Authors Should Answer These Questions

It occurred to me that I tend to ask the same questions of authors over and over when interviewing them for my blog.  I confess part of it is due to laziness and a lack of time. I have not done enough homework about the writers or their books.  But I have always assumed the answers that are given will make each interview interesting, unique, and special. I don’t feel like I am republishing the same interview all the time, but still, I know that a little more creativity should be at work here.

Maybe I should ask oddball, provocative questions and see what happens. Rather than asking for plot summaries, let’s psychoanalyze the writer. I want to hear something that few people discuss. I want to know what drives the creativity of others. The art of writing is truly special and those who make up the publishing industry are certainly an interesting breed.

Maybe one day I will ask some or all of these questions:

·         Why in the world do you think people need your book?

·         Do you feel to be a writer carries a certain burden?

·         What role does fantasizing play in your writings?

·         How about the role of evading your life in your writing?

·         If you didn’t write books do you think you would have killed someone or yourself by now?

·         Have you told parents, siblings, friends, or lovers to screw off for not supporting you as a writer?

·         Which legal addictions help you write well – smoking, food, gambling, sex?

·         Would you rather write about taboo topics and take a politically incorrect approach – or would you rather play it safe and turn out what is commercially viable?

·         Do you write better after an argument?

·         Do you need to get high or blitzed from booze to write?

·         Do you secretly believe your book is the best and yet you cannot understand why publishers, literary agents or consumers won’t support it?

·         Do you want to quit your day job and be a writer full-time?

Whatever the question asked, the answers should be interesting for all writers see the world a

little differently than others. And if they are good writers, they will help all of us to see as they see and perhaps change how we view life and live it.

Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2013 ©