Common Writing Mistakes

Most books aren’t rejected because the stories are “bad. ” They’re rejected because they’re not “ready to read. ” In short, minor stuff like typos, grammar, spelling, etc.
I don’t mean places where we, as authors, deliberately break the rules. Those are fine. That’s part of our job. Language always changes with use, and we can help it on its way. No, I’m referring to places where someone just plain didn’t learn the rule or got confused or overlooked it during the self-edits.
I’ve been editing novels for over three years. Looking back at my experiences, I feel like sharing the most common mistakes I’ve seen. If you’ll go through your manuscript and fix these before you submit it to a publisher, your odds of publication will increase dramatically.
Once you’ve found a publisher who publishes what you write, you want to present yourself in the best way possible. Submitting an unedited manuscript is a bit like going to a job interview wearing a purple Mohawk, no shoes, torn jeans, and a dirty T-shirt. Your resume may be perfect, and your qualifications impeccable, but something tells me you won’t get the job.
The publisher is investing a lot in every book it accepts. E-publishers tend to invest loads of time, and print publishers tend to invest an advertising budget and the cost of carrying a large inventory. Why ask them to invest hours and days of editing time as well? If the publisher gets two or three or ten nearly identical books, you want yours to be the one requiring the least editing.
The first thing you need to do, and I hope you’ve already done it, is use the spelling and grammar checkers in your word processor. This will catch many of the “common mistakes” on my list. But I’ve been asked to edit many books where the author obviously didn’t do this, and I confess that I may well have been lazy and let a couple of mine get to my editors unchecked. Bad Michael!
There are some other valuable lists at the following websites:
Common Errors in English wsu. edu/~brians/errors
Words That Are Often Confused lbarker. orcon. net. nz/words. html
Here’s a list of the mistakes I see most often.
* Dialogue where everyone speaks in perfect English and never violates any of the bullet points below. Okay, I made that up. That’s not really a common problem at all. But I have seen it, and it’s a terrible thing.
* It’s is a contraction for “it is” and its is possessive.
* Who’s is a contraction for “who is” and whose is possessive.
* You’re is a contraction for “you are” and your is possessive.
* They’re is a contraction for “they are,” there is a place, their is possessive.
* There’s is a contraction for “there is” and theirs is possessive.
* If you’ve been paying attention to the above examples, you’ve noticed that possessive pronouns never use apostrophes. Its, whose, your, yours, their, theirs. . .
* Let’s is a contraction for “let us. ”
* When making a word plural by adding an s, don’t use an apostrophe. (The cats are asleep. )
* When making a word possessive by adding an s, use an apostrophe. (The cat’s bowl is empty. )
* A bath is a noun, what you take. Bathe is a verb, the action you do when taking or giving a bath.
* A breath is a noun, what you take. Breathe is a verb, the action you do when taking a breath.
* You wear clothes. When you put them on, you clothe yourself. They are made of cloth.
* Whenever you read a sentence with the word “that,” ask yourself if you can delete that word and still achieve clarity. If so, kill it. The same can be said of all sentences. If you can delete a word without changing the meaning or sacrificing clarity, do it. “And then” is a phrase worth using your word processor’s search feature to look for.
* Keep an eye on verb tenses. “He pulled the pin and throws the grenade” is not a good sentence.
* Keep an eye on making everything agree regarding singular and plural. “My cat and my wife is sleeping,” “My cat sleep on the sofa,” and “My wife is a beautiful women” are not good sentences. (I exaggerate in these examples, but you know what I mean. )
* I and me, he and him, etc. I hope no editor is rejecting any novels for this one, because I suspect that most people get confused at times. In dialogue, do whatever the heck you want because it sounds more “natural. ” But for the sake of your narrative, I’ll try to explain the rule and the cheat. The rule involves knowing whether your pronoun is the subject or object. When Jim Morrison of The Doors sings, “til the stars fall from the sky for you and I,” he’s making a good rhyme but he’s using bad grammar. According to the rule, “you and I” is the object of the preposition “for,” thus it should be “for you and me. ” The cheat involves pretending “you and” isn’t there, and just instinctively knowing “for I” just doesn’t sound right. (I think only native English speakers can use my cheat. For the record, I have great admiration for authors writing in languages that aren’t their native tongues. )
* Should of, would of, could of. This one can make me throw things. It’s wrong! What you mean is should have, would have, could have. Or maybe you mean the contractions. Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve. And maybe ‘ve sounds a bit like of. But it’s not! Of is not a verb. Not now, not ever.
