Author Interview Do's & Don'ts

[Kimberly Pickett]

Hello everyone. I'm about to do my first author interview for my blog, and just wondering if you have any useful tips for making it a success. Any insight would be appreciated! Thanks!

[Norm Goldman]

Hi: I have conducted over 500 author interviews for bookpleasures.com. You may want to check out some of these interviews.

Good luck!
Norm, Publisher & Editor Bookpleasures.com

[Maw Books]

There is already a fantastic thread on this exact same topic over in the Blogging Tips group that I think you'll find helpful.

http://bookblogs.ning.com/group/bloggingtips/forum/topics/tips-for-...

[Kimberly Pickett]

Thanks so much both of you! This is some great information! I appreciate it.

[Stacy-Deanne (Novelist)]

Hi Kim,

As an author who has been interviewed many times and a lot of them by bloggers, I'd like to give a tip to you, straight from the author's mouth.

1) Set up a time (decent enough in advance) when the interview will be posted and make sure you state this when you send your questions. Let them know clearly what date you wish to post the interview, usually it's good to pick a date a month away at least. Authors get very busy.

2) Make your questions short and clear. I would also suggest not having more than ten (twelve questions) at the most. I can vouch for a lot of authors that long interviews tend to make our minds wander, LOL! I've been issued interviews with over thirty questions before and they were the worst interviews I've done. I got bored half way and it was so long that I hated having to do it. You want the author to think of the interview as relaxing and not as a chore. LOL. So, keep the interviews short. Also, your blog readers will appreciate shorter interviews too.

3) Have it where your blog is open to comments. I recently did an interview for a blog and the comments were closed. I was surprised because readers want to comment on author interviews. I don't see the point of doing a blog interview if folks can't post their opinions afterwards. Let the readers give their opinions on the interview, especially the author's fans.

4) Don't ask generic, cliched questions. Skip the obvious questions (especially if you know this person has been out for a while and has done many interviews). Make the interview creative and out of the box. Skip the, "What made you start writing", or "How long you've been writing", etc. People can find these answers anywhere for most authors who have been around. All they have to do is look on the web site. You want people to know you took more time than skimming the web site.

Some of my most enjoyable interviews were ones where the host took the time to read about me, research me and my history, read or at least (knew what my books were about). You can really tell the difference when the interviewer takes the time because the interview is very interesting and different from many others.

SUPER TIP: READ PAST INTERVIEWS THE AUTHOR HAS DONE!
(This is one of the best ways to get a feel for your subject and how to approach them)

5) This goes into what I've just pointed out. Make sure you read up on your author subjects, research and check out their books if you haven't. Most of us don't mind if you haven't read our work or not before an interview, (we'd rather you did) because it might be better for you because you can fully understand your subject through their work. One of the last interviews I did, was horrible on the interviewer's part. They hadn't done any research on me and the questions didn't fit me. They hadn't known how many books I wrote or what kind of writing I did. I was completely turned off by the interview and I realize now that that person is lazy and unprofessional. You don't want authors to think you're lazy so research will help you come up with a good, fitting interview. Also, SPELL THE AUTHOR'S NAME RIGHT. LOL!

6) Don't quote an author's web site word for word and base your interview ONLY on what you got on the site. LOL! It's okay to get info from there but one time I did an interview where it looked like my site was being interviewed and not me.

7) Throw in some personal questions. Most of us don't mind. If we are uncomfortable, we won't answer them. Even a private, solitary person like myself likes to take my hair down once in a while. Readers love to see the inside of an author.

8) Make sure your questions are edited. Some interviews I've received were so clogged with errors that I had to edit the interview and actually reword some questions just to answer them. I didn't appreciate it. A simple check in Microsoft Word could help that. It's another sign of laziness.

9) Fit the interview to your style as a person. If you have a good sense of humor, interview with one. Make it as interesting as possible and put a part of yourself in it.

10) Always ask what the author has planned next so fans and readers will be on the look out.

11) Do your part to promote the interview. I go all out promoting my interviews and book reviews so I appreciate the interviewer doing the same thing. It's a two-way street and will benefit the author and your blog.

12) Invite the authors you've interviewed back for a follow-up interview. It keeps your blog viewers returning if they know you'll play catch up on an author you interviewed in the past.

13) Don't offer to interview or accept an author's interview inquiry and NOT ever post it. So many times authors give interviews for them never to pop up on the site. If problems arise and you can't get the interview there on time, let the authors know. It's only good manners. They should understand that some things don't happen when planned. A lady who recently interviewed me had to put my interview on hold for a month because she'd broken her arm. She had the courtesy to tell me and let me know and there was no problem. I have had people who never posted interviews and never let me know. From that point on, I knew not to work with that person anymore. We take interviews seriously and we do take time from our schedules to answer them so, it does make us a little frustrated when the thing never shows up without explanation.

14) Let the author know when you've posted the interview. We don't want to luck up on it while Googling and be shocked it's already up, LOL! This has happened to me before.

15) At the end, thank the author for their time and if they have any manners, they will thank you for the opportunity as well.

AHHHH! Sorry about the long post Kim, LOL! I hope it helps to lend some insight. I hope my post helped you see it from an author's point of view and that will help you.

Best Wishes!

http://www.stacy-deanne.net

[Kimberly Pickett]

Stacy- I can't express enough gratitude for your insightful post. I am going to be referring back to this post often. I really appreciate your taking the time to write that all out for me. Thanks so much!

[Dave Lett]

Of course, a lot depends on the subject matter, but it's always a good idea to suss out any writer's motivations. In order to truly appreciate the writing, you have to get a sense of *why* they wrote it. What do they feel passionate about? And this is where it can get really interesting as varying influences come to the fore. Always good to get an idea of 'what next' - what's in the pipeline? Also, you can always touch on politics, anything that's topical really - Iraq, Iran - right down to local issues. Ask them their favourite bands, films, holiday destinations, as influences away from their writing can be equally illuminating.

By the way, I'm from Edinburgh in the UK, and there's a writer/publisher here I know would be into doing an interview with you, he writes about young people living with mental illness - Mark Fleming - he can be reached at [e-mail]

[Kimberly Pickett]

Thank you Dave. You bring up a really valid point about understanding why the writer wrote the book. I'm going to keep that in mind when doing my research. Thank you for the great advice!

[Martin Flynn]

The last one I did was with William McKeen (Author of Outlaw Journalist, Highway 61 and more) It was for a magazine so I can't post it on my blog. I was lucky in the fact that he was very gracious and helpful. I guess a lot depends on the person you are interviewing, some authors I have encountered have ideas above their station, so ignorant and off-putting

Stacy Deanne's list pretty much covers it. All I'd say is keep your cool, try not to be nervous. And let us know when it's posted, please.

Marty.

[Patricia Ortin]

Kimberly. Did you get your prize yet?
Anyway, you've gone a long way. I am so very happy for you.
You are now my idol :)
I did my very first interview and this post help me alot so thank you.

http://peaceloveandpat.blogspot.com/2009/10/review-interview-throug...