I now have three outstanding submissions to my biography contest, and there are at least two more being written at this time. In case you first the original post announcing the contest, here are the important things to know:
1. I need a new author bio and am asking readers to write one for me.
2. I am offering fabulous prizes to the person chosen as the winner. These prizes include signed copies of both my books (SOMETHING MISSING and UNEXPECTEDLY, MILO), as well as the galley of my third book, once the book is completed, sold and the galley is produced. In addition, I will also send you a signed copy of the German version of SOMETHING MISSING, which was re-titled THE GOOD THEIF because of an arcane German law, and of which I have more than a few copies.
3. The deadline for submissions is Friday, August 13.
4. Send all submissions and any questions you have for me to matthewdicks@gmail.com. I am willing to answer any and all questions pertaining to my biography in order to assist in your submission.
5. Please keep submissions under 250 words.
6. You may enter as many times as you’d like.
In looking through the submissions thus far (one from a friend and two from people who I have never met), one thing has become apparent:
I am not the complex, multi-faceted Renaissance man who I thought myself to be. While each submission is written in a unique style and do not resemble one another in the slightest, they all say basically the same things about me as a person. Not just the basic facts about my family and my hobbies and my books, but they are also eerily similar in describing those ethereal elements and subtle nuances that make up my essential character.
Apparently, I’m a lot more transparent than I had once imagined.
Oh well.
I hope you’ll consider entering the contest. If all works out well, I will be submitting the winning entry to my publisher as my official bio, though I may take some literary license if necessary.
But even if my publicist rejects the entry, which I don’t think will happen, this has already been an interesting exercise in self-discovery, as disappointing and humbling as it may be.
And I’ll get rid of another one of those German editions of SOMETHING MISSING.
Honestly, what am I expected to do with six copies of the damn thing?