* More, shorter sentences are better. Always. Don’t ask a single sentence to do too much work or advance the action too much, because then you’ve got lots of words scattered about like “that” and “however” and “because” and “or” and “as” and “and” and “while,” much like this rather pathetic excuse for a sentence right here.
* On a similar (exaggerated) note: “He laughed a wicked laugh as he kicked Ralphie in the face while he aimed the gun at Lerod and pulled the trigger and then laughed maniacally as Lerod twisted in agony because of the bullet that burned through his face and splattered his brains against the wall and made the wall look like an overcooked lasagne or an abstract painting. ” Now tell me this sentence isn’t trying to do too much.
* Too means also, two is a number, to is a preposition.
* He said/she said. Use those only when necessary to establish who’s speaking. They distract the reader, pulling him out of the story and saying, “Hey look, you’re reading a book. ” Ideally, within the context of the dialogue, we know who’s talking just by the style or the ideas. When a new speaker arrives on the scene, identify him or her immediately. Beyond that, keep it to a minimum. Oh yeah, and give every speaker his/her own paragraph.
* Billy-Bob smiled his most winning smile and said, “What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?” I don’t like this. Use two shorter sentences in the same paragraph. Billy-Bob smiled his most winning smile. “What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?” Same effect, fewer words, no dialogue tag (he said).
* In the previous example, I don’t like “smiled his most winning smile,” because it’s redundant and also cliched. Please, if you find yourself writing something like that, try to find a better way to express it before you just give up and leave it like it is. During the self-edit, I mean, not during the initial writing.
* “The glow-in-the-dark poster of Jesus glowed in the dark. ” This editor won’t let that one go. Much too redundant, and it appeared in a published novel.
* Lie is what you do when you lie down on the bed, lay is what you do to another object that you lay on the table. Just to confuse matters, the past tense of lie is lay. Whenever I hit a lay/lie word in reading, I stop and think. Do that when you self-edit. (Note: Don’t fix this one in dialogue unless your character is quite well-educated, because most people say it wrong. I do. )
* Beware of the dangling modifier. “Rushing into the room, the exploding bombs dropped seven of the soldiers. ” Wait a minute! The bombs didn’t rush into the room. The soldiers did. To get all technical about it, the first part is the “dependent clause,” and it must have the same subject as the “independent clause” which follows. Otherwise it’s amateur, distracting, and a real pain for your poor overworked editor.
* If you are able (many readers are not), keep an eye out for missing periods, weird commas, closing quotes, opening quotes, etc. When I read a book, be it an ebook or a printed book, I can’t help but spot every single one that’s missing. They slap me upside the head, which makes me a great editor but a lousy reader. If you’re like me, use that to your advantage. If not, that’s what editors are for!

About Writing

In this free email course, I’ll tell you everything I know about improving your writing, publishing it electronically and in print, and promoting it after the sale.
Two questions you should ask:
(1) What will it cost me?
(2) What does this Michael LaRocca guy know about it?
Answer #1 — It won’t cost you a thing. The single most important bit of advice I can give you, and I say it often, is don’t pay for publication.
My successes have come from investing time. Some of it was well spent, but most of it was wasted. It costs me nothing to share what I’ve learned. It costs you nothing to read it except some of your time.
Answer #2 — “Michael LaRocca has been researching the publishing field for over ten years. ”
This quote, from an ezine (electronic newsletter) called Authors Wordsmith, was a kind way of saying I’ve received a lot of rejections. Also, my “research” required 20 years.
But in my “breakout” year (2000), I finished writing four books and scheduled them all for publication in 2001. Then I spent almost a year as an editor and Author Development Specialist for one of my publishers.
After my first book was published, both my publishers closed. Two weeks and three publishers later, I was back on track. All four books were republished, and a fifth will be released in 2004. Written in 2003, no rejections.
See how much faster it was the second time around? That’s because I learned a lot.
2004 EPPIE Award finalist. 2002 EPPIE Award finalist. Listed by Writers Digest as one of The Best 101 Websites For Writers in 2001 and 2002. Sime-Gen Readers Choice Awards for Favorite Author (Nonfiction & Writing) and Favorite Book (Nonfiction & Writing). 1982 Who’s Who In American Writing.
Excuse me for bragging, but it beats having you think I’m unqualified.
Also, I found more editing jobs. That’s what I do when I’m not writing, doing legal transcription, or teaching English in China (my new home). But the thing is, if I’d become an editor before learning how to write, I’d have stunk.
