You are filling in a speaker form, the bio box takes 60 words, and you have written the same three sentences about yourself a dozen times. These prompts rebuild the bio from your actual work, in whatever length the page demands.
What’s on this page
- An inventory prompt that pulls the raw material out of your own notes.
- Three bio lengths — 50, 100 and 200 words — from one set of facts.
- A third-person conversion for book jackets and conference pages.
- A credibility pass that cuts claims you cannot back up.
- A consistency check across the bios you already published.
The prompts
1. Raw Material Inventory
Interview me to build an author bio. Ask me one question at a time about my work, my audience, what I am known for, and what I am working on now. Do not write the bio until you have asked at least eight questions.What it does: Extracts the details people forget, before any writing starts.
How to use: Answer in plain text, no polish. Keep the transcript — you will reuse it for every future bio.
2. Three Lengths, One Set of Facts
Using only these facts: [paste notes], write three versions of my author bio — 50 words, 100 words and 200 words. Keep the same facts and the same tone in all three. Do not add any credit I did not give you.What it does: Produces the whole set at once, so your short bio and long bio never contradict each other.
How to use: Paste the raw material from prompt 1. Check that no credit, title or publication appeared that you did not supply.
3. Third-Person Conversion
Rewrite this bio in the third person for a [book jacket / conference page / guest post]. Keep it to [word count] words, lead with what I do rather than where I live, and end with one line about my current project. Bio: [paste your bio].What it does: Converts a first-person bio into the third-person format publishers and events expect.
How to use: Pick the host type and word count. Lead with the work if you have any choice — editors cut the personal details first.
4. Credibility Pass
Review this bio for claims that cannot be verified from what I gave you. Flag every superlative, every unsupported credential, and every sentence that sounds impressive but says nothing specific. Then rewrite the flagged sentences using only facts I supplied.What it does: Removes the puffery that makes readers distrust a bio.
How to use: Paste the bio plus your fact list together. If a flag cannot be replaced with a real fact, delete the sentence.
5. Cross-Platform Consistency
Compare these bios and list every factual difference between them — job titles, dates, names of publications, spelling of my own name. Bio A: [paste]. Bio B: [paste]. Bio C: [paste].What it does: Finds the small contradictions that pile up when you update one platform at a time.
How to use: Paste your site bio, your book bio and your social bio. Fix the differences in one pass.
How to adapt these prompts
- Replace [word count] and the host type — a podcast intro and a grant biography want different emphasis.
- If you write under a pen name, add “keep the pen name and the legal name strictly separate” to prompt 3.
- For a company bio rather than a personal one, swap “my work” for “the company’s focus” and re-run prompt 1.
FAQ
Should an author bio be first person or third person?
Third person for anything an editor or event organiser will publish. First person works on your own site, where the surrounding page already establishes that you are the author.
How long should a bio be?
Match the space you are given rather than a fixed rule. That is why prompt 2 produces three lengths at once.
What should a short bio lead with?
What you do and who you do it for. Location and personal hobbies are the first things to cut when the word count drops.
Keep going
- Browse the Writing prompt library
- 5 ChatGPT prompts for cover letters
- 6 Claude prompts for blog names
These prompts are free to use. Copy them, tweak the [variables], ship something.