Author Photos

Author photos. They're terrifying.

As a reader, I briefly glance at the author photo, and usually spare no more of a thought than "What a delightful looking lady/fellow!"

But as a writer, you agonize. You want to look good, but not so good that people cringe in surprise when they meet you in person. You want to look cool, but not so cool that you look like you're attempting to make up for a lifetime of rejection.

First you have to find a good photographer. The tricky part is not only choosing someone really (really, really) good, but someone who won't make you feel like an idiot when you spend x minutes mugging at their camera with your writer-face (note: do not look directly at writer-face, for your own safety).

Then you have to decide what to wear, where to take the photo, and how to pose (or not-pose, if you want to pretend that you just happened to have a photo snapped – what a surprise! – during the normal course of the day).

So, since writers have to live with these photos for years and years (or, in the case of some writers, decades – this is a separate issue), I decided to write a few posts about the magic that is the author photo. Stay tuned for the first one very shortly. And yes, my own author photo moment is approaching, which may have something to do with this subject being on my mind.

Photo credit (minus text): Leslie Watts via sxc.hu