Author Headshot

No, no. Not shot in the head! Those glamorous photos of your favourite authors. Yeah, those. That’s what I’m talking about.

Meg Cabot

There comes a time in a writer’s life (sadly, not in mine quite yet) where they need a professional photo of themselves for the book jacket of their soon-to-be-published book as well as for general publicity.

Did you know that if you have a good author photo you are much, much more likely to have newspapers or magazines pick up your article or write a blurb about you and your book? Wow, eh? So, go hire a good photographer (even a photography student at your local college might have the right stuff and save you a few coins) and skip trying to take pictures of yourself. Don’t go to Wal-mart photo studio and sit on the little teddy bear chair… find someone who can make you look glam, baby! (The rule of thumb is that you should look  better in your author photo than you do in real life.)

James Patterson

Anyway, there are lots of tips on how to get a good photo, but one blog post that I keep recommending to people is literary agent Kristen Nelson’s post on the headshot. She’s got some great tips in there such as what colours to wear, etc. Things you might not otherwise think about or consider when planning that headshot.

Another great idea is to go to the local library and look at all the author photos in the back of the books. See what you like, what you don’t like. What might work for you, what is so absolutely out, etc. For example, some pictures make the author look like a pompous a$$. Decide what it is about the shot that makes them look that way. And then either emulate it or avoid it. (Your choice.) As well, talk to the librarians. They see a ton of these headshots and might even have their own mental list about what they find appealing and what they don’t. (My local librarians are a real hoot in this regard and I’ve learned a lot on what makes an author look cool and appealing vs. what makes them all roll their eyes and give the book (and author) their personal disrespect.

Nora Roberts

Lots to think about!