nity, then wearing a suit sends the opposite signal; they see suits as a sign of being out of touch in their community. If you want them to see you as competent and tech-minded, you want to wear more casual clothes. The importance of understanding this cannot be overstated. Remember, signaling is not just about what you are signaling, it’s also about what other people are seeing, and what other people see depends almost entirely on what group they are part of and identify with. Having a cutting-edge look in one field means you may be excluded in others, so knowing who you are trying to signal to and what sig- nals they respond to is key for you. This is all abstract. We’ll show you several examples of author photos, both good and bad, and break them down for you. EXAMPLE AUTHOR PHOTOS GENERIC WRITER PHOTOS Joanna Penn This is a classic author photo. This signals warmth and openness. Joanna has a broad, authentic smile on her face; you can almost see her enthu- siasm and joy. By making the photo black and white, and with a close crop that frames her face, she narrows your focus onto the things she wants you to know about her—she’s positive, optimistic, and encouraging. This makes sense for her; Joanna writes a lot of books for authors about writing, publishing, and marketing. She is a teacher and a writer, and this photo signals both trust and warmth. 270 · ThE SCriBE METhOD