Be ready to send yourself out on paper.  You will send a short bio out with everything, and the first thing you will be asked for by everyone is a short bio.

  • ADVICE. Who are you?  And don't you want to be perfect?  And are you on disk?  Is there a site from which we could download information on you?  Think these questions out ahead of time, and get as close to your sense of perfect as you can.  Not that you are perfect, but that the wording be perfect--or at least something you can live with.  Letting someone else describe you is, well, letting someone else describe you. 
  • You will see the wording you choose for this short bio appear in many places, well beyond where you send it.  First, it will start to appear on posters for readings that you do, then as text in newspaper articles announcing one or another thing that you are presenting, and finally it will make its way onto your book jacket.  It will take on a life of its own.  The importance of the short bio cannot be overstated.  And be prepared to laugh when you see it badly edited into many expedient versions.