Autobiography/Resumé/Photo

I'm a day late. Sometimes "life" gets in the way. Again this blog concerns some things you can do even before your manuscript is accepted.

Not all publishers require the same elements. My contract with Pelican Publishing for HOW THE WEST WAS DRAWN - COWBOY CHARLIE'S ART sent a checklist of 23 items. Their promotional/marketing questionnaires are extensive. They requested an autobiography, resumé and uncopyrighted photo.

Be sure you check with the photographer before you use a photo. In my case, I ran into a problem. After paying for modeling portofolio pictures, I was informed the photographer owns the rights and I must get license from him before using the pictures. So, I now have about 250 digital pictures I can't use. Bummer.

Resumé brings up the question of how much and what focus they want. The Author Promotion Questionnaire asks for residence locations, occupations, personal intrests, education, sports activities, skills or other special pursuits. The information will be used for press releases, dust jackets and author biography sheets. Guess I'll put it all and change it if need be after I work with the editor for a while.

The autobiography presents more questions. It states a "complete" autobiography and resumé. Because autobiographies are 1st person and dust jackets are 3rd, how should I write it? How long is "complete?" I've decided to write both 1st and 3rd. Perhaps I'll save them some time in converting it to what they want. If anyone has a comment, I'd appreciate it.

In the meantime, before you write your autobiography, check this list for samples of author biographies:  http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/home.html.