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I feel like only if it's relevant.
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Um, I guess it's more subjective.
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I think I think people want to know, like, okay, what are you doing now?
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And if you're not already, you know, a published author, you have to say something.
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I would say like whatever uh organization or like writing organizations or um critique groups you're in, just mention that you're in them so that they can see, okay, I'm taking writing seriously.
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I'm like, you know, actively getting critique, I'm looking for this kind of stuff.
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I'm more involved.
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Then any writing credits, if possible, job if relevant to what you're writing.
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And then I like to do a couple fun facts about me.
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And especially if I'm researching this agent, I really like them, you know, I'll look at their Instagram and see that they have, you know, like a bunch of dogs, and then I'll mention my dog in my bio or something like that.
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Like I, because I feel like it, you know, if they're interested in your manuscript, that's the first thing.
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And then once they're interested, they'll go back and be like, okay, who is this person?
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And maybe, you know, like look at your website, look at your bio a little more carefully, and then they can see, like, oh, she likes dogs too, or something like that.
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Yeah.
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I put that down as weird hobbies.
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Um, yeah, I think, but like anything that makes you unique um, or anything that you're really passionate about can help, you know, make you stand out from the crowd just a little bit, especially if it has something to do with your book.
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But even if not, if it's something creative, I think, you know in the publishing world, they appreciate other creatives.
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There's a lot of overlap with people who like, you know, knitting and pottery and gardening and um, I don't know.
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But if you also like skydiving and I don't know, Formula One racing, like whatever it is, I think just to help you stand out and like kind of round you out a little bit as a person.
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Um one or two weird weird hobbies are you know.
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Yeah, I wouldn't go on.
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I would keep it to one sentence.
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Yes.
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I I wouldn't do a sentence for each hobby.
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I'd just say like, in my free time, I enjoy and then give a list of two or three things.
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Yeah.
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So I mean, if you follow that uh formula, there you go, you've got three sentences of a bio, you know, kind of what you're doing now, your credentials, and a weird hobby, and you've got a little bio.
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I think a lot of people also put where they're based, like the city and the state.
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Um, and if you look at author bios in the back of books, I feel like, you know, they really range a lot from like something that feels super professional to something that feels kind of silly.
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Like I wouldn't stress too, too much about it because it's not something that the industry is like going to be hyper focused on.
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They're more interested in your query.
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And this is the like getting to know me and showing that you are taking this industry seriously, whether that's with published work or with critique groups that you're in or like however you're participating.
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Yeah.
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And I think location helps too, especially if your setting of your book is something you're familiar with, if it's somewhere you have lived in the past or um currently live.
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And if you're writing fantasy, then I guess it doesn't matter.
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But you know, even if it's something like, you know, a boarding school fantasy and you attended boarding school, even those little details um can be helpful if you need them.
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Yeah.
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So you can pull out, you know, whatever experiences from the book are relevant to you, or hashtag like own voices, for example, if you know the character struggles with like debilitating anxiety and it's something you've also struggled with, you can mention it in the book.
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Yes, yes.
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Own voices also can go in there.
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Um if I I've seen people say sometimes they want to put it in there, sometimes they don't.
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Um, I think that's up to you if you feel comfortable disclosing.
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Um, you know, especially like a mental health diagnosis.
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But I think agents are really just generally kind of uh non-judgmental, like open a lot of them are specifically looking for neurodiverse um you know, own voices.
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Um Yeah.
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Um and you can also put um if you're part of the queer community, there's a lot of agents that are looking for like BIPOC and queer books.
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And or if you're BIPOC, you can put that in there.
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If an agent is specifically asking for it, you can just mention, like, hey, I saw you were looking for queer BIPOC authors, and you know, that's me or something.
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I think that's the those are the main things that you should have in there.
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Don't stress it too much.
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I put mine at the end of my query.
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I think most people put theirs at the end.
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Um I've also seen in query manager though, it wants you to have your bio paragraph within your query, and then a lot of times it wants you to also have it again.
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Oh interesting.
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So when I No, I know what you're talking about.
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I don't put it again.
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I just You don't?
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No, I cut it out of my query and I'm like, well, here's the bio, and then here's the query without the bio that they've separated.
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Yeah.
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I have not been doing that.
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I've been like, here's my full query.
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Like, if you're gonna read a search and finish, like here's the whole shebang.
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Like if I'm emailing it to you.
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And then like, here's my separate bio paragraph that I don't know why you're asking for it again.
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And then I feel like that's an opportunity.
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If you do want to flush it out a little bit in that bioparagraph, um, that's an opportunity to do it.
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Like, you know, when I was querying my podcast book, I would write a little bit more about, you know, oh yeah, I have a podcast and here's the link to it.
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And you know, this and that, where I didn't always feel like I wanted to put that in the body of the query.
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But there's different ways to do it.
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We we're gonna need someone to weigh in and be like, I know we need to have another agent on so we can like pick their brain and ask them some of these questions.
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And you just start writing them down.
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You're gonna be like, whatever, however, you want to do it's cool.
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I always assumed that it was like an an agent being like, hey, when I like click on query manager or whatever, I just want to read like what the book's about.
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And if I'm interested in the book, then I'll look at your bio, which is why it's in a separate field.
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But that's just me making assumptions.
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Uh yeah, because I assume they like paste your query because it's it I just paste the whole like what I would have sent in an email.
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I just paste that in the forward so they can read the whole thing if they want to read the whole thing.
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And then if they want little snippets elsewhere, I don't know.
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They can they can read that elsewhere.
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Oh, we're gonna need some professionals to weigh in of like, why did you set up your query manager like this?
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In some in that way, I do prefer an email query because it's like just here it is, just all together.
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Like don't make it the more confusing.
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Yeah, query manager has a lot of things that they've added of like specific questions that have become more standard as opposed to just sending your query.
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Um one thing that because I I just started querying this past month, and one thing that um is drove me crazy a little bit is there's a separate field that says like what books are similar to yours.
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And I wrote out this whole series of like books where it's like this and this because of these elements and this and this because and then like I pasted, tried to paste it all in and it cut off like two books in because it's like a short field, and I have to delete all the reasons and just post the titles.
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They literally just want the title, maybe not even the author, they don't care.
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They just want a list of like three books to make sure that you know yeah, I just show that you're reading in your field and you're reading things that are currently out, maybe.
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Um, I wish it was a longer text thing so I can paste my full explanation.
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I have another, I think you never ever put this in your bio.
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Oh, okay.
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What?
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Okay, I think you never ever put in your bio that you love books.
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That you love books and you've like wanted to be an author since you were a child, and like you've been a reader, an avid reader since you were a child.
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Like to me, that's like a dead giveaway of like this person is new at this.
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Yeah, because it should just be standard that like, oh, you like writing and you are actively reading things that are coming out.
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Yes.
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But I feel like when I was was first querying too, I was like, but they need to know that I love that I love books.
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Okay.
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I love books I've been reading since I was a child.
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And um, yeah, I still see that kind of around.
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And I'm like, no, no, gotta, gotta cut that.
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Okay.
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So say you you work a corporate job, you've never you like you read, but you've never, you know, like written anything before, you're you don't know anything about, you know, like, you know, book groups or book clubs, you're not in a critique group necessarily, but you write a first draft of a book, you edit it yourself, or maybe you pay an editor to edit it or something, you get it ready to query.
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What do you put in your bio when you have like no experience remotely related to writing or having any published works or anything like that?
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Um, I think that's where you do, you know, in my day job.
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I am uh a corporate drone at um thing corporation.
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Yeah, I live in such and such a place.
