I grew up on a farm and like my farm boys of that era, I became a Jack of All Trades. You’ve the expression, “A Jack of all trades, but a master of none,” well that didn’t really apply to me because I went on to master several. I took formal courses in electronics while still in what is now referred to as “Middle School” and had my own radio and television repair business when I was sixteen years old. I had a natural aptitude for anything electrical or mechanical so I enlisted in the United States Air Force at seventeen to become a jet engine mechanic. Yes. I quit high school to enlist because the only classes that interested me were math, science and shop classes and I was already more advanced in those areas then the material they were teaching. I later went on to get my GED and to attend a two year college. More on that later. After four years in the air force, I opened my own auto service center, which I ran successfully for the next five years before becoming involved in the home remodeling business where I remained for the next thirty years. Although I learned all phases of the home remodeling and construction business, my forte became electrical. I studied electrical work under several master electricians mastering residential, commercial and industrial electrical maintenance and installation work. Now I have my own home repair business and I write about that and about many other things which brings me back to quitting school. I really regretted that when the writer’s bug bit me thirty years ago because I had to teach myself how to write. Grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc., all the things I should have learned in school but didn’t because I didn’t see a need for it. But I managed to teach myself those skills but becoming a successful freelance writer would have been easier if I could have just concentrated on the subjects I was writing about. Speaking of the subject that I’m writing about, let’s get down to business.
Writing for online sites like Factoidz (I’m putting Factoidz first because it’s my favorite of my favorite online sites to write for), Article Base, AC Content, etc are excellent tools for promoting your work and yourself as a freelance writer. The biggest part of making a sale, no matter whether you are selling a home owner on having aluminum siding put on their home, a motorist on the need to have a tune up performed on their car’s engine, or selling and editor on an idea that you have for an article, is selling yourself. Most online site are excellent tools for this because they provide a space for you to post your bio for all to read. The bio you post should introduce yourself as a person and should high light you education and achievements-both personal and professional. What schools did you attend? What degrees do you hold? What awards have you received? What jobs have you held? Your bio is your opportunity to show someone why they should trust what you have written. Your bio is your opportunity to show an editor why he or she should put their faith in you as a writer.
One of the things that I noticed about many people on this site is that they haven’t posted any bio at all and that’s a mistake because the people reading your factoids would like to know a little bit about the person writing them. The editors of most respected print publications today require a short bio from writers submitting to them, at least those publishing nonfiction do. For editors your bio serves the same purpose as your employment history and professional references does on a job application or resume does. In fact, for a writer, your bio is your resume and should be accompanied by “tear Sheets”, samples of your published works, when querying an editor by snail mail or by email. Tear sheets can be links if your work was published online and is still available online.
The best bios, like the best sales pitches, sound conversational. Reread my opening paragraph. Was it just a lead in to the article that followed or was it my bio presented in a conversational manner? You decide which it was. It did contain all the essential elements of a good bio.
