Some of us thrive in the spotlight; some of us not so much. Either way, if you’re an author promoting a book, you are going to end up being interviewed. It may be for a magazine, newspaper, podcast, radio show, TV show (wow!), or website. No matter the platform, I have some tips for you to make the interview work out well.
Prepare!
This is your mantra for the interview. Have ready answers to whatever you think they might ask. Be prepared for “what’s your favorite quote from your book,” and “tell us why you wrote the book,” and similar questions. Don’t get caught off guard if you can help it.
Also, think about what points you want to make in the interview. Good interviewers ask leading questions to give you an opportunity to respond with something more than yes or no. With each question you’re asked, you can direct the interview toward things you want to talk about.
Treat all interviewers the same
This applies to anyone who is interviewing you, no matter what publication or platform they represent. One obvious reason is that anything can go viral even (especially?) if it’s taken out of context. Another is that pissing off a reporter is not going to help you sell books. I think Mark Twain said it best:
Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.
— Mark Twain
For interviews in print (blog, magazine, etc.), if an oral answer is complicated, offer to send the answer in written form. This lessens your chances of being misquoted, and it saves the interviewer the work of transcribing it.
Answer all questions politely
This applies to anything they might ask, even if you think it’s a stupid question. It may be already answered on your website, blog, or FAQ. You may have sent them the answer in advance in interview prep materials.
You never know why they’re asking the question. They may want to use your answer to set up a different question. They may be trying to start an in-depth conversation off of a simple answer.
And in many ways, this is a corollary to the previous tip: Don’t piss off the reporter.
After you’ve answered all of their questions, provide sources for more information, such as your website.
But if it’s a rude or inappropriate question…
There are, indeed, questions you don’t have to answer. If you are asked a personal question, you can simply say, “I’d rather not talk about that. I’m a private person. Can we move to the next question, please?”
Still, do it politely. In the highly unlikely event that an interviewer gets completely out of line, making innuendos or rude questions, take the high road. Say, “I think this interview is finished,” and walk out or hang up.
If you’re being interviewed by email for a print article, just skip over the questions you don’t want to answer. Again, if it gets out of line, don’t respond at all.
Be careful what you say about other authors
Generally, I don’t bring up other authors at all in interviews unless I’m asked something like who my favorite authors are or what authors inspired me. If asked to compare my work to someone else’s, I politely decline to answer, or just dodge the question.
NEVER NEVER NEVER say anything snarky about other authors – it will bite you in the butt. Nothing gets listeners (or viewers, or readers…) like creating controversy. If you call some other author a non-talented hack, three things will happen:
- That author’s fans won’t want to buy your books, and they’ll tell everyone why.
- The interviewer will contact the other author, tell them what you said, and give them a chance to respond. That won’t turn out well for you.
- You’ll lose any possible chance of cross-promoting with that other author.
Share your interviews
When the interview comes out, send out links on social media – what other people say about you has more credibility than what you say about yourself.
And a few final thoughts
Respect their deadlines! If they want you to send answers to interview questions by a certain date or time, make sure you can do that. Otherwise you risk getting bumped and/or getting a reputation as being difficult to work with.
Interviews are a great place to thank people who inspired or helped you.
General rule of thumb: Don’t say anything in an interview you wouldn’t want your mother to read.
Be very careful about getting political (unless you write political books). Snippets of the article may well be quoted out of context.
Gary D. Robson 