Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Hey - does anyone have any guidelines for author photos, especially author photos for women? I'm not really sure what to do about it. My photos never seem to turn out right and I'm wondering if a lull in book sales might be attributed to having the wrong author photo.

For reference, this is the photo that I'm using on my Smashwords page:



Any opinions are good - I can handle constructive criticism.

The author's photo, whether for a book cover, marketing promotion or literary website, should be just a basic, unpretentious image, head or full-body shot, that projects an honest and relaxed image. It is not a glamour or gag photo. The primary purpose is to allow the reader to see you as you are so that they may place a face with the name.

Thank you to both of you for your advice.

Jim wrote: "It is not a glamour or gag photo. The primary purpose is to allow the reader to see you as you are..."

Oh, piffle. I write humor. I'm a silly guy. Appearing "relaxed" and "basic" is not honest. Not for me.

I was reading a website about author photos the other day and it said to cater to your audience. It gave the example of a man who wrote engineering books who looked kind of gawky and nerdy, and a female CEO who wrote business books and looked like a businesswoman. I think if you write humor, a funny photo works. Not like I'm an expert or anything. :P

Sometimes I feel that authors are the least progressive of all artists, still sticking with standards that were set fifty years ago or so. Can you imagine telling some rock star, "Now, Mr. Puke, you must pose for these publicity photos in a calm and relaxed manner. Look professional and honest. Time to remove the snake chained to your navel. This is no Glamour Shot."

I always stay true to myself. I don't try to be professional. Cuz honestly? My writing style is anything but LMAO!! So, yeah, I treat my profile pic, author bio, emails to readers/bloggers, blog posts, etc. all as a representation of my personality and in turn, my writing. Which is quirky and weird as shizz...

*smirks*

If you take a look at Mr Dwayne Fry's bio, it's very "him" and that's why I dig it so much.

Hope that helps some!

Hugs,
Ann

Dwayne wrote: "Sometimes I feel that authors are the least progressive of all artists, still sticking with standards that were set fifty years ago or so. Can you imagine telling some rock star, "Now, Mr. Puke, yo..."

LOL!! Dwayne, I love your sense of humor. : D

As my profile picture is my feet and my Amazon avatar is my dog I don't guess I should comment.

Why? You have nice feet, Jane.

Dwayne wrote: "Why? You have nice feet, Jane."

Why thank you, kind sir. And they don't look as old as my face!

From a PR perspective, choosing an author photo isn't so much about the "professionalness" of the photo, but more about quality, honesty, and cohesiveness.

Meaning:

1) Don't snap a selfie and call it an "author photo." Seriously, find a photographer, a good photographer, one that uses a real camera (can be digital, just better not be their dang phone!)

2) It should reflect you, the author. Whether that's professional, whacky, or creepy as f-. Be real about who you are... unless you're writing under a pen name... you still need to be honest, but feel free to adjust your photo to fit with the "personality" of the pen name.

3) Use the same photo across all of your social media, books, websites, marketing materials, or whatever else. Super important here! Your photo is a big part of your audience being able to not only identify you, but to identify with you!

According to this forum, I should be a horror writer, not a science fiction and nonfiction guy. My cat got a good look at my face yesterday, and refused to come out of the dish cabinet until this morning.
Fortunately, the world around me is as silly and lupy as I am serious looking and possibly mutated. I think that the readers just want to put a face to the name. It only results in pitchforks and torches less than half the time in this modern world.

Courtney wrote: "From a PR perspective..."

1) Yes. Do not use a banana to take photos.

2) Do not use photos of the mother-in-law. For God's sake, leave her out of this.

5) Do not let on that you have been photographed more than once.

J.D. wrote: "It only results in pitchforks and torches less than half the time in this modern world. "

I hate when that happens.

I graduated high school back in early June this year. The photographers weren't that great, and I couldn't bring my professional camera with me at the time to take a picture wearing the cap and gown. I snuck in my iPhone to the ceremony though, so I was able to take a picture. The lighting came out good, so decided to use it as an author photo!
I keep a balance of professional and fun personality when talking about my books, or any other art. I don't want to bore the readers! Also being plain and straightforward just isn't me. Literature is an art, and art is a form of expressing yourself. I was 17 years old in my current author picture, and it was the age when I got offered my first contract with a traditional publishing house. I want to inspire people, especially the youth and young writers, to follow their dreams and never give up on their craft.
I spent 3 years in the "rejection" rough patch before someone finally took a chance on me. If you set a goal, you WILL reach it eventually, if you have the patience and discipline to keep trying.
*cough* Okay, this rambling has gone on long enough. I guess the point is I want to relate to my readers by showing them a meaningful author photo, and give them a good story to get lost in.

Gabriella wrote: "Literature is an art, and art is a form of expressing yourself."

Bingo. Yet, I do not believe any other type of artist is smacked around as much with the "you shoulds" as we authors. Can't imagine anyone ever said, "listen, Van Gogh, you should not do a portrait of yourself with a bandaged ear."

I think that there were Trolls around back then. If that is true, I am sure that at least one of them left a one star review that ended with "Van Gogh, can you hear me now?"

J.D. wrote: "I think that there were Trolls around back then. If that is true, I am sure that at least one of them left a one star review that ended with "Van Gogh, can you hear me now?""

OUCH! LOL!

This is actually super difficult when one hides behind a pseudonym; show me without showing me!? :-/

TL Clark (author of love) wrote: "This is actually super difficult when one hides behind a pseudonym; show me without showing me!? :-/"
It is don't ask, don't tell, don't know. A perfectly symmetrical social rule.