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Then you put your quirky hobby.
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I have my quirky hobby is that I do soul cycle.
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I do soul cycle after I work my corporate job.
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Um you gotta add something to the soul cycle.
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It's gotta be like goat yoga soul cycle or something to make it extra quirky.
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I've already decided like this person is writing a corporate thriller, and so this is very relevant to them.
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Oh, okay.
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I understand the, you know, the soul sucking, the soul sucking nine to five, you know.
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Yeah, find a way to relate to your book if you can.
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Yes.
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Another thing that people can do is if you do have children, uh, you are welcome to mention that you're a parent of children.
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I think I think especially if you're writing something geared in that age range, too.
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Yes, especially.
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Um, but I think even um, you know, if you're not writing for children, it's okay to say, you know, I'm a mother of two adorable little little children or dogs or whatever your children are.
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Like, a lot.
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And I think it's okay.
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I think that's um like corporate drone, mother of two dogs.
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Like, I think those kinds of sentences are good ways to inject some personality and some humor into your bio where like you can sh use it to show like a little bit of you know, like who you are and maybe your writing voice.
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Yeah.
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Another thing I've seen people do if they don't have a ton is like uh talk about where they vacation.
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Oh, interesting.
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I haven't seen that before.
00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:55.680
I don't know why, but I think it does help like, you know, and I enjoy traveling to, you know, Tibet and mountain climbing.
00:17:55.839 --> 00:18:01.680
And maybe that goes into weird hobby, but I feel like travel is sort of a separate, like a separate thing.
00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:22.160
Or if maybe if you speak another language, um just sort of things like that, if you need to kind of pat it out if you're um, you know, bilingual or have family background, you know, enjoy going back and visiting my family in in uh in Ireland once a year.
00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:23.119
I don't know.
00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:28.160
Um but again, I feel like it's normally tied to things.
00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:38.079
But as even or even if you know you're writing something fantasy and you've taken a trip to, you know, somewhere where there were castles and you felt inspired by those castles.
00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:40.400
I I feel like there's a way to kind of tie things in.
00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:42.880
Yeah, anything in your life that's inspired by it.
00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:43.440
Yeah.
00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:50.559
It's like your real life, but you also have some experience.
00:18:51.920 --> 00:19:02.640
Um, so yeah, and I think too, if you're an illustrator, um, I'm assuming author illustrator, if you're writing a query letter, um, you can also put your website, you can put where you've studied art.
00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:05.839
And this doesn't have to be like a place where you got a degree for art.
00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:18.000
This can be, you know, like uh you can list the, you know, name of the teacher on the schoolism courses you took, or if there was, you know, like private classes that you took that are online and the name is decently big.
00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:20.079
Um, you can quickly mention that.
00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:26.319
Um, you can also mention what sort of things inspire your portfolio or the genre of things that you want to work in.
00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:33.039
Do you feel like for just regular authors, putting your academic credentials?
00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:37.039
Like I graduated from university.
00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:38.880
I graduated from art school.
00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:40.640
So like it's relevant.
00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:43.039
Yeah, I did, I don't know.
00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:45.279
I don't see that a ton.
00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:46.720
I'm I'm curious why.
00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:48.720
I don't know if it's because most people don't get a degree.
00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:53.359
I think if you have a degree in creative writing, 100% absolutely put that in your bio.
00:19:53.599 --> 00:20:07.039
If you don't have a degree in creative writing or English, and I do have a degree in English, um, it just doesn't, I don't know, it doesn't seem to move the needle in in any direction.
00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:09.519
Um, it's almost better like if you don't.
00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:24.160
Uh I I've seen, you know, people who are lawyers, you know, if they're writing um like legal thrillers, definitely, you know, you want to put that you have a a JD or whatever.
00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:31.440
If you're um a medical doctor writing about um, I don't know.
00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:35.119
Books with medical procedures.
00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:36.240
And Dr.
00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:36.880
Thriller.
00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:38.319
Doctor Thriller.
00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:45.920
Um, or like, you know, even if I guess if there's like murder stuff in there that you like know about anatomy, like that could be helpful.
00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:57.680
Um but otherwise if you have like a degree in I don't know, history and I don't but now I'm thinking now I'm thinking like you can make anything relevant.
00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:03.440
Like but I don't know that the like institution itself is important to state.
00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:06.319
I think have saying you have a degree in something is okay.
00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:15.519
I you know, you can say the institute if you are really trying to pad your bio and you don't really have anything else, and you can just say you, you know, have a degree in creative writing or whatever it is.
00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:24.079
Um, I mentioned in mind that I'm an author and illustrator, but I don't mention my credentials or that I have a degree in it unless I'm pitching a graphic novel so far.
00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:26.240
This is the sixth project I've queried.
00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:28.400
Um, hopefully this time successfully.
00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:31.519
I still have one full out that I have yet to hear a response from.
00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:34.319
Um, and I have a bunch of queries out.
00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:39.759
So um I've done three graphic novel pitches and I've done three prose novels.
00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:43.759
And for the graphic novel pitches, I always put that I have a degree in illustration.
00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:48.000
And I I forget if I put where my degree is from.
00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:51.680
Um, because it people do recognize it sometimes.
00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:55.759
But I guess it depends on how much else I have in my bio and whether or not I want the space.
00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:58.480
Because you want to keep your query like short and sweet if possible.
00:21:58.720 --> 00:21:59.519
I think I think non
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.119
Fiction, we I mean, we're not even like talking about nonfiction.
00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:05.200
I wouldn't even, I would not even know.
00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:24.240
I mean, I I worked in uh you know nonfiction business publishing, and your resume is like like you would submit your CV with your proposal, and your author information is like a whole separate page at the beginning of the book.
00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:29.200
I mean, you really, really, really want to emphasize any and every credential that you have.
00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:44.160
And I've seen some wild author bios um in the nonfiction space just because it's like they list every single seminar, every single workshop that they ever gave, anywhere, anytime.
00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:53.599
And I'm like, y'all, like you can just say that you're uh a well-renowned speaker who travels the world talking about this subject.
00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:57.680
I'd say yes, do the well-renowned speaker if you're querying fiction.
00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:01.519
But it seems like non-fiction, you don't actually submit the book, you submit a proposal.
00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:05.519
And so your credentials like are the selling point and your platform is the selling point.
00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:16.720
So it's like that's more important than in the pit, or not the pitch is important, but you don't have sample pages necessarily, or you don't have like a whole book that you're trying to get picked up.
00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:19.920
It's like you're getting picked up based on your name and and idea.
00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:33.599
Yeah, you're getting your your idea and your writing count, but I would say it's probably equally weighted with who you are and what you bring to the table as a as a person, as a resume.
00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:47.519
Because yeah, we used and I used to tell my authors all the time writing a book as a nonfiction author is in and of itself building your platform and raising your profile and you know, adding to your resume.
00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:52.880
And especially if they're involved in academia in any way, it's sort of a necessity.
00:23:53.200 --> 00:24:03.279
So um, probably a caveat we should have said at the beginning is like this is for fiction only because nonfiction is like the complete opposite.
00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:07.519
Like, don't mention your dog in your don't mention your dog in nonfiction.
00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:12.640
And after fiction, you're never querying based on a proposal.
00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:17.200
You always need the full text, like fully written and polished by the time you query.
00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:26.480
Yeah, unless you're like super fancy and you already have an agent, and then you can query based on a proposal and they'll take you.
00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:33.440
But when you were I think it depends on on the author and the agent in the situation, but yeah, it's possible then.
00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:34.480
It's possible.
00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:35.440
It's happened.
