Thursday 19 June 2014

To smile or not to smile, that is the question...


A recent article by Jill Dawson in The Author, raised the subject of the author photograph. Should an author take on a serious expression in order to present a "professional" image?

But it seems readers prefer their authors to appear "friendly" and therefore a smiling photograph is more fitting.

Being a writer of mystery/crime fiction, as opposed to romance or even light-hearted 'cozies', my inclination was towards a neutral expression, not one of me grinning from ear to ear. But when I went to have my author photo taken my husband and the photographer colluded in flattering me into agreeing to smile.

Now while engaged on social media sites, I cringe at seeing my smiling self looking back at me whenever I post a comment on Facebook or Twitter. And there are times when the Cheshire cat look is embarrassingly out of place, such as when posting a downbeat message or responding to sad or distressing news that a friend has posted on Facebook.

Perhaps, just as when Facebook gives a choice of thumbnail (or none) when sharing a link, they could devise a system where we could opt for our happy, sad or neutral selves to accompany our comments, as and when appropriate. Molly Mouse demonstrates below...




Standard pose
Serious pose
Sad pose

2 comments:

  1. The author photo has been the most taxing thing for me of this whole process. I hate having my photo taken at any time and have only had one flattering one taken which was when I was 21 and would be terribly misleading to use now!! As I have been writing in secret it's not been a problem, my lovely blue rose has done the job, but now I've 'come out' as it were I feel I should have a photo to replace the rose at some point. I think I might have to go to a professional to have any chance of ever coming up with something I could use - the thought of having different ones for different situations is definitely appealing! I do like your photo Wendy, you look relaxed but still professional - very good!!

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    1. Thank you, Georgia! You're very kind! I think most people dislike photos of themselves, to be honest. The photographer I used had a picture of herself on her website which was very relaxed. I said, I'll have one of those, please!

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