Everything here is yours to use without asking.

TWENTY-FIVE WORDS

[Name] is the author of two novels, SALT WEEK and THE LONG FIELD. They live in [town].


FIFTY WORDS

[Name] is the author of two novels, SALT WEEK (2021) and THE LONG FIELD (2024). Their short fiction has appeared in [magazine] and [magazine], and THE LONG FIELD was shortlisted for the [prize]. They grew up in [region] and now live in [town], where they teach one evening a week.


ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY WORDS

[Name] is the author of two novels. SALT WEEK (2021) was a debut about a flooded village and the year nobody spoke about it; THE LONG FIELD (2024) was shortlisted for the [prize] and has been translated into [number] languages.

Their short fiction has appeared in [magazine], [magazine] and [anthology], and they write occasionally for [publication] about landscape, memory and rural infrastructure — a combination they insist is one subject rather than three.

They grew up in [region], left at nineteen, and returned twenty years later to write about it, which they describe as the least original thing they have ever done. They now live in [town], teach one evening a week at [institution], and are working on a third novel set entirely in a single week of bad weather.

Use any of them verbatim — No permission needed, no email required, and no need to tell anybody afterwards. That is the entire reason they are here
Don't cut the long one down — Trimming the fifty into a twenty-five is how a prize gets attached to the wrong book. There is a twenty-five above for exactly that job
Fill in the brackets from the facts below — Rather than from memory or from another article. Most errors in print are copied from an earlier article rather than invented
Check the year — These carry dates. If you are reading this a long time after publication, ask — a stale bio is worse than a short one
Pronouns as written — If your style guide needs something different, ask and a matching version is supplied rather than edited into a shape nobody has checked
A first-person version exists — On request, same day, for house styles that need one. Rewriting the third-person one yourself usually reads like it was rewritten

The credit line, always — "Photograph: [name]". It is a condition of use rather than a courtesy — the photographer is owed it and they are the one person in this transaction nobody thinks of
Crops that are fine — Square, sixteen-by-nine and a tight head crop are all supplied ready-made. Cropping the supplied file yourself is fine within reason
Crops that aren't — Colour-grading it to match a house palette, flipping it, or running text across the face. Ask if you need something specific and it will usually just be supplied
Two resolutions — Three hundred dpi for print and a web version, so nobody is shrinking a twelve-megabyte file at four in the afternoon
How old it is — The date is in the filename. Anything more than about three years old should be replaced rather than used, and asking gets you the current one
If you need something else — At an event, in a place, holding the book. Say what and when — it is usually possible, and it is never charged for

The name, phonetically — Written out here, with a recording linked beside it. It costs nothing to provide and almost nobody does, which is why almost everybody gets it wrong on air
Which book came first — SALT WEEK. This is the single most common error and it turns up two or three times a year, usually copied from an earlier piece that got it wrong first
The prize — shortlisted, not won — And the year matters. This is the one that generates actual correction requests, and it is the easiest of all of them to check
Where they're from, and where they live — Two different places, used interchangeably by nearly everybody. Both are written here so you can pick the one your sentence actually needs
The pronouns — Stated plainly here so nobody has to infer them from a photograph or a name. Getting this from a guess is how it goes wrong
When in doubt, ask — A one-line email gets an answer the same day, including at a weekend. It is always cheaper than a correction and far less irritating for everybody involved

Lead time — A week is comfortable and two days is genuinely possible. Same day is usually a no rather than a maybe, and you will get the no quickly
What's open — The books, the research, the subject matter, and the state of the industry. There is no list of forbidden questions and no pre-agreed topics
What isn't — Other living writers' work, and anything about family who never chose to be in a newspaper. Both are said now, in advance, rather than dodged live on air
Remote setup — Wired connection, a real microphone, and a room that doesn't echo. Say which platform and it is tested the day before rather than in the first four minutes
Copy approval — Not asked for and not expected. Quotes read back is welcome and useful; approval over an article is not something any writer should be asking a journalist for
Recording — Always fine, and I'll be recording as well. Not out of suspicion — because it settles a disputed quote in thirty seconds instead of over an afternoon

What's needed — A microphone, water, and the running order the week before rather than on the night. Nothing else, and there is no rider
What comes along — Books at trade terms if you want them, and a card reader. Say in advance so the right number arrives rather than three times too many
Fees — The authors' society recommended rate where there is a budget. Where there isn't, say so first — the answer is yes far more often than people expect it to be
Tell me about the room — Stairs, lighting, whether there's a lectern, how far the walk is from the door. Much easier to plan around than to discover on arrival
Signing — For as long as there are people, gladly. Dedications welcome — a name written on a sticky note saves everybody the spelling conversation
Cancellation — As much notice as possible in both directions, and no fee will ever be chased over a genuine emergency at your end