I’ll tell you what’s missing from this course. What to write about, where I get my ideas from, stuff like that. Maybe I don’t answer this question because I think you should do it your way, not mine. Or maybe because I don’t know how I do it. Or maybe both.
Once you’ve done your writing bit, this course will help you with all the other stuff involved in being a writer. Writing involves wearing at least four different hats. Writer, editor, publication seeker, post-sale self-promoter.
Here’s what I can tell you about my writing.
Sometimes a story idea just comes to me out of nowhere and refuses to leave me alone until I write it. So, I do.
And, whenever I read a book that really fires me up, I find myself thinking, “I wish I could write like that. ” So, I just keep trying. I’ll never write the best, but I’ll always write my best. And get better every time. That’s the “secret” of the writing “business,” same as any other business. Always deliver the goods.
I read voraciously, a habit I recommend to any author who doesn’t already have it. You’ll subconsciously pick up on what does and doesn’t work. Characterization, dialogue, pacing, plot, story, setting, description, etc. But more importantly, someone who doesn’t enjoy reading will never write something that someone else will enjoy reading.
I don’t write “for the market. ” I know I can’t, so I just write for me and then try to find readers who like what I like. I’m not trying to whip up the next bestseller and get rich. Not that I’d complain. Nope, I have to write what’s in my heart, then go find a market later. It makes marketing a challenge at times, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
When you write, be a dreamer. Go nuts. Know that you’re writing pure gold. That fire is why we write.
An author who I truly admire, Kurt Vonnegut, sweats out each individual sentence. He writes it, rewrites it, and doesn’t leave it alone until it’s perfect. Then when he’s done, he’s done.
I doubt most of write like that. I don’t. I let it fly as fast as my fingers can move across the paper or keyboard, rushing to capture my ideas before they get away. Later, I change and shuffle and slice.
James Michener claims that he writes the last sentence first, then has his goal before him as he writes his way to it.
Then there’s me. No outline whatsoever. I create characters and conflict, spending days and weeks on that task, until the first chapter really leaves me wondering “How will this end?” Then my characters take over, and I’m as surprised as the reader when I finish my story.
Some authors set aside a certain number of hours every day for writing, or a certain number of words. In short, a writing schedule.
Then there’s me. No writing for three or six months, then a flurry of activity where I forget to eat, sleep, bathe, change the cat’s litter. . . I’m a walking stereotype. To assuage the guilt, I tell myself that my unconscious is hard at work. As Hemingway would say, long periods of thinking and short periods of writing.
I’ve shown you the extremes in writing styles. I think most authors fall in the middle somewhere. But my point is, find out what works for you. You can read about how other writers do it, and if that works for you, great. But in the end, find your own way. That’s what writers do.
Just don’t do it halfway.
If you’re doing what I do, writing a story that entertains and moves you, then you will find readers who share your tastes. For some of us that means a niche market and for others it means regular appearances on the bestseller list.
Writing is a calling, but publishing is a business. Remember that AFTER you’ve written your manuscript. Not during.
I’ve told you how I write. For me.
The next step is self-editing. Fixing all the mistakes I made, that I can identify, in my rush to write it before my Muse took a holiday. Several rewrites. Running through it repeatedly with a fine-toothed comb.
Then what?
There are stories that get rejected because the potential publisher hates them, but far more are shot down for other reasons. Stilted dialogue. Boring descriptions. Weak characters. Underdeveloped story. Unbelievable or inconsistent plot. Sloppy writing.
That’s what you have to fix.
After my fifteen-year hiatus from writing, I started by using Free Online Creative Writing Workshops. What I needed most was input from strangers. After all, once you’re published, your readers will be strangers. Every publisher you submit to will be a stranger. What will they think? I was far too close to my writing to answer that.
Whenever I got some advice, I considered it. Some I just threw out as wrong, or because I couldn’t make the changes without abandoning part of what made the story special to me. Some I embraced. But the point is, I decided. It was my writing.
After a time, I didn’t feel the need for the workshops anymore. I’m fortunate enough to have a wife whose advice I will always treasure, and after a while that was all I needed. But early on, it would’ve been unfair to ask her to read my drivel. (Not that I didn’t anyway. )
I don’t know how far along you are in your writing, but if you’ve never used a workshop, I keep a list of them at freereads. topcities. com/creativewritingonline. html.
