Have you got your Writerly Stuff Ready?

Few days back, when the people in charge of the Short story competition in which my short story for children won a special prize asked me to send my picture with a short  Bio for their website, I went into a mad scramble trying to find a suitable picture. Finally I had to beg my nephew to take a picture ( it wasnt a good one) but then I had no other alternative. The author bio too needed a little bit of effort from my side.

 Three days back, when the editor of Penguin asked me to send my author bio for the Anthology in which one of my short story appears, I very happily sent them as I had already written one. 

It was then I realized that its necessary for writers to keep few things handy and do few other things before the book is out.

 Author Bio- where all our writing credentials are mentioned as well as our qualifications in a word document saved under the title of Author Bio. This can be updated often whenever we add on to our writerly activities, namely mention of competitions won, articles published, books published and short stories that have appeared in Anthologies. One agent I wanted to query asked for a detailed list of articles and stories published with links to each article. Needless to say, I did not query that agent as I don’t have these details in hand.

Author Picture. A picture that agents and editors  want to put up on their websites under the list: Clients. This is something I am looking forward to even though I am very unphotogenic. It would be wonderful.  Currently I don’t have a picture ready, but this situation will be tackled soon. We never know when God decides to smile upon our writing efforts.

Visiting/Business Card.  I have often heard that its important  for writers to have a visiting card with their  credentials, contact details as well as their websites. To be honest, I have never bothered with a visiting card. I am still debating on this issue.

 Website. This is another area I have not given much thought to. It’s my personal thought that I would go for a website when I have more books published. But, I have heard that it’s never too early to get a website as that makes writers look professional in front of agents.

Blogs. Blogs have become necessary tools for building platforms. Most of us already blog. The only thing I will add here is frequent posts; even once a week is good enough. Blogs that have not seen any updates from months send out a wrong impression.

Twitter. I have no clue about Twitter, but I have heard that it’s a great  way to keep up to date on the latest publishing news. And its also a wonderful way to build a platform.

Facebook Page. This can be either a Author Page or a Book Page. Its a great way to get the interest going.

Now it’s your turn. Tell me whether you have all your writerly stuff ready. I am guilty of many  writing transgressions. What about you all? Have I forgotten anything?