If you ask a series of generic questions (questions that don't vary to fit the individual author) you will end up with a generic interview. Here are some tips for preparing a good, individual interview which responds to the unique nature of your subject. It's more work, but yours will be a much more interesting and readable interview than a generic one.
1) Before formulating your questions, make sure you are well briefed on the author you are interviewing. As you do your research, jot down ideas for questions/ comments.
a) Read some of their books -- especially recent books. You might get some ideas for questions about recurring themes or interests.
b) You might want to check reviews for some of the books. You might be able to quote from them. *see below
c) If the author has a book about to be released in Australia, see if you can get an early copy and read it. The author may help you with this, or else their publisher might. If not, then invite the author to suggest questions about this book that they could respond to.
d) If the author has a website, visit it and read it thoroughly. Jot down things you might want to ask them. Also ask if it is OK to "lift" their photo from the website to be used with the interview.
e) Do a search for their name on www.google.com and read as much as you can find that had been written about them. Don't forget that many publishers also have author pages attached to their websites.
2) Read some on-line interviews of other authors. There might be questions used in them which would be appropriate for your interview, or could be adapted, perhaps.
3) By this stage you will have plenty of questions and all you have to do is choose which ones to go with. Some authors prefer to get
all the questions at one time and just answer them. Others might prefer to be asked one at a time. Ask them which they'd prefer. (Most will go with the all at once option)
4) If your interview is going in HeartsTalk first, check with the editor about preferred word length. And stick to it. You might have a shorter interview in HeartsTalk and a longer one for
www.romanceaustralia.com
If this is the case, try to edit for the magazine by removing whole questions. This way, you won't distort the author's words. If in doubt, show the final version(s) to the author.
In any case, it is a courtesy to send the author a copy of the final interview. And remember to thank them.
5) It is also a courtesy to notify the author when the interview appears on the website
*A few reputable on-line review sites are:
http://www.romantictimes.com
http://www.likesbooks.com
http://www.theromancereader.com
http://www.aromancereview.com
Many thanks to Anne Gracie for these tips. Anne's website
is at http://www.annegracie.com
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