Jenny knows what she’s doing: she trains large business teams to write, and has recently put out a book full of her favorite business writing tips (read it! your writing will improve). She’s comfortable doing it: seems like she writes books in the time it takes me to do my taxes. But. Sometimes the words just won’t come when they’re supposed to.
She’s been a professor and business writing specialist for long enough that she’s routinely invited as a speaker and guest, and–like most of us–has a website complete with About section and biographical interest points. But something about producing a snarky, fun bio blurb for her book had her blocked. She sent me a document with over a dozen previous options, and a request to help draft one with the right tone for her book (bonus for me: I got to read the book early!).
Several of the older bios were thorough but drab:
2020 Appendance: Jenny Morse is the founder and CEO of Appendance, Inc, which provides business writing training to professionals working at companies along the Front Range and around the country. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Bowdoin College in Maine, her Master’s in Creative Writing at the University of Colorado—Boulder, and her PhD in English at the University of Illinois—Chicago. As a freelance writer and editor, she has written website copy, crafted award speeches, and ghostwritten for a few CEOs, publishing articles in Forbes, Inc., and Wired. Over 40 of her poems have been published in literary magazines around the country and internationally, along with several critical articles on ecopoetics. When she isn’t writing, teaching, or reading, Jenny spends her time running, hiking, and traveling. So far, she has been to all 50 states and 5 continents.
A basic work bio that shows zero personality
Others were fun but outdated:
Jenny Morse will soon earn her PhD, having successfully jumped through the requisite hoops despite her shaky coordination. Seriously, on her 5th grade gym report card her evaluation for “hand/eye coordination” was marked “Not Applicable”. Despite this lamentable physical condition, she has managed to visit 5 continents and all 50 states. Some of her work has been published and some of it is forthcoming.
It’s been a minute since she finished that degree
After a bit of back and forth, and a rapid skim through the imminent book, here’s what we came up with as a first attempt:
Jenny is surprisingly good at communicating with people for someone who prefers to be alone at home.
Credentials, check. Personality, check.
She’s even won some awards for it! Always focused on achieving big goals, she’s designed her own personal marathon, ghostwritten for CEOs, published a pile of work, and successfully managed to feed an orchid two ice cubes a week since 2020. Since first learning the alphabet, Jenny has helped others understand the rules and reasons of language in whatever context might be needed; it turns out that it’s a lot harder to get paid to read than she initially thought as a child. Her career in writing and teaching has led her through three degrees, all fifty states, and five continents–and she looks forward to seeing where it might take her next.
Our goal was to help sell her personality as much as her expertise: when we’re buying self-teaching books, we’re looking for advice we can trust and a relationship we don’t have to question. In setting herself up as a relatable person who also faces and overcomes challenges, Jenny is positioned as a coach or supportive peer for her reader rather than a cold, distance dispenser of wisdom. She’s offered enough tidbits to create a full picture of herself rather than a deluge of professional accolades that might alienate an insecure business writer–the people, of course, who most need her book.
Something Polished 