Just got back from a used book store. I spent part of the time looking over dust jackets. I found that on at least one book, John Updike's photo, he's toying with a fedora and has a goofy look on his face. One of John Steinbeck's photos shows him in a deep scowl. So, yeah, so much for the "rules" of author photos. I figured it was a load of skunk spunk.

Dwayne wrote: "Just got back from a used book store. I spent part of the time looking over dust jackets. I found that on at least one book, John Updike's photo, he's toying with a fedora and has a goofy look on h..."

Oh no, your words have just hurt my linguistic sensibilities. I hereby censor you into the phrase 'Skunk Aroma'. Which might be what John Updike was smelling, to pose in such an unseemly manner. Just kidding.

There are actually many art forms out there that require somebody telling you exactly what to do. Concept Art, for example, the artists usually throw out 99% of their work and only have a very few handful to be used in production. And just because the art itself won't be shown on screen, doesn't mean the artist is allowed to be sloppy with their work and ignore all the fundamentals.

Sue (Dog Mom) wrote: "J.D. wrote: "I think that there were Trolls around back then. If that is true, I am sure that at least one of them left a one star review that ended with "Van Gogh, can you hear me now?""

OUCH! LOL!"
You probably cannot see me nodding in a self satisfied, egocentric way, but I am!

Didn't we all get into writing or art in order to be able to say what we want to say, without censor? It sure is not the money!

Gabriella wrote: "I graduated high school back in early June this year. The photographers weren't that great, and I couldn't bring my professional camera with me at the time to take a picture wearing the cap and gow..."

By the way, consider me your newest admirer. I haven't even tried to publish traditionally since Amazon came along, and was discouraged into discontinuing the attempts due to those same rejections, or lack of response. Groan! you are going to make me look up your books, aren't you?

J.D. wrote: "By the way, consider me your newest admirer. I haven't even tried to publish traditionally since Amazon came along, and was discouraged into discontinuing the attempts due to those same rejections, or lack of response. Groan! you are going to make me look up your books, aren't you? "


Aww, thank you! I came extremely close to hitting that "self publish" button during the rejection phase. It was either that teenage stubbornness that kept me going, or seeing all these authors' books on the shelves, published under traditional houses. Either way, it's a good thing I didn't give in, because I wouldn't have found my publisher.
You can look them up if you'd like!

TL Clark (author of love) wrote: "This is actually super difficult when one hides behind a pseudonym; show me without showing me!? :-/"

Not really, just get creative (refer to my pic).

I dig natural but am not personally a huge fan of an obvious selfie. Then again, mine was taken by my girlfriend in a back alley as a drunk dude tried to photobomb sooo...

*wry grin*

Just be yourself? Haha!!

If you can get away with it, make the photo as outrageous as you can.

NAMASTE

C.E. Gee Aka Chuck

http://www.kinzuakid.blogspot.com

Silhouette perhaps Alex?

Alex wrote: "I'm trying to work out the best way to do an author photo of me that doesn't show me since like a few others I am writing under a pen-name.
Currently I have my mum's dog as my author pic, not sure ..."

assuming that your name will sufficiently hide your identity (if that's what why you're using a pseudonym, you should show the real you and have a professional-looking one that makes you look approachable as well. a good author picture like that builds customer trust. Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World (which i own) gives some good tips about the different kind of author pics to have (as well as invaluable advice about building your author brand).

Alex wrote: "I'm trying to work out the best way to do an author photo of me that doesn't show me since like a few others I am writing under a pen-name.
Currently I have my mum's dog as my author pic, not sure ..."

One of my favorite romance authors doesn't have a photo up and she's a NYT bestselling author. https://www.amazon.com/Shelly-Laurens...
I plan to leave mine blank as well.

I'm really not into taking pics so I settled on one that shows how I look 78.23897% of the time. It's funny though because I thought I was being paranoid caring about the reader's perception. I might be almost normal after all.

I don't think it matters what your photo is like if it showcases your personality as an author :)

-Nihar
www.niharsuthar.com

I use my cats for my author pictures. No one online knows what I look like ;) I'm old school, and back in the first days of the internet, that wasn't good to do. I'm not that old either

My author pic is the dog and on GR it's my feet.

I don't care to be recognised because I'm both old and vaguely reclusive

My Facebook author page (http://facebook.com/DevorahFoxAuthor) photo is my cat. He gets more LIKES than I do. My personal Facebook page profile photo is my pet dragon, except this month when it's my National Novel Writing Month badge.

The founder of Bublish told me that it's good to use the same Author photo for every site and place your a part of. This way people can easily find you, identify you and when they keep coming across you eventually it may make them stop to check out your profiles.

When I was a child the sight of author pics on the dust jackets used to put me off the books, fickle, I know 😉. Now, as a thriller/horror author writing under a pseudonym, I use a picture of a magical book for my gravatar/profile pic, and also have a back view pic (with a leather jacket & electric guitar) to create an edgy author image. Don't know if it works yet, or whether I'm scaring people! LoL.

Dwayne wrote: "Sometimes I feel that authors are the least progressive of all artists, still sticking with standards that were set fifty years ago or so..."

I have mixed emotions on the author photo... is there a sense of professionalism in an unmemorable standard photo, OR do current readers find increased interest and remember the uniqueness of an author's creativity? As you can tell from my image... the latter won!

I just have a photo of my face. Is that an incredibly boring thing to do?

People have already said this, but shouldn't the photo reflect your personality? I have a couple of different ones I use - either the one here on GR or a couple of different shots of me with my dogs. I'd happily use pictures of me with my favourite rock stars, but that would probably get all kinds of complicated, so I'll leave my rock chick personality out of this.