Your goal when you self-edit is to get your book as close to “ready to read” as you possibly can. You want your editor to find what you overlooked, not what you didn’t know about.
To that end, I offer two resources.
freereads. topcities. com/usefullinksforauthors. html contains links to online quotations, grammar and style guides, dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses, scam warnings, writer groups, copyright stuff, etc.
freereads. topcities. com/commonwritingmistakes. html contains a list of the most common mistakes I’ve seen in my years as an editor. I still reread it from time to time just so I don’t forget.
Your story is your story. You write it from your heart, and when it looks like something you’d enjoy reading, you set out to find a publisher who shares your tastes. What you don’t want is for that first reader to lose sight of what makes your story special because you’ve bogged it down with silly mistakes.
Authors don’t pay to be published. They are paid for publication. Always. It’s just that simple. And later, I’ll tell you where to get some free editing.
But there’s a limit to how much editing you can get without paying for it. Do you need more than that? I don’t know because I’ve never seen your writing. But if you evaluate it honestly, I Think you’ll know the answer.
As an editor, I’ve worked with some authors who simply couldn’t self-edit. A non-native English speaker, a guy who slept through English class, whatever. To them, maybe paying for editing was an option. This isn’t paying for publication. This is paying for a service, training. Just like paying to take a Creative Writing class at the local community college.
By the way, I don’t believe creativity can be taught. Writing, certainly. I took my Creative Writing class in high school, free, and treasure it. But I already had the creativity, or else it would’ve been a waste of the teacher’s time and mine.
If you hire an editor worthy of the name, you should learn from that editor how to self-edit in the future. In my case it took two tries, because the first editor was a rip-off artist charging over ten times market value for incomplete advice.
That editor, incidentally, is named Edit Ink, and they’re listed on many of the “scam warning” sites mentioned at Useful Links For Authors. They took kickbacks from every fake agent who sent them a client. (I’ll talk about fake agents later. )
If you choose to hire an editor, check price and reputation. And consider that you might never make enough selling your books to get back what you pay that editor. Do you care? That’s your decision.
The first, most important step on the road to publication is to make your writing the best it can be.
** PUBLICATION **
My goal is to be published in both mediums, ebook and print. There are some readers who prefer ebooks, and some who prefer print books. The latter group is much larger, but those publishers are harder to sell your writing to. I want both, because I want all the readers I can get.
Thus, I advocate something of a stepping-stone approach. Publish electronically with a quality place, enjoy the benefits of free editing and almost instant gratification regarding publishing time.
Later, if you think you can sell your book to a traditional print publisher, you have a professionally edited manuscript to submit.
Before you epublish, check the contract to be sure you can publish the edited work in print later.
If you know your book just plain won’t ever make it into traditional print, print-on-demand (POD) is an option. Some of my books fall into this category. The best epublishers will simultaneously publish your work electronically and in POD format, at no cost to you.
A lot of authors swear by self-publication, but the prospect just plain scares me. All that promo, all that self-editing, maybe driving around the countryside with a back seat full of books. I’m a writer, not a salesman. But, maybe you’re different.
I self-published once, in the pre-POD days. Mom handled the sales. I had fun and broke even. With POD, at least it’s cheaper to self-publish than it was in 1989.
If you’re flying solo, POD can range anywhere from US$99 to over $1000. Don’t pay the higher price! Price shop. Also, remember that POD places publish any author who pays, and do no marketing.

Print Publishing vs Electronic Publishing
freereads. topcities. com/printpublishing_electronicpublishing. html
This site provides a comparison of the two mediums. Each has plusses and minuses. Even if you already know what epublishing is, take a look.
Electronic Publishers
freereads. topcities. com/onlinefictionbooks. html
A list of the ones I believe are reputable and my criteria for selecting them. Plus, a link to award-winning author Piers Anthony’s totally excellent in-depth analysis of many more epublishers than I’ll ever list.
How To Break Into Print Publishing
freereads. topcities. com/printpublishing. html
If you’re at the beginning of my stepping-stone approach, seeking an epublisher, you’ll probably just want to bookmark this one for a year or two. That’s fine, because it’s not going anywhere. I plan to use it myself in a year or two. If, on the other hand, you’re ready for traditional print, use it now and I wish you success!
Print-On-Demand Publishing
freereads. topcities. com/printondemand. html
What is it? Should you use it? If so, how? What to beware of if you do.
