Today’s guest post is by creative coach, writer, and editor A M Carley (@amcarley). Her company, Chenille Books, is offering a guided self-study course for writers, 30 Days to Becoming Unstuck, during May 2017.

Back in the day, ancient Roman theater introduced the persona, or mask. Some say it was used as a means of protecting the anonymity of influential citizen-actors who didn’t want the public to see them on stage.

As writers, we don’t always know how much of ourselves to share with the public. I believe it behooves each of us to create and curate an author persona—the public face for our work. When we become published authors, get our first podcast interview, our first guest post on a well-regarded writing blog, our first press interview, our first book event—somewhere along that path the thought occurs: Who am I? Who do I want to be? What am I telling the world about myself and my writing?

Wise choices count here. On the one hand, if we don’t reveal anything, we may curtail our exposure and success. However, if we splatter too much personal information in too many places, we confuse our potential audience.

In other words, just like the Roman aristocrats, you have choices about what the public sees. Not a fake mask to hide behind, your persona is a filtered subset of the great array of attributes, quirks, and appetites that make up the person you are, along with the characteristics of the creative work you produce.

Doing our best creative writing is not our only mission. Why? Because most of us want readers. And if that’s the case for you, then you’ll benefit from considering how you present yourself to others. We’re in the world, surrounded by other writers who want to be read, and readers hungry for cues about whose work to read next. We need to keep an eye on the marketplace for our published work. How will these new readers know who we are? How will we tell them enough about ourselves to make them want to know more?

Are you clear about your writer persona?

Read the full post on Anne Carley