My latest short story is due to be published soon, and I recently received a draft copy of the magazine. When I originally submitted the story last year I didn’t include a contributor’s note because I simply didn’t know what to put. I still don’t, but I couldn’t put it off any longer and sent in a rather bland sentence or two.

There’s still time to change it before the final deadline, but does it actually matter? If a reader likes my short story they’ll turn to the contributors’ notes to find out more about it and my other work. It mentions my website address and my other short story publication, so the basics are covered.

But I can’t help but look at other people’s notes and think I need to expand my own, or make it somehow stand out from the conventionally staid tone of these things.

However, my inclination is to play it safe. What I think is comical will probably be seen as crass by others. An extensive detailing of awards and qualifications might be seen as evidence of one’s competence, but it could also be seen as showing off. And what about a lengthy bio revealing a person’s home town, who he lives with and how many pet dogs he has? Well, this isn’t Facebook…

So, in the absence of an extensive list of publicised work to mention, or a degree in English literature, it looks like I’m going to have to stick with what I’ve done for now. It’s curious that a Google search on the topic reveals little. Perhaps that’s a clue that I don’t need to worry about it.