For authors at every stage
Author Bio Examples and Template
Author bio examples for every stage, even with no credits yet, plus one template for your jacket, website, speaker and Amazon Author Central bios.
Examples
Author bio examples
Five short jacket bios, from a debut with no credits to a nonfiction expert. Each says what the author writes and gives one credential that connects to it, and most add a personal detail.
| Stage | Example bio | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Debut novelist, no credits | Lena Okafor writes small-town romances with big families, slow burns and kitchens that are always too crowded. By day she schedules flights for a regional airline, which explains why her heroines are always running late. She lives outside Columbus, Ohio, with her husband and a beagle who has never met a sandwich he couldn't steal. Second Helpings is her first novel. | 61 |
| Querying writer | Calvin Mapes teaches high school history in Richmond, Virginia, and is a member of SCBWI. When he isn't grading essays, he writes middle grade adventures for kids who are sure history is boring. | 33 |
| Series author | Ruth Ellery taught eighth-grade English for thirty-one years, so very little shocks her, but murder still makes her curious. She writes the Birch Hollow Mysteries, clean whodunits set in a Vermont town with more maple trees than secrets. She lives in Burlington, where she bakes a competitive shortbread. | 48 |
| Memoirist | Priya Natarajan grew up above her parents' dry-cleaning shop in Queens, translating customer complaints from the age of seven. A hospice social worker for two decades, she writes about families, caregiving and the conversations we put off too long. The Last Pressing is her first book. | 46 |
| Nonfiction expert | Marcus Hale is a certified financial planner who works with freelancers, artists and gig workers. For fifteen years he has helped clients with uneven incomes plan for slow months. He is the author of Paid Irregularly and writes a monthly newsletter about money for people without a steady paycheck. He lives in Minneapolis. | 53 |
Written for this template; every author is fictional. Borrow the shape, not the facts. For a query letter, write the same facts in first person. The template download includes these and more.
How it works
How do you write an author bio?
An author bio is a short introduction to you as a writer, and most authors need it in several lengths. A good one says what you write, gives one credential that connects to it, names your book or series and adds one specific human detail. Jane Friedman, the former publisher of Writer's Digest, suggests writing a long bio first1, then pruning it for each shorter use, keeping what matters most.
The back cover gets a short version, in third person, because it shares space with your book's description. Book editor Jessi Rita Hoffman says you have only 150 to 200 words for the whole back cover2; for nonfiction, she suggests two or three points that establish your expertise. A query letter gets its own first-person bio, and the query letter template shows where it sits. Friedman says it usually runs 50 to 100 words3, and her test for every detail is whether it will be meaningful, or perhaps charming, to the agent.
Longer versions go where there's room: the About the Author page inside your book, and your website, where first person works too. Friedman also suggests posting a cut-and-paste version of 100 or 200 words1 there for anyone who has to introduce you. An event host needs an introduction to read aloud in under a minute, with a line on how to say your name. Share only what you're happy for strangers to know, and update every version when a new book comes out.
How it works
From your facts to four bios
Download it or open it in River
Download the two Word documents free with no signup, or click Edit with AI to open them in River.
Tell River about you
Optional. Add a line about what you write and who you are, paste an old bio, or let River ask you.
Get four bios
River writes the jacket, website, speaker and Author Central versions from your facts, bracketing anything you didn't say.
Fill the brackets and share
Ask River to fill the brackets one question at a time or change the tone, then paste each version where it goes.
Sam Reyes
Thriller author · four bios, one template
- Jacket · third person
- Sam Reyes is a former Phoenix paramedic who writes thrillers about first responders. [What readers can expect from your books.] Dead Air is his second novel.
- Website · first person
- I worked as a paramedic in Phoenix before I started writing thrillers about first responders. [What readers can expect from your books.]
- Speaker intro · read aloud
- Our next guest was a paramedic in Phoenix and now writes thrillers about first responders. Please welcome Sam Reyes.
- Author Central · plain text
- Sam Reyes writes thrillers about first responders. Dead Air is his second novel.
What you'll get
Author bio examples, plus jacket, website, speaker and Author Central bios in one doc
- Example bios for every stage, including no credits yet
- A jacket bio of about 40 to 100 words
- Website, speaker and Author Central versions
Before and after
Your facts in. Four bios out.
Sam Reyes (he/him), former Phoenix paramedic, writes thrillers about first responders, second novel Dead Air, wife, two kids, a dog named Siren.
Sam Reyes is a former Phoenix paramedic who writes thrillers about first responders. [What readers can expect from your books.] Dead Air is his second novel. He lives in [your town] with his wife, their two kids and a dog named Siren.
Anything you didn't say stays in brackets for you to fill. Nothing is invented.
What lands in your doc
What's inside the author bio template
- Author Bio
The doc you fill in: name and pronunciation lines, four warm-up questions, four bios and a checklist. - Example Bios
Eight short jacket bios for fictional authors, plus a full website bio, speaker introduction and Author Central bio. - Four versions at a glance
A table of each version's length, voice and where it goes, from back cover to Amazon. - A five-line jacket formula
One line each for what you write, a credential, your book, what readers can expect and where you live. - A speaker introduction for hosts
90 to 150 words for the host to read aloud, in third person, ending "Please welcome [Name]." - A plain-text Author Central bio
No bold, italics or links, and kept under the 1,000 characters Amazon recommends. - A checklist before you publish
Six checks, from third person on your jacket to updating the bio for each new book.
Questions authors ask
Common questions
What is an author bio?
An author bio, also called About the Author, is a few sentences that introduce you as a writer. It says what you write, why you are the one to write it, and one detail that makes you human. Versions of it go on your back cover, your Amazon author page and your website, and into query letters and book proposals.
How long should an author bio be?
Anywhere from about 40 words to a few hundred, depending on where it appears. This template's jacket bio runs about 40 to 100 words, its website bio 150 to 300 and its speaker introduction under a minute aloud. For the long version on your site, Jane Friedman suggests at least 250 words1. Amazon's bio editor recommends keeping an Author Central bio under 1,000 characters.
Should I write my bio in first or third person?
Use third person on your jacket, on Amazon and in press kits, since others reuse them. First person suits your website and the bio in a query letter. A speaker introduction is third person because the host reads it. Gilda Bonanno, writing in Toastmaster magazine, tells emcees to learn the correct pronunciation of each speaker's name4, so tell your host how to say yours.
What do I put in my bio if I haven't published anything yet?
Say what you write and one true thing that ties you to it: your job, research for the book, a writing degree or a major writers' organization. Add one human detail and stop. Jane Friedman advises never inventing credits or apologizing for having none3, and says you don't need to state that you're unpublished. The debut and querying examples above show how.
How do I add my bio to Amazon?
Add it in Amazon Author Central. If you publish with KDP, KDP's Author Central page5 gives the route: on the Marketing page, choose Manage author page and join with your KDP account. Then find a book you've written to claim your page. Paste the bio as plain text, since Amazon's editor takes no bold, italics or HTML. The KDP pack drafts one for you.
Is this author bio template free?
Yes. Download the Author Bio and Example Bios as Word documents with no account. Edit with AI opens the same two docs in River, free to start, where River can fill, edit or rework them for you. Paid plans add more AI use and access to the most advanced models.
What does Edit with AI do?
It opens the template in your own River workspace. If you add a line about yourself, or paste an old bio, River writes all four versions from those facts and brackets what's missing, such as [your town]. It never invents credits, awards or family details. Without a line, it waits and offers to ask you questions first.
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