Author interviews have a purpose. They have a purpose for the interviewer, author and reader. As an avid reader and former classroom teacher, I have always been interested in author interviews. Students can get to know the author on a personal level and learning more about an authors writing process. Over the years I have enjoyed reading author interviews conducted with Tomie dePaola, Henry Winkler and Eric Carle, just to mention a few.
As a self-published author, I know the importance of author interviews. Very often self-published authors are overlooked by bloggers. Self-published authors are not on their radar, but if new authors look carefully on social media, you will find several bloggers who are looking to interview authors. If you have written a picture book, then you will want to find picture book bloggers. The same holds true for YA books.
Identifying the Purpose of the Interview
The Interviewer
If you are the interviewer, your purpose is to ask the right questions. You want to write about or post the responses that your audience wants to know. Here are some tips:
- Be sure you have read several of the author’s books
- Research other interviews completed by the author to ensure you will not duplicate questions already asked.
- In most cases the interview will be a paper interview. Be sure your questions are clear.
- Be patient, authors are busy writing, promoting and conducting author visits.
The Author
The purpose for an author is to expand their audience and to interact with their readers. Some things your readers might want to know:
- who is the author as an individual
- how and why, they wrote the book
- what is the authors writing processes
- publishing and writing experiences
- advice for other writers
The Reader
Readers will have the greatest interest in an author interview. Their purpose is to learn as much as they can about an author and their books. Readers will:
- purchase and read the books
- will buy more books by the author based on interview responses
- are curious about the author and their writing
- have specific questions about the book and the characters.
Why Am I Sharing This
By now you are probably wondering why am I posting about author interviews. The answer is simple. I will be conducting interviews over the next few months.
There are so many new and wonderful picture books that need to be shared. By interviewing picture book authors, not only will you learn about the author, but you may want to purchase some new books to add to your library. Teachers and librarians sometimes have funds that need to be used before the end of the school year. By sharing these books and learning more about the authors they will be able to make informed choices for their libraries.
I have put a call out on Twitter and Instagram for new picture book authors to contact me if they would like to be interviewed. These new authors have a great deal to share with their readers and we as writers can learn from their experiences.
If you know of anyone, please have them contact me through my website. I can’t wait for you to meet some new authors.