Author Bio pet peeves.

[D. Gray Warrior]

I think part of the reason for third person is so that the author avoids coming across as egotistical or vain.

 

[pmmg]

Funny, but when writing my own Bio in third person, I feel Egotistical and vain. I agree with the others though, or the industry... Bio's seem to require third person, unless there is a reason to be more personal, such as on one's own blog or newsletter.

Course, I'd be the only one to feel that way writing it.

 

[Ban]

Well the premise of this thread back in the long, long ago of 2019, was that writing in 3rd person came across to me as a bit vain. So it's interesting to see someone believes it to be the opposite way around. Both pale in comparison to the royal "we", so I now look forward to seeing someone write their author bio from that pov.

 

[pmmg]

I dont know that I like 'We', but I can see where it might apply. I think I would prefer a separate bio for each contributor, and not a we. We makes me feel like I dont know who is writing, and can switch off.

 

[pmmg]

Well the premise of this thread back in the long, long ago of 2019, was that writing in 3rd person came across to me as a bit vain. So it's interesting to see someone believes it to be the opposite way around

Does this mean the thread has gone in a full circle?

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Well the premise of this thread back in the long, long ago of 2019, was that writing in 3rd person came across to me as a bit vain. So it's interesting to see someone believes it to be the opposite way around. Both pale in comparison to the royal "we", so I now look forward to seeing someone write their author bio from that pov.

Ask and ye shall receive...

Author Bios for A. E. Lowan

Two-Line Bio:
A. E. Lowan is the pseudonym of three authors who collectively create the dark urban fantasy series The Books of Binding.

Short Bio:
A. E. Lowan is the pseudonym of three authors who collectively create the dark urban fantasy series, The Books of Binding. Collaborating on this project since 2013, Jessica Smith brings a passion for science, Jennifer Vinck brings a love of theatre and linguistics, and Kristin Vinck brings an obsession with history and folklore.

Medium Bio:
A. E. Lowan is the pseudonym of three authors who collectively create the dark urban fantasy series, The Books of Binding. Born in Texas, Jessica Smith brings a passion for science to tame the physics of Seahaven. Hailing from Missouri, Jennifer Vinck is a former bookseller who brings a love of theatre and linguistics to breathe life into the characters. A Navy brat, raised in Washington, California, and Missouri, Kristin Vinck is a recovering medievalist who brings an obsession with history and folklore to paint a detailed cultural canvas for The Books of Binding.

Long Bio:
A. E. Lowan is the pseudonym of three authors who collectively create the dark urban fantasy series, The Books of Binding.

Kristin Vinck
Raised as a Navy brat, Kristin Vinck began writing as a child on the American West Coast, learning her love of words at her mother's knee. Kristin won her first writing award for urban fantasy in Seattle at eight-years-old for a story about a city on a boat pulled by dinosaurs. In her teens, Kristin moved from learning at home from her satirist mother to formal writing education at the Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri. Kristin studied medieval studies and creative writing at Truman State University and now writes from the beauty of the Missouri Ozarks.

Jennifer Vinck
Raised among musicians in Kansas City, Missouri, Jennifer Vinck came to writing from another direction - poetry and song. Poetry was her primary creative endeavor throughout childhood and when Jennifer was twelve-years-old she was asked to write the lyrics for a song used for All Species Day (a precursor of Earth Day) in Kansas City. She auditioned for the creative writing department at the Kansas City Middle School of the Arts and there discovered a new passion - speculative fiction. Jennifer met Kristin on the first day of school at the Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts. They began developing epic and urban fantasy worlds and have been collaborating in fiction and in life ever since. Jennifer studied linguistics and classical languages and literatures at Truman State University and spent many years as a bookseller before moving to the Missouri Ozarks to concentrate on writing.

Jessica Smith
Jessica Smith found her passion for fantastical storytelling where so many young writers do - through the masterpieces of fantasy's renowned matriarchs. As the pile of worlds inhabited by dragon-riders, wizards, and fair folk caused her bookshelves to plea for mercy, the constellation of worlds inside her waiting for their story to be told grew. With enough ideas to fill the state of Texas where she was raised, Jessica first took pencil to paper before she hit double digits. Jessica's love of the complexities of the universe and the intricacies of the human mind led her into study in the sciences. Her passion for writing took her to the internet in search of others who kept whole worlds in their minds. Jessica has been active on many online writing communities over the years, but it was on a fantasy-specific site, Mythic Scribes, where Jessica met Kristin and Jennifer in 2013. Her worlds and theirs collided as a whirlwind of collaboration began. The Books of Binding is the first project that partnership has unleashed on the world.

 

[Ban]

Ah but you're an actual, plural "we", not a singular royal "we." Sorry Lowan, no matter how many exist in your writing hive mind, that's not quite the same

 

[pmmg]

sk and ye shall receive...

Author Bios for A. E. Lowan

Two-Line Bio:
A. E. Lowan is the pseudonym of three authors who collectively create the dark urban fantasy series The Books of Binding.

I appreciate the example of your Bio. Would it not be useful to include a line like..er...we... can be contacted on our blog, or email, and then have an address. Or is that just something that appears in other materials and would be too low-rent to include in a bio?

A question I might have for the group... For myself, I am wrestling with a pen name. Secretly, I would just like to use pmmg, but I am not sure if the world would accept initials without a name. I suspect it might, cause we've been on the internet for many years now, but...maybe it is too different. I have other options, but they don't feel as right, and are not even close a brand I have been working on. For whatever reason, I am wary of using a real name, as I would not be able to hide in plain sight if things worked out. So, I am just kicking the can around. Decision time gets closer and closer though.

 

[Prince of Spires]

A question I might have for the group... For myself, I am wrestling with a pen name. Secretly, I would just like to use pmmg, but I am not sure if the world would accept initials without a name.

It's your choice. You can do what you like. I think people don't care all that much anymore.

Personally I wouldn't, just from the idea that it might be more difficult for people to either remember, or connect with than with an actual name. I would rather go for P.M.M. G... where the G is a full last name, or PMMG <last name>.

Also keep in mind that a pen name is no perfect protection for your identity. You're leaving crumbs everywhere for people to search through if they really want. Amazon (or whoever you publish with) certainly knows your real identity, since that's what you use to create your account. But there's also things like your copyright registration (if you live in the US and decide to register), business registration (if you become successful enough to make setting up a business a good idea), address for your newsletter (legal requirement in many countries), and so on.

 

[pmmg]

Certainly many options. My name, unfortunately, has a lot of hard sounds, and does not have good flow. And oddly enough, I have picked up another McP, so I could be P.M.M.McP.G but will just ignore that one.

I dont know, I keep going back and forth on it. I know people could find it out if they did the work, but I would just the shield to blunt the general public. Pmmg has been a type of brand for a long time. I'd be more comfortable just pushing it forward. We'll figure it out before I go live.

Probably should move it to a more proper thread though. This one is about Bio's.