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Let's start with a story of two photos. The first was a headshot of son in a suitcoat, dress shirt and tie. It was the "official" senior photo the school demanded for the yearbook, the local newspaper and other press releases. He didn't look like himself and yet he looked just like every other boy in his class. An uncomfortable teen masquerading as a businessman. The photos are...forgettable.
The second photo is the "fun" senior picture. Same teen outdoors lounging on a fallen tree, wearing his favorite jeans, Vans and gray fedora. He looks like he's enjoying the day. It is not like any of his classmate's photos. Looking at this photo, you might think "I'd like to meet that guy."
Why am I thinking about Senior class photos? Because I've had writer pics on my mind. Most people refer to them as author pics, because once upon a time they were slapped on the back of a book jacket. Book authors needed photos.
But today, all writers need at least one good writer pic. We're constantly asked for one by editors (especially when we do online writing), we need them for our own social media presence, for workshops we lead, and yes, one day for that book we write. And truthfully, it's often a mad scramble of "Oh no, do I have a recent photo that looks half-decent?"
Let's be honest...is your writer pic more like my son's first photo or his second photo? I'll go first! Mine is definitely a boring, looks like a thousand other writer pics, forgettable headshot. Because that's what I thought a writer pic should be.
Plus I don't really like getting my photo taken. Something about facing a camera makes me lose the ability to smile naturally. My smile comes out as "I'm being kidnapped but trying to make the best of it."
But Kristan Higgins has become my new inspiration. When I was sent her writer pic for a recent book promotional tour I loved it. It felt like a candid someone had snapped in her living room, full of action and personality. Immediately I thought, "Every writer pic should be like this." It should say more about the writer than, "This is me dressed up and trying to look professional."
In my opinion, we should all have a few writer pics, especially if we do a variety of writing work. Maybe we'll always need that bland headshot but we should have writer pics with more personality to offer. The writer pic for your personal essays should be different than your writer pic for your true crime writing and different from the one for your travel writing. After all, you wouldn't use the same bio for all those outlets, so why use the same photo?
So take a good look at my writer pic below. Hopefully, it'll be the last time you see it. I'm going to be snapping some shots that feel more like me for the future. Won't you join me?
Jodi M. Webb writes from her home in the Pennsylvania mountains about everything from
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