The zero bias distribution W* of W, defined though the characterizing equation EW f(W)=σ2E f'(W*) for all smooth functions f, exists for all W with mean zero and finite variance σ2. For W and W* defined on the same probability space, the L1 distance between F, the distribution function of W with EW=0 and Var(W)=1, and the cumulative standard normal Φ has the simple upper bound
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‖F−Φ‖1≤2E|W*−W|.
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This inequality is used to provide explicit L1 bounds with moderate-sized constants for independent sums, projections of cone measure on the sphere S(ℓnp), simple random sampling and combinatorial central limit theorems.