00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:36.400
It's happened before.
00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:38.079
It's happened more than you think.
00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:45.680
Um I I figured maybe I'd read the bio from like the query that I've been sending out, and we could talk about it a bit.
00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:49.440
So this is for a humorous romanticy.
00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:57.279
And my bio reads: I'm a writer and illustrator based in northern Virginia and an active member of SCPWI, as well as several writing and illustrating critique groups.
00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:03.039
I co-host PublishingPals, a podcast about everything my crit partner and I wish we'd known before we started querying.
00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:07.039
I love literally any animal, knitting, baking, and running DD games.
00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:11.200
I work as a professional DM, creating fantasy adventures for people across the world.
00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:16.000
So I also work as an art tutor and I, you know, volunteer the animal shelter.
00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:26.480
And there are other things that I do, but the the DMing professionally is like the thing that I felt was very relevant to writing a fantasy novel, um, especially like a second world fantasy novel.
00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:41.440
The weird hobbies, I guess, is animals, knitting, baking, um, publishing pals and the critique groups in SCBWI are just ways that I'm trying to show that I'm actively involved in this industry and I take it seriously and I'm paying attention.
00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:43.039
And that's my whole bio.
00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:43.920
That's a good one.
00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:44.559
Thanks.
00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:45.920
You edited it.
00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:48.799
It's well edited.
00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:51.119
It's so well edited.
00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:57.920
Okay, here's one that I sent for the random picture book that I ended up writing.
00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:00.079
Oh, post-conference.
00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:01.039
Post-conference.
00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:08.319
So this is not for the podcast book, but um it's very similar to the ones that I sent out elsewhere.
00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:16.640
So mine is I'm the author of two middle grade historical fantasies published by Little Brown, The Inventors at number eight, the inventors and the lost island.
00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:18.559
They were written under the pen name A.M.
00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:21.440
Morgan for a book packager and translated into three languages.
00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:25.200
I'm available for IP and ghostwriting work in any age group of children's lit.
00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:31.200
I work full-time as a medical writer and am raising two young kids underneath the shade of the beautiful forests in Durham, North Carolina.
00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:33.440
Well, I didn't know yours got translated into languages.
00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:34.079
That's so cool.
00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:34.799
It did.
00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:38.799
I got translated to Spanish, French, and Greek, which was pretty cool.
00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:39.440
Greek.
00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:40.240
That's cool.
00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:40.880
Yeah.
00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:43.119
So I switched that one up a little bit.
00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:52.960
Um like usually like kind of the end of it, you know, my my uh weird hobbies, which right now are like raising children.
00:26:53.200 --> 00:26:57.920
I tried to put in a little bit of the setting because it was relevant to the the book itself.
00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:04.640
Um but yeah, I definitely, since I have been a published author before, really try and put that front and center.
00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:09.200
Yeah, I probably should find my bio for uh my actual um A.M.
00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:09.680
Morgan.
00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:11.119
Yeah, that's a good idea.
00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:12.079
I didn't even think of that.
00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:13.599
And then if you Google A.m.
00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:20.720
Morgan, you just get German means in the morning in German.
00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:33.440
And I will say, so I I was tasked with writing my own bio for my uh books that I was the ghostwriter on.
00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:35.119
You know, you think they give you some help?
00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:40.319
And like maybe if you're like really cool and awesome, they do give you some help, but like they did not give me any help.
00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:43.359
I had to write my bio and I came up with a draft of it.
00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:49.599
And I gotta tell you guys, it was the most horrendous bio that you have ever thought of in your life.
00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:51.680
I don't know what I was smoking.
00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:54.000
I was insane.
00:27:54.160 --> 00:28:00.880
And I sent it to my editor at the book packager, and I was like, I really like, I'm so sorry.
00:28:00.960 --> 00:28:02.319
This is like so horrible.
00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:05.680
And about like a day later, I wrote back and I was like, no, no, no, no.
00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:07.039
Here's the here's the better one.
00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:09.279
Like, I'm so I wish I hadn't even sent that one to you.
00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:12.400
And she was like, Yes, thank you for sending a new one.
00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:15.119
Oh my God, wait, I really want to hear the first one now.
00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:17.279
I don't even know if it exists anymore.
00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:18.960
It was so bad.
00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:21.200
I cannot even tell you how bad it was.
00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:25.359
I was like talking about how like I sunburn in the sun.
00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:27.039
And I was like, what am I doing?
00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:29.519
Like, I'm like, this this has nothing to do with anything.
00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:30.400
Like, stop it.
00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:37.759
Like, uh, but then if you look at me and you're like, yes, you're very pale, you sunburn, but like that has nothing to do with like you don't put that in your author bio.
00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:38.880
What are you on?
00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:39.680
Stop it.
00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:41.440
I think it could be funny.
00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:44.160
Okay, so here's my official author bio.
00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:46.240
Okay, as AM Morgan.
00:28:47.200 --> 00:29:01.200
Um I will point out again that uh the book was a historical fantasy um about Ada Lovelace, who was credited with being one of the first computer programmers.
00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:04.000
And so there was a lot of like science-y stuff in the book.
00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:05.519
Um Okay.
00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:07.599
So here it is.
00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:14.079
AM Morgan comes from a long line of engineers and researchers, but chose to pursue literature over the laboratory.
00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:19.039
To her family's surprise, she has managed to make a decent living as an editor with her English degree.
00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:26.400
In her spare time, AM enjoys taking long walks in the forest, trying out new hobbies, then abandoning them, and complaining about her mean cat.
00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:29.839
Despite what you may think, AM is not a morning person.
00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:32.880
Okay, that had some good humor in it, though.
00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:33.519
I like that.
00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:35.119
Yeah, so the book was humorous.
00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:36.720
I tried to put a little humor in there.
00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:40.640
I um I didn't really, you know, I didn't have kids then.
00:29:42.079 --> 00:29:44.799
I didn't have any, I only had my mean cat.
00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:54.559
I didn't really want to like um, you know, talk up too much in the bio is like a nice cat because like he would have known and he would have been like, oh, what are you talking about?
00:29:54.720 --> 00:29:58.880
And really half half of my personality at the time was complaining about my mean cat.
00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:01.519
So that was my job.
00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:06.319
Well, I think that's just the basics of what you need for a bio.
00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:17.200
And I think if you want to check out um our comp episode, our log line episode, and our blurb episode, I think that's everything you'll need to know to write your own query letter.
00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:23.680
And yeah, then just do research on the agent you're interested in, do a personalized sentence at the top, and you are good to go.
00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:26.079
So uh have someone else read it.
00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:33.920
I'd say don't be afraid to rewrite your bio if like me, your first attempt at a bio is insane.
00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:35.599
Uh it's okay.
00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:37.200
It's okay to pivot.
00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:40.079
Yeah, get some eyes on it, be open to suggestions.
00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:43.519
Um and yeah, I think that's everything.
00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:47.680
So uh shall we pivot to our agency deep dive for today?
00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:49.279
Yes, let's pivot.
00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:49.920
Okay.
00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:54.319
So because I'm uh actively querying, I am just looking at my query list.
00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:55.839
I'm like, who was I excited about?
00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:56.960
Um recently.
00:30:57.440 --> 00:30:59.599
So this is someone from my tier one list.
00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:01.200
I was very excited about querying her.
00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:03.920
I queried her a little over a month ago.
00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:04.880
She hasn't responded yet.
00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:07.839
I hope she does, but I'm guessing she's a very busy lady.
00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:10.960
So her name is Stutti Teledevara.
