Support for Indie Authors discussion

Sigh, this is my second time posting this topic because goodreads said I haven't verified my account and they totally removed everything I've already written. Well here goes, again. I'm probably going to forget something.

Hi everyone, my name is Shiina Ai. I'm a new author debuting with a fantasy light novel Felicia's Second Life Volume 1 in January. Currently, I'm stuck at Preface and About The Author pages. So here are my questions:

1) Is the 'About The Author' page really necessary? Can't I publish my book without it?
2) If it's not necessary, what are the consequences of publishing a book without 'About The Author'?
3) Has anyone here published their books without 'About The Author' page? How did it work out for you?

Please take note that I'm talking about the page that you include in your novel, not your profile page in Goodreads or Amazon or anything like that. If this is not the right place to post this, please inform me and perhaps suggest to me where I can post this topic.

A little about me: I'm an Asian living in a certain country in South East Asia. My writings mostly have elements of LGBT, such as lesbianity (prefer calling it yuri), gay (prefer calling it yaoi) and gender-bender (prefer calling it trap). My country is currently suffering from a rise of Muslim extremists who are militarily violent against the LGBT crowd and I fear that if it gets out that I write fantasy story with LGBT elements for a living, they'd crash my gates and do horrible things to me or my family. I am also an introvert, so I don't like letting people know too much about me.

I'd like people to talk about me with something like "I like how Shiina Ai portray Felicia's character." instead of, "Did you know? Shiina Ai dropped out of university in her final year!"

Your opinions and advice are very much appreciated. If you also want to read my webnovels, please message me somehow and I'll give you the link to my blog. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links in this topic. If you want to read though, please take note that these stories are webnovels. They are very early versions of the same story with many inaccuracies, plot holes and sentences that simply doesn't sound right. The light novel is the final version which addresses all of that, or at least as much as it can patch without ruining the story.

Thank you in advance.
Ai-chan

You can publish a book without an "About the Author" page. It's just a way for readers to learn a little something about you as an author. You don't have to reveal personal information, or anything like that. I didn't have one for my first book, and I can't see where it hurt anything.

Ai wrote: "1) Is the 'About The Author' page really necessary? Can't I publish my book without it?
2) If it's not necessary, what are the consequences of publishing a book without 'About The Author'?
3) Has anyone here published their books without 'About The Author' page? How did it work out for you?"

Of course it isn't necessary. Of course you can publish your book without the page. There are no real consequences. Usually people (especially debuting authors) put really ridiculous things there anyway, like having two blind cats and one trans-gender parrot. Just like they mistook it for CL dating section.
In general, "About The Author" page is like... your CV. This and that old, have published this and that, got formal education or not (if you write space opera, being a quantum physician actually might help, or so they say). If you're an unknown author, no one will even care if you had moved out of your house by the age of 13. Unless it has to do with your book.

I haven't really made the page until my third or fourth release. And I pretty often talked my clients out of it. Besides, if you decide to publish only e-book, I don't find it that necessary anyway. There's the Author section on both Smashwords and Amazon (assuming you'll use either of those anyway) and it's more than enough.

Oh, and it's all in regard to literary fiction. If you write, for example, scientific literature, I think "About The Author" is kinda necessary (or at least strongly suggested), because that's your basic credential.

Perhaps I'm betraying my naivety here, but I haven't included an About the Author page in either of my self published books. I save that kind of info for my profiles on Amazon, Facebook etc. The way I see it, it's my stories that matter, not my background, educational history etc. I'd be surprised if many readers look at that sort of thing.

It is not required, But don't miss the chance to amuse and engage your target audience.

It's a "nice to have" feature. Don't sweat it.

Personal pet peeve: "[Author's name] has been writing since the tender age of 3 months old."

I've seen similar things written by dozens upon dozens of authors. It's become cliche to expound upon how innate the urge to write is. Saying it in an About the Author section doesn't give any additional bona fides, and frankly I don't really care how much of a child prodigy the author thinks they are.

Brief and witty would be best.

P.S. I hate my own About the Author statements. I'm always fiddling with them.

It's not necessary to have an About the Author page. That said, it is nice to have even if most will probably skip it.

At the same time, the About the Author page only contains as much information as you are willing to give out. You don't need to give all your personal details in it.

I write under a pen name. Very few people who know me personally know I write at all. My About the Author page basically says I like science fiction and fantasy and occasionally cooking. Nothing more.

Yes, this is posted in the right place and a good topic. I don't think it's come up before.

My responses:

1) It isn't necessary.

2) The only consequences I know of is to have your toes removed and fried in canola oil. So, nothing to worry about.

3) I used to include a little "about the author" paragraph, but I've stopped. They're no fun to write and, I imagine, no fun for my readers. I have not seen a drop in sales nor have I had readers showing up on my doorstep demanding to know me better.

Since you're struggling with it, I'd say it's best to leave it out. I have my suspicions that most readers only glance at those things, anyway.

Kat wrote: "Ai wrote: "1) Is the 'About The Author' page really necessary? Can't I publish my book without it?
2) If it's not necessary, what are the consequences of publishing a book without 'About The Author..."

I've published one book and I didn't include an About the Author page, but like Kat mentioned, I've only published via ebook so my Author Profile on Amazon pretty much took care of that for me. I don't think it's really necessary. If your readers want to know more about you, they will find you via social media, where you can give them more information if you want to. Just because you are an author doesn't mean that everyone has to know everything about you.

Also, on a side note: if you are worried about extremist hurting you or your family because of what you write, I would really recommend writing under a pseudonym (pen name) just to be safe. You shouldn't have to fear for your life for doing something you love.

I put both a picture and an "about the author" in my books. I put them on the last page because if the latter won't scare away readers the former certainly will. But I think it matters only if you become famous.

About the author's page. Here it is. I assume you are self-publishing. There is a concept called you author's platform. This is your presence in the world. Gone is the old traditional publishers who ran advertizing campaigns and media stuff for the author. you are in a different world. The author's platform is his presence, mostly on the internet; facebook, twitter, author interviews, blogs, etc...

The question is, why would you even think of excluding an author's page in your own book? If it is about privacy and you are using a pseudonym, then tell them a little about yourself so you fans can connect with you, just not your real name or where you live.

In your book, you should introduce yourself, (you will be trying to build a base of fans-readers who like your books) give contact info including your website (and you better have one) and at the end of your eBook, place a clickable link to Amazon or wherever, inviting the reader to give you a review.

I agree, it's nice but not necessary. Less is probably more, however if the book was humorous and the author said he had been writing since the tender age of 3 months, that would be funny. :)

Yep.. if the author really put down he or she was writing since the age of three months, that was a parody for all others writing similar thing. We all understand that it's impossible so yeah, it was meant to be funny.

I would advise, like a few others have suggested, that you write under a pen name. Why stress yourself out with scary thoughts when you don't have to?

Thank you everyone for your opinions and advice. I've decided not to include an About The Author section for this release. Maybe I'll do it for my second book. Right now, it's quite a daunting task since I've never been much of a gossiper. I do have an About Me on my blog, I'm thinking, if I do make and About Me page in the book, I'll just copy-paste that.

Ai wrote: "Thank you everyone for your opinions and advice. I've decided not to include an About The Author section for this release. Maybe I'll do it for my second book. Right now, it's quite a daunting task..."

Hi Ai, I didn't do an author page for my first book since it was an memoir, but my newest book for Damaged Goods, I used the same bio that I use on my author page on my website. As a matter fact, on all of my websites I use the same bio. Consistency is key! Besides, in my book, my author page is the very last page on the book. Good luck with your book release!!

Best
Jai