Pitches and Queries: Relevant Info
What personal information should you put in a query letter?
A critique client of mine asked me to review his query and also asked some questions. Here’s one:
“I have two bachelor’s in English and Bio. Is this information worth mentioning?”
If you have room in the query, it’s nice to include a little bit of personal detail. This helps them to see you as a person. So yes, you could say something like, “I have bachelor’s degrees in English and biology and live in Arizona.”
Ideally, though, find something that relates to your novel a little more. For example, if you're writing a novel starring a ballerina and you studied ballet for 10 years, that helps show them you know how to write authentically about that subject. Even if you haven’t danced in years and never went pro, that is more relevant than your degrees or current job. (Unless your current job is ballet related.)
You could also have a little fun with it, especially if you can connect a personal detail to your work. Bonus points if those kinds of details relate to your story genre or subject matter. For example, "I went through EMT training but decided I prefer my blood and guts on the page" would work great for someone writing thrillers or horror. Or if you're querying a horror novel with Bigfoot, you might mention you're a fan of classic horror movies and like to research Cryptids in your spare time. That's always assuming it's true. You can emphasize relevant details, but don't lie or exaggerate. You’ll look bad if you get caught, and who wants to keep track of lies for the years involved in publishing?
This article specifically address what to put in the bio:
https://writerunboxed.com/2013/05/27/may-2013/
The suggestion here is that if you don't have anything relevant to writing, publishing, or the research done in the story, you can skip this part.