00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:14.400
She is a literary agent at Park Fine and Brower.
00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:19.440
Um, she works on sharp commercial adult, young adult, and middle grade fiction.
00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:23.839
She's looking for divorce novor divorce novels.
00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:32.400
She is looking for diverse storytellers and vivid, detailed world building across genre and fiction with strong high-concept hooks.
00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:37.440
She's especially interested in fantasy and speculative fiction and is actively building her list.
00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:45.599
And so one thing that I thought was really exciting is that she specifically says in her bio that she's mentored by Peter Knapp.
00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:48.559
And Peter Knapp is like huge.
00:31:48.720 --> 00:32:01.680
Like, I mean, I think technically the agency in general is open to queries because to query them, you just send to the queries at parkfinebrower.com and then you specify in the like subjects who you're querying.
00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:13.200
So they're never closed, but this guy, um, to give you an idea, is ranked number two in YA and number four in romanticy and number 14 in just fiction overall.
00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:17.759
He's had 37 six-figure deals, and he's been around for a while.
00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:30.240
Um, the biggest name of him that stood out immediately on his list is um Somon uh Cenani, who did the School for Good and Evil, and Ayana Gray, who did Beasts of Prey.
00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:34.640
And I know her first duology sold for like seven figures at auction.
00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:37.519
So like he gets really, really big deals.
00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:39.519
Um, and she's mentored by him.
00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:49.519
So when a new agent comes into an agency, usually, you know, if they're a new agent at an unknown agency, that's a huge red flag because they don't have any connections.
00:32:49.680 --> 00:32:55.200
Um, if it's an established agent at a new agency, then they have connections they're bringing with them and they're good to query.
00:32:55.359 --> 00:33:05.680
Or if it's a new agent at an established agency, um, they're usually good to query because there's going to be at least one other agent mentoring them, introducing them to connections, introducing them to how to agent.
00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:10.640
It's a mentoring, you know, like skill building process that you really work your way up on in the ladder.
00:33:10.880 --> 00:33:25.440
And so the fact that she sp specifies that she's mentored by this agent who's done had so many huge deals and is so big in the fantasy space and in the YA space, like says a lot about where she's going and the connections that she has and the connections she has access to.
00:33:25.599 --> 00:33:33.200
And even if she's not making all these deals on her own yet, she's at least like getting help from this very big famous agent.
00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:38.400
So she's already ranked number six in romanticy and she's pretty new.
00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:43.920
Um, she's had eight six-figure deals so far, 23 overall.
00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:50.880
Um, she started back in 2023, so she's only been around for like three years, and still she's like telling it.
00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:52.000
She's telling it.
00:33:52.160 --> 00:33:56.319
She is a rising star, and she says she's actively building her list.
00:33:56.480 --> 00:33:58.880
So I was super excited to query her.
00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:01.200
I hope that you're super excited to query her.
00:34:01.359 --> 00:34:05.200
I hope she's still actively building her list when this episode airs.
00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:09.039
And yeah, I think that's everything for her.
00:34:09.280 --> 00:34:13.440
Thank you so much for listening, and we will see you in the next episode.
00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:14.320
Bye.
00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:11.279
Hello, I'm Suzanne.
00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:12.240
And I'm Maria.
00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:17.280
And welcome to Publishing Pals Podcast, a podcast where two pals talk about publishing.
00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:22.960
For nearly a decade, we've tried, failed, and sometimes succeeded at being traditionally published.
00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:30.719
Come along with us as we share everything we've learned in this oddly gatekeep, confusing, but incredibly fun and rewarding industry.
00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:33.840
And today we're talking about author bios.
00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:37.359
Yes, or author illustrator bios, depending on what you're querying.
00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:41.600
So I guess we've talked about like a lot of the mechanics of a query letter.
00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:44.240
We've talked about blurb, we've talked about log line.
00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:47.520
I think bio is the next big thing that goes in there.
00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:55.679
And once you've done that, as long as you have your like a genre word count for like your info that you have to put in about your book, then I think that's like your whole query letter.
00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:56.880
So we've done the whole thing.
00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:04.560
So if you're unsure of it as to how to write a query letter, you can look at like the previous episodes we've done and piece it together.
00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:13.200
And do you think I feel like the bio is not the hardest part of the query letter, but I do feel like it trips up a lot of people.
00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:23.680
I think a lot of people overthink it in some ways, and then in other ways, um, they just like maybe dash it off and are like, okay, it's good enough.
00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:29.359
And it may have some red flags in it that you don't even realize.
00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:31.760
Oh, what would you consider a red flag?
00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:40.400
Oh, um I feel like if you talk about your age, it's a red flag.
00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:41.359
I don't know.
00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:55.040
Are you I I feel like you can't be ages, but I feel like if you bring it up in a way that's like, I'm 17 years old and this is my first novel.
00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:57.920
People are gonna be like, okay.
00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:06.079
Um I feel like you have to frame things like age in a very, in a, in a very special way.
00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:07.359
I guess it depends.
00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:23.439
I I would say if you're super, super old, the con would be, you know, this agent might be wondering, well, how long of a writing career do you expect to have, you know, if you're already almost 70 or something, you know, and they're you know, thinking about taking on clients long term, they're thinking about, you know, what they're capable of producing year to year.
00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:25.520
And if you're quite old, then that might weigh in.
00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:28.879
On the younger end, I get, you know, like, yes, less experienced.
00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:38.000
But I do think they're more likely to be like kind to you in your rejections or you're more likely to get like constructive feedback.
00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:40.800
Like there's some kid gloves if they're you're a teenager.
00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:50.240
And I do think, you know, like saying that you're 17 and that you are, you know, like part of your high school newspaper or something is okay to say if you say that you're 17.
00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:56.560
But if you say I'm a working, you know, I'm I'm a writer and I was editor in my high school newspaper.
00:02:56.719 --> 00:03:05.039
But then if someone doesn't have the lens of like you're too young to have done anything else, then it might come off as like, oh, that was a long time ago, probably.
00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:11.599
Yeah, I think it's more like if like there's really no reason to put your actual numbered age in there.
00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:17.520
I think it's okay to sort of hint at your age and there are going to be other clues in your bio that give your age.
00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:24.400
I just feel like any bio I've seen that says, I'm this exact age number is like a little juvenile.
00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:26.319
Yeah, it doesn't need to be in there.
00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:32.639
I mean, I guess you could say I'm a current student at and then your your high school or college name or something.
00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:33.039
Yeah.
00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:40.479
Specifying your age, especially if you're studying something in college that's specific to, you know, it has a major that's specific to what you want to do.
00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:41.039
Yeah.
00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:48.960
And I think if you say, you know, I'm a recently retired um, you know, home like educator, that's great too.
00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:58.879
People will kind of get the gist of, you know, you're you have some life experience without coming out and saying, you know, I've I'm 72 and I just retired.
00:03:59.039 --> 00:03:59.840
You're like, okay.
00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:06.719
Specifically if whatever you did for a living or, you know, whatever you're bringing up is relevant to what you're doing.
00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:17.759
So one thing that I've heard that's not good to say is like to give your whole life story to be like, I worked as this, I worked as this, like, treat it like a job resume where you're you're just listing off things that you've done.
00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:34.160
But it's like, okay, if you're writing an action and adventure book that takes place in the Amazon, it's relevant to say, like, hey, I, you know, like did a year abroad in the Amazon, or I did volunteer work in the Amazon, like studying this and this, or I worked as a biologist and I studied rainforest plants.
00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:35.519
Then that's really relevant.
