Choose from 100, 150, 250, and 450 words:

100-word bio

In her 44 years in publishing, Chris Roerden has edited authors published by St. Martin’s, Berkley Prime Crime, Intrigue, Rodale, Viking, Midnight Ink, and many others. She’s also written a game and 11 books, including two national award-winners to help writers get published: Don’t Murder Your Mystery (Agatha Award) and Don’t Sabotage Your Submission (Benjamin Franklin Award). Chris is past president of a trade association of commercial and university presses, former board member of SE Mystery Writers of America, and long-time member of Sisters in Crime, Publishers Marketing Association, and Mensa. She taught writing at universities from Maine to Milwaukee and is sought after to present writers’ workshops coast to coast. www.writersinfo.info

150-word bio

Chris Roerden has edited thousands of manuscripts in her 44 years in publishing, including authors published by St. Martin’s Press, Berkley Prime Crime, Rodale, Viking, Walker & Co., Midnight Ink, Intrigue, and many more. She’s also written a game and 11 books, all presold, most as a ghost. Of her own two books for writers, Don’t Murder Your Mystery received the Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction and became a finalist for 2 other national awards and 1 international award; and Don’t Sabotage Your Submission received the 21st annual Benjamin Franklin Award™ for Literary Criticism, was shortlisted for ForeWord Magazine’s Writing Book of the Year, and won the Florida Writers' Book of the Year Award for 2009. Chris is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Maine, a former university instructor of writing, and past president of a regional trade association of 250 commercial and university presses. www.writersinfo.info

250-word bio

Chris Roerden is best known for her award-winning books for all writers: DON’T SABOTAGE YOUR SUBMISSION, Insider Information from a Career Editor to Save Your Manuscript from Turning Up D.O.A., and its original version DON’T MURDER YOUR MYSTERY, 24 Fiction Writing Techniques to Save Your Manuscript. In her 44 years in publishing, Chris has edited thousands of fiction and nonfiction manuscripts, including those of authors published by St. Martin’s Press, Berkley Prime Crime, Walker & Co., Midnight Ink, Intrigue, Oceanview, Rodale, and Viking. Of the 11 books and a game she’s written, she ghosted all but 4. Her books on writing have won 4 awards, 2 of them national: the prestigious Agatha for Best Nonfiction and the 2009 Benjamin Franklin for Literary Criticism; and were shortlisted for 5 additional national awards, including the Anthony, the Macavity, USA Best Books, and ForeWord Magazine’s Writing Book of the Year 2009.

Chris is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Maine and a former university instructor of writing. She is past president of a regional trade association of 250 commercial and university presses, and she chairs the Mystery Writers of America/Helen McCloy 2010 Scholarship Program. Most of all she enjoys filling invitations from across the US and Canada to present her popular workshops, in which she shares insider information about how publishing decisions are made, and steps writers through exercises to expand their use of techniques that help develop each writer’s unique voice. Her website is www.writersinfo.info

450-word bio

Chris Roerden is a book editor who has worked in publishing 44 years. She's edited authors published by St. Martin’s Press, Berkley Prime Crime, Viking, Rodale, Midnight Ink, Walker & Co., Intrigue, and many other presses, and her work has helped them win more than 20 awards.

Roerden is also an award-winning author in her own right. She’s written a game and 11 books, all but 4 of them as a ghost. In 2007 her 10th book, DON’T MURDER YOUR MYSTERY, received the Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction. It became a finalist for ForeWord Magazine’s Reference Book of the Year, the Anthony Award for Best Critical Nonfiction (from Bouchercon, the largest mystery readers convention in the world), and the Macavity Award for Best Nonfiction (from Mystery Readers International, the largest organization of its kind in the world).

DON’T SABOTAGE YOUR SUBMISSION is the expanded, all-genre edition of that award-winning book. It received the 2009 Benjamin Franklin Award™ for Literary Criticism (the 21st annual juried award from the largest organization of independent book publishers in the industry), was shortlisted for ForeWord Magazine's Writing Book of the Year, and received the 2009 Florida Writers' Award for Published Book of the Year.

Roerden’s long career in publishing began in New York City at age 16 upon graduation as an art major from the competitive-entry Music & Art High School (now LaGuardia). The publication of her first book in 1965 motivated her to enroll at the University of Maine, where she was graduated with a BA in English summa cum laude and went on to earn the first Master’s in English awarded from the Portland campus. She became president of the graduate student body and taught writing at UMP for three years. Later she mentored the writing of independent study students for Empire State College of the State University of New York, and for 9 years taught writing-for-publication classes evenings and summers for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

She has spoken before more than 230 audiences in 120 cities, including the 2006 National Speakers Association University, South Korean schoolteachers in Seoul, and as one of 4 invited authors to address the 2009 Sisters in Crime SinC Into Great Writing national workshop headlined by Donald Maass. She is past president of MidAmerica Publishers Association, a 10-state trade association of 250 independent publishers and university presses founded by John Kremer. A member of Publishers Marketing Association since 1996, she has presented many times at its annual Publishers University. Active in Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, Roerden served 6 years on MWA’s Southeast Regional board and received its highest accolade, the Magnolia Award. She is also a member of Mensa. Her website is www.writersinfo.info