Creating a CV - Press Kit

Creating a CV is relatively easy. You need access to all your publications, awards, and achievements. You also need to write a small, or long, biography to include. In this post, I will be updating my own CV to a more streamline CV.

You can view my previous CV by clicking HERE.

If you would like a template, please visit Annie Neugebauer's Blog post Writer's Resume Template.

What you see in my CV is a small biography, the list of my publications by Genre, and a listing for Other Publications. I submit my poetry to literary magazines and anthologies. If I had won awards for my work, I would also include that.

Here's a list of what you should include in your CV:

• Biography
• Education
• Work History
• List of publications
• Awards and Achievements
• Memberships

You can also include: specialization and social media presence. These may be important to any perspective agent. As an Indie author, social media presence can make or break getting an agent in the future.

Here's a view of the CV I created on Word:

As I read through my old CV, I noticed that I didn't include my newest releases. What I have to do is add the information for these publications. I also noticed I didn't have any work history, education, awards, or memberships included. Some of that is because I do not belong to any writing guilds. I have also not received an award or achievements at this point in time. This doesn't mean I cannot add them at a future date.

Using the new template, I changed my CV.

Here is the updated CV:

If you have word, you can export this as a PDF. You do this by clicking File, then Export on the left side of the navigation. It will bring up the Export options.

Select Create PDF/XPS Document, and then click Create PDF/XPS. It will bring up a save screen so you can name your file. Do so, and the document will come up as a PDF.

You have now created your CV. If you have been creating the page on your website for your press kit, you can take the time now to add the file into your website to be downloaded. If you are creating a page specifically for your CV, you can copy and paste the whole document into the page.


One thing I would suggest is to keep the original Word document in the Press Kit file you created so that you can easily update this with each change that happens like a new publication. Not only does this ensure that you are keeping it up-to-date in your own files, but it will prompt you to change the new file on your website. The more you use this system of organization, the easier it will get to update everything.

Stay tuned for the wrap-up of the Online Press Kit series next week.