00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:46.160
But if your book is about like a newspaper journalist in New York, then say, hey, I'm a biologist, I was a former biologist and I studied rainforest plants doesn't make any sense with your query.
00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:53.199
So it's like you you want this to be a shorter paragraph and you you only want it to be relevant.
00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:58.480
So like include the stuff that's relevant to your book or that's relevant to a writing career.
00:04:58.800 --> 00:04:59.040
Yeah.
00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:14.160
Honestly, I think the shorter the better in a query letter to have a bio, the longer bios, I think I think more chances to trip yourself up, more chances for an agent to see something that they have questions about.
00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:21.920
And kind of the more broad and more the more broad, but also the more relevant to your actual story.
00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:28.720
Like keep it focused on what makes sense of why you were the person to write this story.
00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:33.920
Um, and anything else that's not relevant to that, like if you can take it out, take it out.
00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:35.199
It doesn't need to be there.
00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:38.160
Yes, unless it is published writing credits.
00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:40.639
So um they do have in query manager.
00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:47.120
There's a lot of forms that now say, like, have you previously published a book and you put it there instead of in your bio?
00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:59.519
Um, but for example, like I stopped putting this in my query because I think if you the last thing you had that was published was a really long time ago, to me, it feels like, ooh, like I I just kind of don't want it in there anymore.
00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.639
Cause I mean, I haven't written and submitted short stories in a long time.
00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:06.240
Um, so I the last one that I submitted was I think 2021.
00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:12.160
And it got into I I think there's there was an anthology and a poetry book that I had credits in.
00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:17.120
But since I'm careing in 2026, I'm like, I don't really want to put something in that's five years old.
00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:19.839
So that's a little bit more give and take.
00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:22.079
I I felt like I had plenty in my bio already.
00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:24.639
If I needed to pat it out, I could have added it in.
00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:33.279
But um, you know, if your work's been published anywhere, there's a lot of short story competitions, there's poetry competitions, there's uh, you know, places where you can submit essays.
00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:44.079
If you have any other publishing credits, or if you have any other, you know, like experience that's relevant relevant to a writing career, like you were an assistant to an editor or something, you know, you can throw that in.
00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:44.720
Yeah.
00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:45.279
Okay.
00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:50.399
So short, what do you think like the bare bones of the bio have to be?
00:06:50.800 --> 00:07:06.240
I think your day job, whether it's relevant or not, or if you don't have a day job, kind of what your like worky experience is, or if you're a student studying whatever, I think you have to put something like that in.
00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:07.680
Yeah.
00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:09.920
I feel like only if it's relevant.
00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:12.720
Um, I guess it's more subjective.
00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:18.000
I think I think people want to know, like, okay, what are you doing now?
00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:23.199
And if you're not already, you know, a published author, you have to say something.
00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:35.920
I would say like whatever uh organization or like writing organizations or um critique groups you're in, just mention that you're in them so that they can see, okay, I'm taking writing seriously.
00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:40.319
I'm like, you know, actively getting critique, I'm looking for this kind of stuff.
00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:41.439
I'm more involved.
00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:46.480
Then any writing credits, if possible, job if relevant to what you're writing.
00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:49.680
And then I like to do a couple fun facts about me.
00:07:50.000 --> 00:08:00.000
And especially if I'm researching this agent, I really like them, you know, I'll look at their Instagram and see that they have, you know, like a bunch of dogs, and then I'll mention my dog in my bio or something like that.
00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:06.879
Like I, because I feel like it, you know, if they're interested in your manuscript, that's the first thing.
00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:10.079
And then once they're interested, they'll go back and be like, okay, who is this person?
00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:16.240
And maybe, you know, like look at your website, look at your bio a little more carefully, and then they can see, like, oh, she likes dogs too, or something like that.
00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:16.800
Yeah.
00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:19.040
I put that down as weird hobbies.
00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:33.840
Um, yeah, I think, but like anything that makes you unique um, or anything that you're really passionate about can help, you know, make you stand out from the crowd just a little bit, especially if it has something to do with your book.
00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:41.759
But even if not, if it's something creative, I think, you know in the publishing world, they appreciate other creatives.
00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:48.879
There's a lot of overlap with people who like, you know, knitting and pottery and gardening and um, I don't know.
00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:59.519
But if you also like skydiving and I don't know, Formula One racing, like whatever it is, I think just to help you stand out and like kind of round you out a little bit as a person.
00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:03.279
Um one or two weird weird hobbies are you know.
00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:04.480
Yeah, I wouldn't go on.
00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:06.080
I would keep it to one sentence.
00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:06.879
Yes.
00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:09.440
I I wouldn't do a sentence for each hobby.
00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:13.600
I'd just say like, in my free time, I enjoy and then give a list of two or three things.
00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:14.080
Yeah.
00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:28.639
So I mean, if you follow that uh formula, there you go, you've got three sentences of a bio, you know, kind of what you're doing now, your credentials, and a weird hobby, and you've got a little bio.
00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:33.279
I think a lot of people also put where they're based, like the city and the state.
00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:43.600
Um, and if you look at author bios in the back of books, I feel like, you know, they really range a lot from like something that feels super professional to something that feels kind of silly.
00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:49.600
Like I wouldn't stress too, too much about it because it's not something that the industry is like going to be hyper focused on.
00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:50.960
They're more interested in your query.
00:09:51.039 --> 00:10:02.240
And this is the like getting to know me and showing that you are taking this industry seriously, whether that's with published work or with critique groups that you're in or like however you're participating.
00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:02.799
Yeah.
00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:14.080
And I think location helps too, especially if your setting of your book is something you're familiar with, if it's somewhere you have lived in the past or um currently live.
00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:17.279
And if you're writing fantasy, then I guess it doesn't matter.
00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:29.200
But you know, even if it's something like, you know, a boarding school fantasy and you attended boarding school, even those little details um can be helpful if you need them.
00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:29.759
Yeah.
00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:43.120
So you can pull out, you know, whatever experiences from the book are relevant to you, or hashtag like own voices, for example, if you know the character struggles with like debilitating anxiety and it's something you've also struggled with, you can mention it in the book.
00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:44.399
Yes, yes.
00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:47.360
Own voices also can go in there.
00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:53.519
Um if I I've seen people say sometimes they want to put it in there, sometimes they don't.
00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:57.200
Um, I think that's up to you if you feel comfortable disclosing.
00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:01.519
Um, you know, especially like a mental health diagnosis.
00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:13.360
But I think agents are really just generally kind of uh non-judgmental, like open a lot of them are specifically looking for neurodiverse um you know, own voices.
00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:14.960
Um Yeah.
00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:22.399
Um and you can also put um if you're part of the queer community, there's a lot of agents that are looking for like BIPOC and queer books.
00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:24.879
And or if you're BIPOC, you can put that in there.
00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:32.639
If an agent is specifically asking for it, you can just mention, like, hey, I saw you were looking for queer BIPOC authors, and you know, that's me or something.
00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:36.000
I think that's the those are the main things that you should have in there.
00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:37.360
Don't stress it too much.
00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:39.440
I put mine at the end of my query.
00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:41.679
I think most people put theirs at the end.
00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:52.240
Um I've also seen in query manager though, it wants you to have your bio paragraph within your query, and then a lot of times it wants you to also have it again.
00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:53.679
Oh interesting.
00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:56.720
So when I No, I know what you're talking about.
00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:57.919
I don't put it again.
00:11:58.000 --> 00:11:59.200
I just You don't?
00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:04.639
No, I cut it out of my query and I'm like, well, here's the bio, and then here's the query without the bio that they've separated.
00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:05.519
Yeah.
00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:07.840
I have not been doing that.
00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:09.840
I've been like, here's my full query.
00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:12.960
Like, if you're gonna read a search and finish, like here's the whole shebang.
00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:14.559
Like if I'm emailing it to you.
00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:19.279
And then like, here's my separate bio paragraph that I don't know why you're asking for it again.
00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:21.600
And then I feel like that's an opportunity.
00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:29.039
If you do want to flush it out a little bit in that bioparagraph, um, that's an opportunity to do it.
00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:37.039
Like, you know, when I was querying my podcast book, I would write a little bit more about, you know, oh yeah, I have a podcast and here's the link to it.
00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:42.960
And you know, this and that, where I didn't always feel like I wanted to put that in the body of the query.
00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:46.080
But there's different ways to do it.
00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:52.480
We we're gonna need someone to weigh in and be like, I know we need to have another agent on so we can like pick their brain and ask them some of these questions.
00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:53.600
And you just start writing them down.
00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:56.879
You're gonna be like, whatever, however, you want to do it's cool.
00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:05.600
I always assumed that it was like an an agent being like, hey, when I like click on query manager or whatever, I just want to read like what the book's about.
00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:09.279
And if I'm interested in the book, then I'll look at your bio, which is why it's in a separate field.
00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:11.360
But that's just me making assumptions.
00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:19.840
Uh yeah, because I assume they like paste your query because it's it I just paste the whole like what I would have sent in an email.
00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.320
I just paste that in the forward so they can read the whole thing if they want to read the whole thing.
00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:27.279
And then if they want little snippets elsewhere, I don't know.
00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:31.600
They can they can read that elsewhere.
00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:36.799
Oh, we're gonna need some professionals to weigh in of like, why did you set up your query manager like this?
00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:42.799
In some in that way, I do prefer an email query because it's like just here it is, just all together.
00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:46.799
Like don't make it the more confusing.
00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:55.600
Yeah, query manager has a lot of things that they've added of like specific questions that have become more standard as opposed to just sending your query.
00:13:55.840 --> 00:14:07.360
Um one thing that because I I just started querying this past month, and one thing that um is drove me crazy a little bit is there's a separate field that says like what books are similar to yours.
00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:22.080
And I wrote out this whole series of like books where it's like this and this because of these elements and this and this because and then like I pasted, tried to paste it all in and it cut off like two books in because it's like a short field, and I have to delete all the reasons and just post the titles.
00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:25.120
They literally just want the title, maybe not even the author, they don't care.
00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:33.919
They just want a list of like three books to make sure that you know yeah, I just show that you're reading in your field and you're reading things that are currently out, maybe.
00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:38.720
Um, I wish it was a longer text thing so I can paste my full explanation.
00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:43.440
I have another, I think you never ever put this in your bio.
00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:44.240
Oh, okay.
00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:44.639
What?
00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:50.159
Okay, I think you never ever put in your bio that you love books.
00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:59.360
That you love books and you've like wanted to be an author since you were a child, and like you've been a reader, an avid reader since you were a child.
00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:04.879
Like to me, that's like a dead giveaway of like this person is new at this.
00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:11.519
Yeah, because it should just be standard that like, oh, you like writing and you are actively reading things that are coming out.
00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:12.399
Yes.
00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:18.960
But I feel like when I was was first querying too, I was like, but they need to know that I love that I love books.
00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:19.440
Okay.
00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:22.799
I love books I've been reading since I was a child.
00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:28.080
And um, yeah, I still see that kind of around.
00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:32.080
And I'm like, no, no, gotta, gotta cut that.
00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:32.559
Okay.
00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:51.519
So say you you work a corporate job, you've never you like you read, but you've never, you know, like written anything before, you're you don't know anything about, you know, like, you know, book groups or book clubs, you're not in a critique group necessarily, but you write a first draft of a book, you edit it yourself, or maybe you pay an editor to edit it or something, you get it ready to query.
00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:58.799
What do you put in your bio when you have like no experience remotely related to writing or having any published works or anything like that?
00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:02.399
Um, I think that's where you do, you know, in my day job.
00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:09.600
I am uh a corporate drone at um thing corporation.
00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:13.600
Yeah, I live in such and such a place.
00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:15.279
Then you put your quirky hobby.
00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:19.360
I have my quirky hobby is that I do soul cycle.
00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:23.679
I do soul cycle after I work my corporate job.
00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:26.559
Um you gotta add something to the soul cycle.
00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:31.200
It's gotta be like goat yoga soul cycle or something to make it extra quirky.
00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:36.080
I've already decided like this person is writing a corporate thriller, and so this is very relevant to them.
00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:37.120
Oh, okay.
00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:45.200
I understand the, you know, the soul sucking, the soul sucking nine to five, you know.
00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:48.720
Yeah, find a way to relate to your book if you can.
00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:49.279
Yes.
00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:58.080
Another thing that people can do is if you do have children, uh, you are welcome to mention that you're a parent of children.
00:16:58.159 --> 00:17:02.399
I think I think especially if you're writing something geared in that age range, too.
00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:04.160
Yes, especially.
00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:21.039
Um, but I think even um, you know, if you're not writing for children, it's okay to say, you know, I'm a mother of two adorable little little children or dogs or whatever your children are.
00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:22.799
Like, a lot.
00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:23.920
And I think it's okay.
00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:27.200
I think that's um like corporate drone, mother of two dogs.
00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:38.480
Like, I think those kinds of sentences are good ways to inject some personality and some humor into your bio where like you can sh use it to show like a little bit of you know, like who you are and maybe your writing voice.
00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:38.960
Yeah.
00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:43.680
Another thing I've seen people do if they don't have a ton is like uh talk about where they vacation.
00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:45.359
Oh, interesting.
00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:46.480
I haven't seen that before.
00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:55.680
I don't know why, but I think it does help like, you know, and I enjoy traveling to, you know, Tibet and mountain climbing.
00:17:55.839 --> 00:18:01.680
And maybe that goes into weird hobby, but I feel like travel is sort of a separate, like a separate thing.
00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:22.160
Or if maybe if you speak another language, um just sort of things like that, if you need to kind of pat it out if you're um, you know, bilingual or have family background, you know, enjoy going back and visiting my family in in uh in Ireland once a year.
00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:23.119
I don't know.
00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:28.160
Um but again, I feel like it's normally tied to things.
00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:38.079
But as even or even if you know you're writing something fantasy and you've taken a trip to, you know, somewhere where there were castles and you felt inspired by those castles.
00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:40.400
I I feel like there's a way to kind of tie things in.
00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:42.880
Yeah, anything in your life that's inspired by it.
00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:43.440
Yeah.
00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:50.559
It's like your real life, but you also have some experience.
00:18:51.920 --> 00:19:02.640
Um, so yeah, and I think too, if you're an illustrator, um, I'm assuming author illustrator, if you're writing a query letter, um, you can also put your website, you can put where you've studied art.
00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:05.839
And this doesn't have to be like a place where you got a degree for art.
00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:18.000
This can be, you know, like uh you can list the, you know, name of the teacher on the schoolism courses you took, or if there was, you know, like private classes that you took that are online and the name is decently big.
00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:20.079
Um, you can quickly mention that.
00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:26.319
Um, you can also mention what sort of things inspire your portfolio or the genre of things that you want to work in.
00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:33.039
Do you feel like for just regular authors, putting your academic credentials?
00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:37.039
Like I graduated from university.
00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:38.880
I graduated from art school.
00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:40.640
So like it's relevant.
00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:43.039
Yeah, I did, I don't know.
00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:45.279
I don't see that a ton.
