by Rachelle de Bretagne

Created on: February 04, 2011

Presenting yourself as a serious writer is important on a Helium bio, and in the written work produced on the website. The reasons for this may not be obvious to the newcomer, though with citizen journalism, and the competition between writers, the more professional your page, the more chance you have at attracting success. While you sleep, a potential publisher could just be reading your work, and it is here that the success story begins. These guidelines are written to help members to succeed as online writers, based on experience and upon guidelines offered on Helium as a website.

Bio

The About Me page gives writers to give publishers and readers alike a chance to see who you are. The bio should include all relevant information about your written work, and also details of publications your work has appeared in. It's a resume of the writer, and as such should include more about writing than anything else. If you are unpublished, you can use this space to write about your aspirations as a writer, and give a little bit of background information about yourself which supports what you write. Your profession may just back up medical articles or teaching articles, and this bio should be presented in a neat and easy to read manner.

Pen Name

The pen name chosen should sound real. Often members are a little timid when writing on an Internet page, and choose unsuitable pen names. A publisher is unlikely to be impressed, no matter how good an article you wrote, when he accesses your page, and sees your pen name is anything less than professional. Imagine his reaction to finding the article was written by the Tooth Fairy. It's unprofessional and deters him from buying your work. To change your pen name, simply access the account area on your page, and press the tab which allows you to change that pen name. It may just spell success in the publishing world.

Photograph

A blank page tells a potential publisher nothing about who you are. Try to upload a head and shoulders shot which shows you in a sensible pose, so that you look the part. Photographs are your way to let people know who you are. Be proud of that profile page, as this is the front page to every article you ever write.

Professional qualifications

An article on medicine written by a qualified doctor holds more weight than one written by someone less qualified. Professional badges are available to members who can provide evidence of their qualifications in their particular field of work. Badges are available

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