Episode 15: Interactions with Authors
Woah I cant believe its been 15 episodes already! Thats way insane in the membrane!
This week I don't even know why I am doing it, Im not sure what I SHOULD be saying or what people want to KNOW, so I guess ill simply be going with personal experience xD and things to keep in mind I guess.
So I have had the absolute fortune and pleasure of being able to interact and interview authors in the past.
I LOVE to do it! to get to pick at their brains a bit.
Anyways, some things to keep in mind (in my personal opinion) whenever you consider contacting your favorite author.
They are busy.
They might not always be able to answer right away, or at all, but it is VERY likely that they HAVE read that email you sent them which is great. You gotta be patient with them and also, if you know they are like a super popular author, you might not want to make the email super long, and it might increase your chances of getting a reply. IN MY OPINION, okay, I aint guaranteeing anything, this is just what has worked for me in the past.
Try to be somewhat coherent and not fangirl too hardcore
You think it wont happen, but it totally will!
Now, some of you might simply be telling the author how much the book you read meant to you or the series or such and they will reply and its all well and jolly and you will cherish that forever and ever
OTHERS might be considering asking questions or some requests for like interviews (which is what I will be talking about)
The cool thing about authors is that they obviously love books as much as we do and that can often times lead to a friendship, not like a speed dial type friendship but more like a, happy christmas, hope your holidays went well or enjoy your vacation type friendship. Its a very cool feeling, anyways 99.99% of authors appreciate their readers and probably get all excited and tingly when they get fan mail as much as we do when we get a reply
Anyways, say you want an interview for your blog or a school paper from your favorite author and you get access to their email, this is what I like to include in my emails for that:
- Name
- Intro
-You blog
-book you read by the,
-What you want (interview)
-what the interview will include
-Example
-Thanks for reading
-Links to the blog
Don't feel discourages if the author cant do the interview, it happens!
If they do reply and agree to the interview, try to be clear and coherent as well as timely and patient about getting back the answers to your questions
This past year I got to interview some of my author friends and got to learn a bit more about them and that was super cool but my hardest fangirling moment when it came to interviews with authors was totally when I got to interview author Andy Weir
You know... author of The Martian
I read The Martian and soon became super in love with it
It's seriously one of my favorite books, its just so freaking funny and makes you feel all smart and stuff xD
Anyways, I read the book and it was during the time of the movie release and I was watching all sorts of interviews that the author was doing (now that I think about it I dont think I watched ANY of the actor interviews >.>) and I was like DAAAAMMNN this guy is like SUPER smart! (He seriously is) and I was like ugh I wish I could interview him but he must be super busy right now being on talk shows and stuff for the movie press tour
But then I was like WELLLL maybe I wont know until I try!
So try I did!
I was actually going to be happy if I even got back a 'no' cuz I would still be getting a reply from him xD
Anyways! I got the reply and I was like OUT OF THIS WORLD!
I fangirled so hard in the middle of class (I was in school when I got back the reply) I was like okay okay okay CHILL
I did a draft of questions then showed them to a friend so he could edit them and make them sound smarter then I fixed them a bit more and sent them.
Then yup, got the reply, I said thanks for like the millionth time and that was that.
My greatest moment of 2015, well... in interview terms.
It's still my pride and joy moment lol
So yeah, thats that. I think I have said it all xD
This post is actually way longer than I expected it to be... YAY
