Build a Better Author Bio for Twitter

Jane's Twitter bio

Before you decide to follow someone on Twitter, what’s the first thing you look at?

Probably the bio.

Let’s assume you’re on Twitter because it’s part of your author platform—whether you’re in relaxed mode or professional mode. Have you written a bio that’s likely to attract followers or turn them away? Let’s look at four basic components:

  1. Photo
  2. Name and handle
  3. 160-character bio
  4. Link

Photo

Your photo will be showing up in a tiny, tiny square. For that reason, I recommend a clear and closely cropped image of your face, with good contrast. Here are a few examples.

Head shots for Twitter
L to R: Joanna Penn (@thecreativepenn), Kevin Smokler (@weegee), Dan Blank (@danblank), and Liz Castro (@lizcastro)

I’ve also seen successful use of illustrations, cartoons, and logos for Twitter avatars—and of course some kind of recognizable logo is usually the default for companies and organizations.

Illustration Twitter avatars
L to R: Maria Popova (@brainpicker), MediaBistro (@mediabistro), and April Hamilton (@indieauthor)

Name and Handle

Choose a handle as similar as possible to your actual name, or to your other social network account names. You may need to be somewhat creative (add underscores, initials, numbers, etc).

Even if your handle becomes alpha-numeric soup, you can and should add your actual name. Again, we’re discussing the Twitter account as a component of author platform.

I do not recommend adding “Author” to your actual name. I don’t recommend it for the handle, either. Save “author” exclamations for the bio.

Bio

Here we get to the real meat of the issue. What do you say in so few characters? Sometimes it’s easier to show you what to avoid rather than what to do. See below—name and handles removed to protect the innocent.

Bad Bio #1
The Inspirational (or Witty) Quote or Aphorism

 

 

 

 

Bad Bio #2
I Get the Feeling You’re on Twitter Only to Market Your Book
Bad Bio #3
The Bio That Tells Me Nothing

A strong bio will give people:

  • information about your industry or work, if that’s why you’re on Twitter
  • a good indication of what you’ll be tweeting about (explicitly or implicitly)
  • a little personality and/or where you might find common ground
As far as that third item, it’s popular for people to mention their hometowns or states, the universities they graduated from, or other things we share in meet-and-greet environments. That little bit of personality is more often than not what starts a conversation on Twitter. For me, it’s bourbon and usually my city of residence. (I do highly advocate listing your location—again, it’s likely to spark more connections.)

Notice what I did NOT say was part of a strong bio:

  • a list of every book you’ve ever published
  • exhortations to go to Amazon to buy your book
  • a laundry list of all your hobbies and interests

There’s nothing wrong with putting your most recent book title in your bio. Just don’t make your bio sound like your book release is the only reason you’re on Twitter.

Link

Twitter gives you the opportunity to list one link in connection with your bio (though you can stuff your bio with more—not recommended, since you may come off as a promotional whore).

The best place to link is almost ALWAYS to your own website. If you don’t have a website, and you’re a serious author, then what are you waiting for? Your efforts on social media will go much further if you have some place for people to visit and uncover more about you and your work.

For unpublished writers

People often ask if their bio should say something like “Aspiring writer looking for agent.” That’s not a horrible thing to state, but if it were me, I’d say, “Working on [X book/genre] about [Y topic].” Few people clamor to meet more aspiring writers. Interesting people working on interesting projects: Yes!

What kind of Twitter bios do you like or dislike? Share your tips in the comments.

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kathryn magendie

I think I did pretty well on mine! I hope anyway! 😀 Unless I listed too many general things?

@katmagendie
Author, Publishing Editor-Rose&Thorn, life in log house in Grt Smokies, 2 dogs, 1 ghost dog, 1 GMR, language, photography, vodka, food, science, fitness, you
western north carolina · http://www.kathrynmagendie.com

Jane Friedman

The first line is great! After that, it succumbs to what I sometimes call “laundry list” syndrome (“language, photography, vodka, food, science, fitness …”), where my eyes glaze over. My preference is for bios to say something rather than offer a list. BUT: I have to emphasize this is my perspective. I’m not going to remember the list of things you mention; I’m more likely to remember 1 vivid detail.

Philip Turner

Nice column, I’ll be reviewing my bios (on Twitter and elsewhere) in light of your thoughts. Thanks!

J.Serenity

I have problem with coming up with a suitable bio too. But the first example seems like a suitable example to follow for me. Thanks Jane.

Jill Kemerer

Great post! I’m sharing this with my writers group. We often discuss short bios for different sites. Thanks for the tips!

Net Minds

Great post, Jane. In branding circles they often talk about the importance of sending subtle clues about quality and relevance via a combination of visuals and verbal content. You’ve helped authors create a brand that drives sampling (following) and reputation. Thanks again for such a help to authors and Twitter users alike.

Jane Friedman

Excellent point about the subtle cues! Absolutely.

Ellen Meister

I agree with all your pointers here, and I’m glad you included the tip about not putting the word “author” in your handle. It’s one of my pet peeves and so prevalent.

I’ve seen bios that are simply a list of hashtags, and I think that’s a huge turnoff.

Here’s my bio, which seems to get a lot of positive responses:

@EllenMeister
I write, I swear, I sing, I dance–all from the front seat of my minivan. My new book, THE OTHER LIFE (Putnam), is in stores. I recip most follows. Let’s tweet!

Jane Friedman

Nice! I agree about the hashtag pet peeve. Some people also stuff their bio with 3+ other Twitter account handles, too, which I don’t like (who has the time? wow).

Tameri Etherton ♡

I actually love this bio way more than I should. I write, I swear, I sing… tells me that I need to live by you so we could hang out!

Susan Nadathur

Not sure about the “I recip most followers” to me, it s a turn off. What do other people think?

neal abbott

Wonderful post, Jane. It just reminds me of the principle of first impressions. Thanks for all the hard work you do.

Adriana Ryan

Love this. I can’t stand marketing pitches in bios…I’m likely to run far, far away when I see those. I love a touch of humor!

Melinda

Thanks for this! I just realized my bio could have been an example of what NOT to do :-). Hopefully it’s better now.

Melinda

How’s this, do you think? “I write urban fantasy, play MMORPGs, love cats, take photos and chat about it all.”

Jane Friedman

Thumbs up!

TeresaR

It’s sooo hard not to do a laundry list. I want to connect with anyone and everyone with similar interests, which is why I tend to list stuff.

Thanks for the information! I revamped by bio with this blog post, though my bio is still far from perfect. Is there a Twitter Bio Doctor in the house for me to consult with? :}

Jane Friedman

🙂 You’re welcome to post here!

TeresaR

Thank you, Dr. Jane! 😉 Ok, here goes:

I Tweet, and read Tweets, about: writing/books (kid lit,
SF), food, science/nature, homesteading, birds, crafts. I dream of UBC Cinnamon Buns & am an IU spouse.

Jane Friedman

If I were to play editor: “I tweet about writing/books (kid lit, SF), food, science/nature, homesteading, birds, crafts. Dream of UBC Cinnamon Buns. IU spouse.” I might take an item or two from your interests list in favor of being more specific about just a few items of *most* importance to you—what you mostly want to talk to people about.

TeresaR

It’s like having to choose a favorite child…it hurts, but I’ll do it. Thank you again! 🙂