I find coming up with “good” interview questions to be one of the hardest things of book blogging.This is what I do.
I know I might have gone on a tirade last week about originality and apologize for my crassness — but there are alternatives to regurgitated promos and I think if you want your book blog to stand out you have to seek out originality. One way to do this is by doing an interview with the author. Most of the time on a blog tour they will give you an option to do a Guest Post or Interview. But, then the pressure is on you. To be original, to come up with topics, or questions that don’t what…? Sound like the same regurgitated promo pieces. Even if the publisher or host does not give you the option, it doesn’t hurt to ask. A simple:
“Are interviews available with the author?”
Most of the time, when you ask, they encourage interviews. Sometimes they might put restrictions on the number of questions. I’ve had them come back with as little as two, for best-selling authors, to as many as twenty. You won’t know unless you open the lines of communication.
So, how do you ask original questions?
I suffer with this same problem. I feel my questions are redundant and unoriginal. I see interviews on other sites and think they are so much more intuitive then my questions. And hardest of the hard is when I haven’t read the author yet, or it has been awhile since I’ve read the books or series.
Here are some tips and tricks to step out of the box when thinking of questions:
- Go seasonal/current — ask them about what is currently going on in the world. If it is a holiday, ask them about their traditions or beliefs.
- Know your stuff — do research on the author, find out what they like by reading their other interviews. Ask pertinent questions based on what you’ve read. If you were looking over an interview and a question popped in your head, ask them…don’t be afraid.
- Stick to the basics – Ask about inspiration, ambitions and accomplishments
- Genre based questions – Ask about the genres that they like and what they write within. Why? Who? How?
- Character based questions – Ask them about their favorite characters they wrote, or that others wrote. Difficult or Easy characters to write.
- Advice – They are published. Ask them about their road to success, etc.
- Unique – You can have a few questions that are the “usual” stock interview questions, but make sure you ask a few questions that are uniquely yours. Do research by searching the internet for other interviews. You can ask these questions for each interview you host. These questions can be anything, to what is their favorite color, or food. Just own the questions and make them fun.
Always remember that the author usually doesn’t mind doing an interview, as long as the questions seem thought out and will help promote their book. Spell check your questions before you send them in, because nothing is more embarrassing then having the author “proof” your questions and send them back to you. Also, it doesn’t have to be a ton of questions. Five simple questions are enough to get a few meaningful answers.
Quick tips if you find yourself blocked:
- Go on twitter and get suggestions. Ask your followers, what would you ask XXX author?
- Read other interviews of the author, especially the author’s answers. If you find the author could “explain” more about a particular subject ask the same question, but word it different to try and get the author to go into more detail.
- Find forums or discussions about the author or the books. See if any questions keep on popping up about the books. Those could inspired very pertinent book based questions.
Reader Question of the Week:
In my opinion I wouldn’t try to overlook anything. I know a fair share of indies and they pay for editing, they gather Beta readers – they try hard to give you a finished product. If there are enough problems for you to have to try and overlook I feel it is worth mentioning, especially if the book is for sale. There is nothing like paying for a book and finding that the author didn’t even take the time to spell check.
Book Blogging News:
The Global Big Sh*t List has come out via Publisher’s Weekly with Pearson, the parent company of Penguin as number one. Go Penguin! Check out the list here.
Happy Thursday. Talk Less. Read More. Blog with Integrity.
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Good post. And I take stupid or un important pictures with instagram. So go right ahead and use them. Lol.
I will def have to ask some of.my favorite authors for interviews.
I just don’t want them using my kid for an advertisement — I have a few of her in there. LOL
Thank you thank you! I so agree with your sensible advice on what to ask an author. Especially the number of questions to ask. More than 5 and I get SO bored as a reader! Especially if it’s an unknown author, I really don’t need ALL their ins and outs.
I don’t actually do interviews very often, I tend to forget to ask. I do like a (short!!!) interview every now and then, so thanks for reminding me.
Author interviews are such a tricky thing. I love hearing about their writing process, about their characters and their road to becoming an author. But not everyone cares about the same things. I always ask the questions I want answers to rather than questions that might be of more interest to readers as there is no way to please everyone.
Some want to know favorite soft drink or chocolate versus vanilla. Me, I prefer questions on world-building or how hard it was to end a series, etc. But that’s just my preference and so it will never be the same for everyone.
And I don’t like interviews that go on too long and prefer the 5 question interviews as it gives me enough without being too much.
But I do like to see variety. I like to get something different than I might see on the author’s website or in their bio which is often included in the same post.
I happen to be someone who loves checking out author interviews on blogs as long as they don’t feel like filler posts by the blogger asking the same questions over and over. I’ve discovered a few authors through interviews and have checked out their books because of some well-written responses to the questions.
And oh my gosh poor grammar is a definite must mention IMO. While it doesn’t have to be harped on through an entire review it is something that will 100% deter me from reading a book so it’s something I would definitely want to know. Especially if it bothered the reviewer enough to comment on it.
Great topic this week!
For interview questions I just think kind of stream of consciousnessy and I ask the most ridiculous things that I think up. Like, I asked Suzanne Johnson if she didn’t think DJ (her female wizard in Royal St. and River Road) ought to learn to swim, surrounded by water as she is. I try not to ask the usual unless I am totally stumped or have a specific reason for it. for example, a total hypothetical: In your book the character marries a man she thinks in William Shakespeare, were you inspired by him, is he your favorite or What the heck?!
The only reason I will do only the promo is if it is a tour book and I cannot come up with anything good to say. If I do that the book is usually awful on any continent and is a total waste of paper or bytes (in my ‘humble’ opinion).
The seasonal idea is also good for guest posts. Like, what do your wereewolves do for Christmas or do they prefer lunar holidays. That would work as a post or interview question.
I do recommend never interviewing authors you haven’t read. (Yes, I’ve had many offers.) It’s hard to come up with good questions under normal conditions; it’s almost impossible if you aren’t familiar with the author’s work! Besides, why would you offer promo to books you might not like?
And, if offered an interview and book to review at the same time, offer to read the book first and arrange an interview after if you enjoy the book. Much better than posting a negative review with an interview!
Thanks! Much needed info for a newbie!
Great suggestions. I personally wont interview an author whose work I have not read. If I like a book, it is super easy to pass along the excitement and come up with interesting questions. If i have not read a book, or just don’t care for it, I suck at coming up with questions that a fan is interested in knowing the answers to.
I’m so glad to hear that even with a blog as popular as this one is you still have trouble coming up with interview questions! I always second guess myself and feel like my Q’s are boring as hell – even the fun ones!
I have had to come up with interview questions for an author I haven’t read because I was participating in a blog tour and hadn’t gotten around to reading the book yet but the pub/host needed the questions for the author by a certain date. That’s happened to me a few times. In those cases I cross my fingers and HOPE PRAY PLEAD I end up loving the book!
Great advice! I’ve never done an author interview as I’m not a big fan of interviews and don’t think I could come up with any interesting questions. I have seen a few interviews with characters that were interesting, so that might be an option. Thanks for the question suggestions!
Thank you SO much for this! Sitting here trying to come up with questions for my first author interview and decided to turn to goggle for help, which lead me here.