How to Write a Good Author Interview

One of the most overlooked promotional tools at the author's disposal is the interview. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of websites who want to publish author interviews. However, they receive few requests for an interview. I believe the main reason is that many authors think only famous authors should do interviews. This is not true. An interview is for promotion, and any author who wants to become famous should start requesting to be interviewed.

A second misunderstanding is that, if you are interview worthy, you will have people ask you. Not true. Even movie stars have their Public Relations company's set up 'interview days' where reporters who are interested come and ask questions. Writers can do the same thing.

Another thing that many writers don't understand is that 'image is everything.' Most authors never give 1 hours thought to their image. However, image is the #1 difference between famous/bestselling authors and those who sell 40 copies of their book a year.

What is the Author Image?

The first thing an author needs to do is define what the 'author image' should be. The best way to do this is visit the web sites of your favorite authors. What do they talk about? How do they describe themselves. What are their interests?

One of the most overlooked aspects is the author photo. It should tell something about the author, and their image. Don't go to glamour shots or have your friend take a picture of you sitting at a computer. This one 'good' photo will sell enough books to make you famous.

Travel is a good way to interest visitors. The author should be someone special, and posting pictures of interesting places around where you live, vacation pictures of exotic destinations, and most importantly, images from writer's conferences etc...all these will validate your image as an author.

How to Complete an Author Interview

One of the biggest mistakes is thinking that people want your bio. This mistake is also made when authors are asked to write a short bio. This is not a resume. This is not a job interview.

No one really cares how long you have been writing, where you went to school, or whether you have a MLA. You can give this information, but do it in a way that is interesting.

Julie Garwood use to be great. "I get up at 4 am and write until my boys wake."

"I laugh when I think about my first book. I wrote it on an old laptop, and struggled over it for years."

Think about the verbs you use, and the nouns. Make them interesting. Also, write something. If the interviewer asks 'how many books have you written' then don't just answer 'one.'

"I have one finished, but my mind is always overloaded with ideas. I've recently started one that really touches my heart."

These are the type of answers that will help you build a fan base

What do Fans Want?

The most important thing to remember is what the fans want. Each genre has a different fan base who expects a different image from their writers. The image does not need to reflect the real person. This doesn't mean you should lie, but it does mean that you should highlight and expand the aspects of your life that fans want to know about.

Ray Bradbury often talked about writing in a dark room that was cluttered with interesting artifacts from around the world. He would talk about creating his worlds from the items in that room. The image this conjured up in the reader's mind gave life to Bradbury's stories.

Dickens is dead, but his PR lives on. Fans of Scrooge snuggle down at Christmas time to watch Alistar Simm's rendition of 'A Christmas Carol' with images of Dickens surrounded by his 13 children, writing away in a small cottage, while the injustice of humanity raged beyond the front door.

Don't Promote to Other Authors

One of the biggest mistakes I've seen authors make is by promoting to other authors. There are tons of author websites full of articles to other writers. The articles should be written to fans. Yes, writers buy a lot of books, but if you want to sell to other authors/fans, then don't promote your writing skill - sell your characters.