00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:46.720
I'm I'm curious why.
00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:48.720
I don't know if it's because most people don't get a degree.
00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:53.359
I think if you have a degree in creative writing, 100% absolutely put that in your bio.
00:19:53.599 --> 00:20:07.039
If you don't have a degree in creative writing or English, and I do have a degree in English, um, it just doesn't, I don't know, it doesn't seem to move the needle in in any direction.
00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:09.519
Um, it's almost better like if you don't.
00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:24.160
Uh I I've seen, you know, people who are lawyers, you know, if they're writing um like legal thrillers, definitely, you know, you want to put that you have a a JD or whatever.
00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:31.440
If you're um a medical doctor writing about um, I don't know.
00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:35.119
Books with medical procedures.
00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:36.240
And Dr.
00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:36.880
Thriller.
00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:38.319
Doctor Thriller.
00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:45.920
Um, or like, you know, even if I guess if there's like murder stuff in there that you like know about anatomy, like that could be helpful.
00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:57.680
Um but otherwise if you have like a degree in I don't know, history and I don't but now I'm thinking now I'm thinking like you can make anything relevant.
00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:03.440
Like but I don't know that the like institution itself is important to state.
00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:06.319
I think have saying you have a degree in something is okay.
00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:15.519
I you know, you can say the institute if you are really trying to pad your bio and you don't really have anything else, and you can just say you, you know, have a degree in creative writing or whatever it is.
00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:24.079
Um, I mentioned in mind that I'm an author and illustrator, but I don't mention my credentials or that I have a degree in it unless I'm pitching a graphic novel so far.
00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:26.240
This is the sixth project I've queried.
00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:28.400
Um, hopefully this time successfully.
00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:31.519
I still have one full out that I have yet to hear a response from.
00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:34.319
Um, and I have a bunch of queries out.
00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:39.759
So um I've done three graphic novel pitches and I've done three prose novels.
00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:43.759
And for the graphic novel pitches, I always put that I have a degree in illustration.
00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:48.000
And I I forget if I put where my degree is from.
00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:51.680
Um, because it people do recognize it sometimes.
00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:55.759
But I guess it depends on how much else I have in my bio and whether or not I want the space.
00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:58.480
Because you want to keep your query like short and sweet if possible.
00:21:58.720 --> 00:21:59.519
I think I think non
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.119
Fiction, we I mean, we're not even like talking about nonfiction.
00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:05.200
I wouldn't even, I would not even know.
00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:24.240
I mean, I I worked in uh you know nonfiction business publishing, and your resume is like like you would submit your CV with your proposal, and your author information is like a whole separate page at the beginning of the book.
00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:29.200
I mean, you really, really, really want to emphasize any and every credential that you have.
00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:44.160
And I've seen some wild author bios um in the nonfiction space just because it's like they list every single seminar, every single workshop that they ever gave, anywhere, anytime.
00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:53.599
And I'm like, y'all, like you can just say that you're uh a well-renowned speaker who travels the world talking about this subject.
00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:57.680
I'd say yes, do the well-renowned speaker if you're querying fiction.
00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:01.519
But it seems like non-fiction, you don't actually submit the book, you submit a proposal.
00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:05.519
And so your credentials like are the selling point and your platform is the selling point.
00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:16.720
So it's like that's more important than in the pit, or not the pitch is important, but you don't have sample pages necessarily, or you don't have like a whole book that you're trying to get picked up.
00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:19.920
It's like you're getting picked up based on your name and and idea.
00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:33.599
Yeah, you're getting your your idea and your writing count, but I would say it's probably equally weighted with who you are and what you bring to the table as a as a person, as a resume.
00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:47.519
Because yeah, we used and I used to tell my authors all the time writing a book as a nonfiction author is in and of itself building your platform and raising your profile and you know, adding to your resume.
00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:52.880
And especially if they're involved in academia in any way, it's sort of a necessity.
00:23:53.200 --> 00:24:03.279
So um, probably a caveat we should have said at the beginning is like this is for fiction only because nonfiction is like the complete opposite.
00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:07.519
Like, don't mention your dog in your don't mention your dog in nonfiction.
00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:12.640
And after fiction, you're never querying based on a proposal.
00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:17.200
You always need the full text, like fully written and polished by the time you query.
00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:26.480
Yeah, unless you're like super fancy and you already have an agent, and then you can query based on a proposal and they'll take you.
00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:33.440
But when you were I think it depends on on the author and the agent in the situation, but yeah, it's possible then.
00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:34.480
It's possible.
00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:35.440
It's happened.
00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:36.400
It's happened before.
00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:38.079
It's happened more than you think.
00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:45.680
Um I I figured maybe I'd read the bio from like the query that I've been sending out, and we could talk about it a bit.
00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:49.440
So this is for a humorous romanticy.
00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:57.279
And my bio reads: I'm a writer and illustrator based in northern Virginia and an active member of SCPWI, as well as several writing and illustrating critique groups.
00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:03.039
I co-host PublishingPals, a podcast about everything my crit partner and I wish we'd known before we started querying.
00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:07.039
I love literally any animal, knitting, baking, and running DD games.
00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:11.200
I work as a professional DM, creating fantasy adventures for people across the world.
00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:16.000
So I also work as an art tutor and I, you know, volunteer the animal shelter.
00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:26.480
And there are other things that I do, but the the DMing professionally is like the thing that I felt was very relevant to writing a fantasy novel, um, especially like a second world fantasy novel.
00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:41.440
The weird hobbies, I guess, is animals, knitting, baking, um, publishing pals and the critique groups in SCBWI are just ways that I'm trying to show that I'm actively involved in this industry and I take it seriously and I'm paying attention.
00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:43.039
And that's my whole bio.
00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:43.920
That's a good one.
00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:44.559
Thanks.
00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:45.920
You edited it.
00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:48.799
It's well edited.
00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:51.119
It's so well edited.
00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:57.920
Okay, here's one that I sent for the random picture book that I ended up writing.
00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:00.079
Oh, post-conference.
00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:01.039
Post-conference.
00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:08.319
So this is not for the podcast book, but um it's very similar to the ones that I sent out elsewhere.
00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:16.640
So mine is I'm the author of two middle grade historical fantasies published by Little Brown, The Inventors at number eight, the inventors and the lost island.
00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:18.559
They were written under the pen name A.M.
00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:21.440
Morgan for a book packager and translated into three languages.
00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:25.200
I'm available for IP and ghostwriting work in any age group of children's lit.
00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:31.200
I work full-time as a medical writer and am raising two young kids underneath the shade of the beautiful forests in Durham, North Carolina.
00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:33.440
Well, I didn't know yours got translated into languages.
00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:34.079
That's so cool.
00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:34.799
It did.
00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:38.799
I got translated to Spanish, French, and Greek, which was pretty cool.
00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:39.440
Greek.
00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:40.240
That's cool.
00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:40.880
Yeah.
00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:43.119
So I switched that one up a little bit.
00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:52.960
Um like usually like kind of the end of it, you know, my my uh weird hobbies, which right now are like raising children.
00:26:53.200 --> 00:26:57.920
I tried to put in a little bit of the setting because it was relevant to the the book itself.
00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:04.640
Um but yeah, I definitely, since I have been a published author before, really try and put that front and center.
00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:09.200
Yeah, I probably should find my bio for uh my actual um A.M.
00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:09.680
Morgan.
00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:11.119
Yeah, that's a good idea.
00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:12.079
I didn't even think of that.
00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:13.599
And then if you Google A.m.
00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:20.720
Morgan, you just get German means in the morning in German.
