The acknowledgment email that my contract had been entered into the system at The Wild Rose Press came when I arrived early to work. The news was followed by a flurry of welcoming emails that included login information for their Author Portal, invitations to join promotional groups, and a link to the Author Information Form.
Eager to get started, I clicked the Author Information link. The first line on the form asked for my gender, the second requested my name, the third, my address. The simplicity of those questions sent my confidence soaring. I imagined submitting the information within seconds (I type fast). The next line required a phone number, followed by a pseudonym. I believe the scientific term for this type of questionnaire is “easy-peasy.”
The final request had the gall to throw a speedbump at my momentum. It came in the form of an empty box. Sure, it looked innocent enough and roomy enough to accommodate a few sentences or possibly a paragraph. And everybody knows sentences and paragraphs come easily to authors, especially authors who just got a contract from a publisher. However, two anxiety-provoking words hung above that empty space.
From the day my novel, I Almost Love You, Eddie Clegg, got accepted for publication, these words have sent the heebie-jeebies shuddering through me. Never mind that I’ve encountered them on numerous occasions since “Eddie.” The sight of them still weakens my knees. I quiver. I want to breathe into a paper bag.
What, you might ask, are these heinous words?
Author Bio.
Since I was at work, I couldn’t look up my past bios for inspiration. It didn’t matter anyway. I felt with grave certainty that nothing from the past would’ve been good enough for The Wild Rose Press. And so began my laborious process.
Right about now, anyone who has read my posts about agonizing over writing pitches and summaries for conferences might no doubt think, “Sheesh! It sounds like this writer doesn’t like to write.” To which I would respond, “I love to write. I just don’t do it quietly.” I mumble, I grumble. I gnash my teeth. I also search for companions to share my angst with before settling down and writing. That’s what I did on the day I opened that Author Information Form. Since I was at work, I scurried down the hallway to my friend, Angela, at the front office.
“I have to write an author bio!” I wailed.
Angela had an ingenious idea. She Googled “How to write an author bio.” I needed that because, despite having written a number of them, I suffered from Author-Bio-Amnesia. Yeah, that’s a real thing. After receiving her encouragement, I marched back to my room, Googled some samples, huffed and puffed a little, then got down to work.
It took all my free time at work, but I finally came up with a bio worthy of Frama-12. At least it didn’t make me cringe when I reread it. The coworkers I shared it with also seemed to like it. So that’s done.
A day later, the editor I’ll be working with sent me an email to let me know she does three rounds of edits with authors. Also, we have until May, 2022 to complete the editing process. Even though I call this book my “baby,” the birthing process of a book is more in line with the gestation period of an elephant. But that’s okay. That’ll give me time to let people know that Winnie and Kip are coming to a bookstore near them.
Finally, I’d like to send a shout out and thank you to my writer friend, Gemma Brook, who recently posted about my acceptance on her blog. Thanks, Gemma! Please give her blog a look. She’s awesome!
Aud — I happen to know for a fact you love to write, and it shows in all your novels! Granted, that’s when you’re not doing the tough, non-fiction writing-about-the-writing part. 🙂 Though when I come to think about it — what else is your blog but nonfiction writing about writing? And these are always fun to read!
For that matter, I’ve read a number of your pitches, summaries, and author bios, and they all read quite well, too. But I agree with you: they are not easy to write! So — your process may be a hard one to go through, but the end results are good, so you can take pride in that.
And as for the process…I think it’s helpful for newer writers to know that even people who’ve been at it for years can find it hard.
Thanks for letting us in on the journey! I am eager to hear about all the next steps.
And thanks for the shout-out! 🙂
Thanks for your encouraging words, Gemma. Still, for future blog posts, I’ll try not to complain about the writing “assignments” I get. 🙂