** PROMOTING YOUR PUBLISHED WRITING **
It doesn’t matter how you publish your book. Self-published, epublished, POD, or traditional print publishing from an absolute powerhouse. Marketing falls largely on you, and the same things always work. Book signings, interviews in the local newspapers and on radio.
Start with kidon. com/media-link/index. shtml. It will allow you to look up all the local media outlets in your area that have websites.
If you write to them all, you’re a spammer. Plus, it’ll take ages. Look for the ones with a legitimate interest and fire away.
If you find a stale URL, and I think you will, look for the name of that media outlet at some place like Google. Spend some time looking for the right press contacts, spend some time writing your press release, and do what you can.
Most of these sites list email, snail mail, and phone calls. Since I live in China, I’ve only used email.
Book reviews, author interviews, book listing sites, and book contests are something we can all do, regardless of where we live. Again, I’m going to give you some web pages to visit. Pages where I keep my resources, so I don’t lose them. Some of the sites I mention do ebooks, and some do not. The POD option can help e-authors here, but balance cost vs. likelihood of gaining enough readers to offset that.
Some are ezines and some are websites. Some are printed newsletters, some are printed magazines, and some are newspapers. This is just a starting point. If you visit them all, and you have time for more promotion, you can find many more.
Book Reviewers, Author Interviews, Book Listing Sites freereads. topcities. com/bookreview. html
Book Contests freereads. topcities. com/bookcontests. html
Okay, let’s get back to my overseas angle. Aside from two radio interviews and a seminar in Hong Kong, and some emailed press releases to the LOCAL media back in the US which may or may not have succeeded in anything, my marketing has come from the Internet.
I have a website. I have a newsletter. I’m giving away a free ebook, the essence of which you’re reading now. You found me somehow, right?
Here’s the type of message I receive often in email. To be more precise, in spam.
If a million people see your ad, and you get 1% of them, that’s 10,000 readers and therefore $15,000 profit and you only paid $1000 for those million addresses.
NO!! It doesn’t work that way. Need I use the words dot-com bust?
My website is free. My newsletter is free. I don’t buy mailing lists, I don’t harvest email addresses, and I don’t spam. I want interested traffic, not just sheer numbers.
Do you think the Phoenicians tried to sell sails to people a thousand miles from the water?
Internet marketing isn’t a replacement for the methods mentioned above, but a complement to them. And by using it, I got you here.
Your goal in marketing is this. There are certainly people in the world who like what you like. And since you like your book, they probably will too.
But you have to find those readers and make them interested, without spamming them and without just “playing the numbers game. ”
If you’re an e-author, let me state the obvious. Nobody buys ebooks who doesn’t have Internet access. Do they? So you definitely need a website.
Traditional print authors need websites too. Even blockbuster authors like J. R. Rowling and Stephen King, who I doubt could garner any more name recognition, have websites. So does every long-established inescapable monstro-business like McDonalds and Coke.
Okay, those folks pay web designers. I’m not doing that. I can’t generate those kinds of sales figures. And yes, I’ve formerly been employed as an HTML programmer. But you can write your own website without even learning HTML if you want. It’s no harder than writing a manuscript with a word processor.
It won’t be super-flashy like the big boys, but it’ll communicate the information. Remember, you can communicate. You’re an author! And that’s what keeps people coming back to a website after the thrill of the flash wears off. Information. Content. Your specialty.
I consider my website and my newsletter to be successful, and I’ve created a free email course to analyze how they got that way. Yes, there are legitimate ways to bring traffic to your website and your newsletter. Not massive numbers overnight, but slow steady growth over the long term.
** CLOSING THOUGHTS **
We’ve been talking about soft sell.
Now, at the end of my free workshop, I’ll tell you about 2 URLs that I think will help you and one that won’t. You can decide if any are worth a visit.
After that, I’ll get back to the lesson.
Books OnLine Directory
freereads. topcities. com/
You’ve been to parts of it already and seen that it delivers something you’re looking for. (I hope. ) Don’t forget to go back from time to time.
Mad About Books
freereads. topcities. com/archive. html
My free weekly email newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest info as I find it. Plus, it has a certain goofy charm that the website lacks.
Both URLs mention my books, but in the background. I hope you’ll look one day out of curiosity or because you really like my generous nature, but it’s not mandatory. Soft sell.
From Watha, NC, USA to Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China
michaeljan. topcities. com
This site doesn’t mention writing at all. I wrote it for my students. I teach English in China, and this is where I tell all about it. Along with a hefty helping of personal history and photos. How I got here, how I quit a job via email to marry a lovely Australian, dog and cat photos, stuff like that. Just for fun. It won’t help you a bit.
