On your website promoting your book, including an interview with the author can prove valuable. The interview allows readers to learn more about you, and that increased intimacy can lead to book sales.
If an interview has been published of you in a newspaper, magazine or blog, acquire permission to post it and then do so. Should an interview not exist or if you can’t get permission to reprint it, you may have to write one yourself. This can be presented as a FAQ so that you don’t mislead readers into thinking you were interviewed by a reporter.
There are several questions you can answer in the FAQ:
• Have you always enjoyed writing? When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
• What do you enjoy most about writing?
• You probably enjoyed reading as a child. Tell us about that. What were your favorite books growing up? What do you enjoy reading now?
• How would you describe the writing of (title)? Was it an easy or a difficult book to write? Did you know how the book would end as you were beginning to write it?
• How did you arrive at the name of (character)?
• Is a part of your (childhood) reflected in (title)? Can you tell us about that?
• Who is your favorite character in the (story)?
• Does (something mysterious) in your story have special meaning for you?
• What do you like about writing (short fiction/novels)?
• What have you realized about yourself through writing?
• What are you working on now?
Generally keep your answers short, about two or three sentences long. Of course, if you have a great anecdote to tell, go longer. You don’t have to answer all of or only those questions; you can pick six or seven of them that you like and add a few of your own too.
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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past decade, I’ve helped more than 300 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the 7 Minutes a Day… writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.