1. If you think you want to lose weight before you take a photo that you will have to see forever and ever over and over again, hire the trainer; go low-carb; or whatever your diet style is six months before you hand in the final draft to the publisher. Your publisher will undoubtedly request the photos in a two to four week time frame. You will have known, but you will have forgotten. And it is the holidays and there is no hope so you just go ahead and have the photos taken all the while swearing that by the time the book tour starts you'll have lost the weight!
2. If you are not comfortable having your picture taken, go through magazines and tear out photos of models doing things with their faces, that you want to do. Practice doing those things with your face. Better yet, practice with a self-timer photo. To the right you see a self-timer photo. That is not what I wanted to do with my face. Nope. Too mean looking.
3. Your author photo is your calling card and you should take it as seriously as you took the work you did on your book. The author photo is another opportunity to communicate -- say something! Don't just be pretty, but be pretty, but also like you have something going on in your pretty little head and not so pretty so that people hate you even before they buy the book, but even that wouldn't be a bad thing because controversy sells!
4. Don't take the author photo too seriously, or you will spend a lot of time and energy on the photo that you should probably be spending on your writing. You've written just one book. You've got a career to make now. Get back to work!
5. Put vaseline on your teeth. Play music while you have the shots taken. Say cheese. And relax. (I did none of these things.) Be proud. You've already finished your book. You're at the finish line.