Now let’s get back to your writing. That’s why you’re here.
Here’s something you’ve heard before. When your manuscript is rejected — and it will be — remember that you aren’t being rejected. Your manuscript is.
One reader took me to task for that statement, claiming he’d never been rejected in his life. I’m very happy for him. But why, if I may be so bold as to ask, would he need advice on How To Get Published? I’d rather he write some advice so I can hang up my “helper guy” hat and learn from a master.
But I digress. You aren’t being rejected, I was saying. Your manuscript is.
Did you ever hang up the phone on a telemarketer, delete spam, or close the door in the face of a salesman? Of course, and yet that salesman just moves on to the next potential customer. He knows you’re rejecting his product, not him.
Okay, in my case I’m rejecting both, but I’d never do that to an author. Neither will a publisher or an agent. All authors tell other authors not to take rejection personally, and yet we all do. Consider it a target to shoot for, then. Just keep submitting, and just keep writing.
The best way to cope with waiting times is to “submit and forget,” writing or editing other stuff while the time passes.
And finally, feel free to send an e-mail to me anytime. michaellarocca@yawweb. org. I’ll gladly share what I know with you, and it won’t cost you a cent.
I would wish you luck in your publishing endeavors, but I know there’s no luck involved. It’s all skill and diligence.
Congratulations on completing the course! No ceremonies, no degrees, and no diplomas. But on the bright side, no student loan to repay.

Interviewing an Author: Don’t Be Left Speechless

Edited by Jenny Wilson
Joyce Carol Oates. Langston Hughes. Anne Sexton. F. Scott Fitzgerald. Nikki Giovanni. The names of authors (dead and alive) can go on and on. But I’ll let you have first pick!
You are in a room with some of your favorite authors. About ten of them. However, you are only allowed to invite one of them to Starbucks for a couple of chocolate mochas. Just you and your favorite author. It doesn’t matter if the writer is deceased use your imagination! After all, you’re a writer, right?
Oh dear, who shall it be? Should it be William Shakespeare with his purple pantaloons; Sylvia Plath who now vows to use an electric oven instead of gas; or should it be Maya Angelou and old playmates from her broken-hearted brothel?
Finally, you have selected an author.
You take him (or her) to Starbucks. You order the mochas. You sit down. As you open your mouth to ask the author questions nothing useful comes out.
What’s the problem?
Often times we’ll chance upon moments when we can interview an author. And, with technology nowadays, methods of research and brainstorming have changed slightly.
1. Research the Author
Ask yourself, “Is the author self-published or published in a traditional publishing house?”
Actually, does it really matter?! No. Why? Because you’re going to need to treat all authors the same with much respect. Be laid back, and in turn, the interviewee will become comfortable and open-up to you.
After all, whether published or not, we’re all human. Before the interview, however, use your investigative reporting skills and attempt to discover as much as you can about the author. Surf the Internet for any hidden agendas internet-published writings the writer may have. Not only do you want to know about the author’s book, but the personal life as well. Find out what makes the author tick.
2. Research their genre and subject matter
Does the author write poetry? Historical nonfiction? Dramatic nonfiction? Children’s literature? Discover how easy or difficult it is to publish in that particular area of writing. Before you meet up with the author, you must know their genre, as well as the basic themes. If the author writes only historical nonfiction what’s their subject matter? Pre-civil war? Early African Slave Trade? Cuban artwork? Compare and contrast authors in similar subject matters.
Learn as much as you can while you can. And, at the same time, be sure to formulate an opinion about the subject matter, whether it be pro or con. This will allow you to ask more in depth questions.
3. Don’t Interrupt
Remember to ask your question then shut up. This isn’t a time for you to reminisce of your (waning) writing skills. This is moment for the author to be in the spotlight. Listen to their responses, and make sure that you have a rebuttal question prepared in the back of your head.
After you are away from that particular topic, be sure to go to your next question. Though you may have your list of questions it’s okay to ask the questions out-of-order. Actually, I highly recommend to adlib the questions. This will make the questions seem a bit more unforced. In short, treat your interview as if it’s just a regular discussion amongst friends.
Above all, I highly recommend to record the interview. Before you display your trusty hand-held recorder, ask the interviewee for permission to record them. Keep and label all used tapes with the author’s name, date and location of the interview. You never know when that once self-published novelist will become the next Best Seller.