00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:33.440
And I will say, so I I was tasked with writing my own bio for my uh books that I was the ghostwriter on.
00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:35.119
You know, you think they give you some help?
00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:40.319
And like maybe if you're like really cool and awesome, they do give you some help, but like they did not give me any help.
00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:43.359
I had to write my bio and I came up with a draft of it.
00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:49.599
And I gotta tell you guys, it was the most horrendous bio that you have ever thought of in your life.
00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:51.680
I don't know what I was smoking.
00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:54.000
I was insane.
00:27:54.160 --> 00:28:00.880
And I sent it to my editor at the book packager, and I was like, I really like, I'm so sorry.
00:28:00.960 --> 00:28:02.319
This is like so horrible.
00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:05.680
And about like a day later, I wrote back and I was like, no, no, no, no.
00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:07.039
Here's the here's the better one.
00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:09.279
Like, I'm so I wish I hadn't even sent that one to you.
00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:12.400
And she was like, Yes, thank you for sending a new one.
00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:15.119
Oh my God, wait, I really want to hear the first one now.
00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:17.279
I don't even know if it exists anymore.
00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:18.960
It was so bad.
00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:21.200
I cannot even tell you how bad it was.
00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:25.359
I was like talking about how like I sunburn in the sun.
00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:27.039
And I was like, what am I doing?
00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:29.519
Like, I'm like, this this has nothing to do with anything.
00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:30.400
Like, stop it.
00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:37.759
Like, uh, but then if you look at me and you're like, yes, you're very pale, you sunburn, but like that has nothing to do with like you don't put that in your author bio.
00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:38.880
What are you on?
00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:39.680
Stop it.
00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:41.440
I think it could be funny.
00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:44.160
Okay, so here's my official author bio.
00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:46.240
Okay, as AM Morgan.
00:28:47.200 --> 00:29:01.200
Um I will point out again that uh the book was a historical fantasy um about Ada Lovelace, who was credited with being one of the first computer programmers.
00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:04.000
And so there was a lot of like science-y stuff in the book.
00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:05.519
Um Okay.
00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:07.599
So here it is.
00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:14.079
AM Morgan comes from a long line of engineers and researchers, but chose to pursue literature over the laboratory.
00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:19.039
To her family's surprise, she has managed to make a decent living as an editor with her English degree.
00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:26.400
In her spare time, AM enjoys taking long walks in the forest, trying out new hobbies, then abandoning them, and complaining about her mean cat.
00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:29.839
Despite what you may think, AM is not a morning person.
00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:32.880
Okay, that had some good humor in it, though.
00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:33.519
I like that.
00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:35.119
Yeah, so the book was humorous.
00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:36.720
I tried to put a little humor in there.
00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:40.640
I um I didn't really, you know, I didn't have kids then.
00:29:42.079 --> 00:29:44.799
I didn't have any, I only had my mean cat.
00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:54.559
I didn't really want to like um, you know, talk up too much in the bio is like a nice cat because like he would have known and he would have been like, oh, what are you talking about?
00:29:54.720 --> 00:29:58.880
And really half half of my personality at the time was complaining about my mean cat.
00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:01.519
So that was my job.
00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:06.319
Well, I think that's just the basics of what you need for a bio.
00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:17.200
And I think if you want to check out um our comp episode, our log line episode, and our blurb episode, I think that's everything you'll need to know to write your own query letter.
00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:23.680
And yeah, then just do research on the agent you're interested in, do a personalized sentence at the top, and you are good to go.
00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:26.079
So uh have someone else read it.
00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:33.920
I'd say don't be afraid to rewrite your bio if like me, your first attempt at a bio is insane.
00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:35.599
Uh it's okay.
00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:37.200
It's okay to pivot.
00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:40.079
Yeah, get some eyes on it, be open to suggestions.
00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:43.519
Um and yeah, I think that's everything.
00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:47.680
So uh shall we pivot to our agency deep dive for today?
00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:49.279
Yes, let's pivot.
00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:49.920
Okay.
00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:54.319
So because I'm uh actively querying, I am just looking at my query list.
00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:55.839
I'm like, who was I excited about?
00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:56.960
Um recently.
00:30:57.440 --> 00:30:59.599
So this is someone from my tier one list.
00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:01.200
I was very excited about querying her.
00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:03.920
I queried her a little over a month ago.
00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:04.880
She hasn't responded yet.
00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:07.839
I hope she does, but I'm guessing she's a very busy lady.
00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:10.960
So her name is Stutti Teledevara.
00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:14.400
She is a literary agent at Park Fine and Brower.
00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:19.440
Um, she works on sharp commercial adult, young adult, and middle grade fiction.
00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:23.839
She's looking for divorce novor divorce novels.
00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:32.400
She is looking for diverse storytellers and vivid, detailed world building across genre and fiction with strong high-concept hooks.
00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:37.440
She's especially interested in fantasy and speculative fiction and is actively building her list.
00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:45.599
And so one thing that I thought was really exciting is that she specifically says in her bio that she's mentored by Peter Knapp.
00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:48.559
And Peter Knapp is like huge.
00:31:48.720 --> 00:32:01.680
Like, I mean, I think technically the agency in general is open to queries because to query them, you just send to the queries at parkfinebrower.com and then you specify in the like subjects who you're querying.
00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:13.200
So they're never closed, but this guy, um, to give you an idea, is ranked number two in YA and number four in romanticy and number 14 in just fiction overall.
00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:17.759
He's had 37 six-figure deals, and he's been around for a while.
00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:30.240
Um, the biggest name of him that stood out immediately on his list is um Somon uh Cenani, who did the School for Good and Evil, and Ayana Gray, who did Beasts of Prey.
00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:34.640
And I know her first duology sold for like seven figures at auction.
00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:37.519
So like he gets really, really big deals.
00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:39.519
Um, and she's mentored by him.
00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:49.519
So when a new agent comes into an agency, usually, you know, if they're a new agent at an unknown agency, that's a huge red flag because they don't have any connections.
00:32:49.680 --> 00:32:55.200
Um, if it's an established agent at a new agency, then they have connections they're bringing with them and they're good to query.
00:32:55.359 --> 00:33:05.680
Or if it's a new agent at an established agency, um, they're usually good to query because there's going to be at least one other agent mentoring them, introducing them to connections, introducing them to how to agent.
00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:10.640
It's a mentoring, you know, like skill building process that you really work your way up on in the ladder.
00:33:10.880 --> 00:33:25.440
And so the fact that she sp specifies that she's mentored by this agent who's done had so many huge deals and is so big in the fantasy space and in the YA space, like says a lot about where she's going and the connections that she has and the connections she has access to.
00:33:25.599 --> 00:33:33.200
And even if she's not making all these deals on her own yet, she's at least like getting help from this very big famous agent.
00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:38.400
So she's already ranked number six in romanticy and she's pretty new.
00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:43.920
Um, she's had eight six-figure deals so far, 23 overall.
00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:50.880
Um, she started back in 2023, so she's only been around for like three years, and still she's like telling it.
00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:52.000
She's telling it.
00:33:52.160 --> 00:33:56.319
She is a rising star, and she says she's actively building her list.
00:33:56.480 --> 00:33:58.880
So I was super excited to query her.
00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:01.200
I hope that you're super excited to query her.
00:34:01.359 --> 00:34:05.200
I hope she's still actively building her list when this episode airs.
00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:09.039
And yeah, I think that's everything for her.
00:34:09.280 --> 00:34:13.440
Thank you so much for listening, and we will see you in the next episode.
00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:14.320
Bye.
