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Saturday, January 19, 2013

The Importance of Author Interviews

As a writer, promotion is an important part of your career. Promotion gains exposure for your books and garner sales. There are many types of promotion including: book reviews, social media, guest posts, and my personal favorite, interviews. All these methods play a major role in book promotion, but today I'll be discussing the importance of interviews and how they help authors.

Describe your book. Sure social media is a great way to promote our books, but we don't really have a chance to thoroughly discuss our work. With social networking all we have to do is write a catchy sentence and post a purchase link. In an interview, you can discuss your book as much as you want. Talk about the plot, the characters, inspiration, and what sets your book apart from the rest in the genre. This is your time to engage readers and get them invested in your book.

Share your publishing journey. Readers love hearing an author's story of how they worked hard to get their book released. Whether traditional or indie, writers have a tough time in the publishing world and face many challenges. Traditional authors talk about searching for an agent or publisher, sending out queries, and rejection letters. Indie authors talk about why you chose self-publishing and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of going indie. Not only will you give readers a glimpse into the publishing world, but you'll also provide helpful tips for new writers.

Give readers a glimpse into your life. Fans are always curious about the lives of their favorite celebrities; including authors. Some people are shy and don’t like to discuss their private life, that’s okay, feel free to share as much or as little as you want. Just cover the basics such as your home town, if you attended college, and your family. I come from a crazy family and I don't mind talking about them in interviews. 

Show your personality. We all have an uninhibited side to use that people may not know about. For example my favorite show is Duck Dynasty, I love to read books about UFOs, and I have a tattoo. Judging by my picture, you never would have guessed that about me, but that's the kind of person I am. Interviews offer questions about a person's hobbies or their favorite things, so don't be afraid to cut loose and show your fun side.


2 comments:

  1. Hi Carol~

    I love this post! Especially, as it helps me prepare for my first live interview on Twitter this Thursday. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Hullo fellow bookblogs member, author, and blogger! I found you through bookblogs and I really enjoyed your thoughts/advice for interviews. It was good for me to read as I'm busy soliciting reviews and interviews for my book!
    Hope you'll visit my blog and maybe follow back.
    Cheers,
    Elle
    http://mymotherstuttered.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete