What do you want in a bio?

We're discussing bios on a Facebook group I'm in "Where Writers and Authors Meet."  It's been kind of interesting the variety of opinion. 

Some folks are of the "do it like the big wigs" camp:  Author writes x, y, and z, and lives in CITY with a cat.

Some sugest more background:  hobbies, family, inspirations, etc.

Others suggest something more professional:  awards, other books, professions, etc.

Personally, I'm somewhere between the first and last camp.  I don't think anyone cares about my family situation (unless it pertains to the book), and I don't think I'm especially interesting.  Anyway, I want you to love my characters, not me.  I'm the channel of communication between them an you.  However, I do default to "common wisdom" by tossing in a few things about myself.

Of course, writing a book bio is different, IMHO, than a general bio for a website.  In a way, they are easier.  I want to mostly focus on stuff that relates to the book, so in my Neeta Lyffe bios, I think funny and zombies. 

Winner of the 2010 INDIE for best Fantasy (Magic, Mensa and Mayhem) and a Global eBook Award for Best Horror (Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator), Karina Fabian’s writing takes quirky twists that keep her--and her fans--amused. Nuns working in space, a down-and-out Faerie dragon working off a geas from St. George, zombie exterminators—there’s always a surprise in Fabian’s worlds. Mrs. Fabian teaches writing and book marketing seminars online. 

For Why God Matters, I thought faith-filled and family.

Karina Lumbert Fabian was born into the Catholic faith, but truly grew to love it as an adult. As a busy mother of four, she finds some of her strongest encounters with God's love happen in the ordinary events of the day-to-day. Karina started her writing career with diocesan newspapers but has settled into writing fun-filled fantasy and science fiction that nonetheless incorporates the principles of faith-filled living.

For the website, however, I had to find a way to combine all my loves and quirks.

Karina Fabian breathes fire, battles zombies with chainsaws and window cleaner, travels to the edge of the solar system to recover alien artifacts, and has been driven insane by psychic abilities. It’s what makes being an author such fun. She won the 2010 INDIE Award for best fantasy for Magic, Mensa and Mayhem (her first DragonEye, PI novel) and the Global E-Book Award for best horror for Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator. She’s an active member of Broad Universe and the Catholic Writers’ Guild, and teaches writing and marketing online. When not writing, she enjoys her family and swings a sword around in haidong gumbdo.

But I have to tell you:  every time I have to write a new bio, I wonder "Does it really matter?"  So I ask you, do you read bios?  If so, what do you like to see?

Chatterday: Market hard or "Feed the Beast"?

One of my groups on Linked In is discussing whether it's wiser to market your books hard or keep "Feeding the Beast" by putting your time into writing. I've seen arguments for both, and sometimes it depends on the situation. Traditionally published authors, like Dean Wesley Smith, say "Marketing is not my job." Self-publishers, of course, have no choice but to market themselves and hard. But what about us small press authors?

I'll be honest: I'm entering the "feed the beast" camp. I've been marketing hard for years now, but while I have a few loyal fans, my results in no way justify the amount of time and effort I put into it. Meanwhile, I have stories languishing because I'm putting so much time and mental energy into marketing. I burned myself out in April, and near as I can tell the results are on par with having done nothing.

I won't give up promotions altogether. I can't. However, I feel it's time to put it in its proper perspective. I also need to do some research and reflection on what will be most effective for me. Most of you know me well enough to realize that I know WHAT to do, but somewhere, my execution falls short.

So, what about you? Share your frustrations, your successes, your opinions. Come on! Let's help each other out.

The Small Press Author Blues

Been a long time since I've been inspired to bad song lyrics, but Friday night, I was tuning my harp while bemoaning my marketing successes (or relative lack of success when you consider work vs. results), and I came up with this. BTW, I did not put it to the harp--harps are not well known for the blues. Imagine a harmonica doing the the bada-ba da Dum!


bada-ba da Dum Wrote me a book
bada-ba da Dum But it don't sell well
bada-ba da Dum Though I've been marketing
bada-ba da Dum Like a bat outta hell
bada-ba da Dum The bookstores won't take it
bada-ba da Dum 'Cause the press is too small
bada-ba da Dum Each store had a new excuse and I have heard them all!

Oh, I got the blues!
The small press author blues
Wish I were in Stephanie Meyers' shoes
I'd kick those small press author blues.

bada-ba da Dum Now I love my publishers
bada-ba da Dum So don't get me wrong
bada-ba da Dum They all do their best
bada-ba da Dum They deserve this song
bada-ba da Dum 'Cause the industry screws them
bada-ba da Dum And bookstores do, too
bada-ba da Dum Makes them pay for the returns and rips the covers off them, too!

Oh, we got the blues!
The small press business blues
If we could just wear Amazon's shoes
We'd kick those small press business blues.

bada-ba da Dum Now some folks are sayin'
bada-ba da Dum Self-publishing's king
bada-ba da Dum I can put my book on Kindle
bada-ba da Dum It don't mean a thing
bada-ba da Dum A billion books on Kindle
bada-ba da Dum How do I make the scene?
bada-ba da Dum When even with small press I don't get folks to notice me?

Oh, I got the blues!
The small press author blues
Wish I were in JA Konrath's shoes
I'd kick those small press author blues.

bada-ba da Dum That's it; I'm done!
bada-ba da Dum I'm in this for fun
bada-ba da Dum Got so many stories
bada-ba da Dum And I love every one
bada-ba da Dum So I'll write my stories
bada-ba da Dum And I'll find them good homes
bada-ba da Dum Because my life is better when my imagination roams

Oh, who cares about the blues?
The small press author blues
I'm comfy in my shoes
My bunny slippered, funny flippered, what no author can do without
To kick those small press author blues.