What I've Learnt Launching a Book by Author Jessica Dotta

When I first began writing, I found an article online that I've never forgotten. 

In it, the writer said something like: So you want to be a writer? Take two aspirin, lie down and hope the urge goes away! The gist was that it would be much, much easier to quit than to attempt to break through the publishing wall. At the time, I remember laughing. Now I'm not so sure he was joking. He really might have meant to take the aspirin. At the time, I remember laughing. Now I'm not so sure he was joking. He really might have meant to take the aspirin. 

Breaking through the publishing wall does seem like an impossible task, and if you're among those seeking publication, I want to offer encouragement. Believe it or not, right now you're in the honeymoon phase—and I don't want you to miss it! 

I recall my impatience now with a chuckle. I was so ready to be sold and published! Thank goodness I wasn't then! And not because my book wasn't ready. 

I had no thoughts of what still needed to be accomplished in my life. Writers know our job is to speak truth and to be willing to expose all. Yet there were still areas of my life chaining me from speaking the truth, though I didn't know it, then. Furthermore, I had no thoughts of the work that went into such a career choice. I wasn't thinking of social media, html coding, networking, creating the necessary photos, website design, mail blasts and driving for hours in a car for a half-hour event. 

At that point, I was in love with words and story. I spent hours delighting in finding the exact word choices to express an emotion or in figuring out the perfect action beat. I relished working with my fellow writers in critique groups, learning new concepts with them. 

I always thought the honeymoon started the moment a book contract is offered! But that's a skewed view. If we're comparing publishing to marriage, know that you're married as soon as you've made the commitment. 

If you're writing, you're a writer. 

How many couples on their honeymoon think about the folks back home who have been married several years with kids and jobs—and feel discontented that they're relaxing on the beach and having fun, while the others are so much further along? 

Not too many, I imagine. 

Take time and savor where you are. Make friends, critique work, grow in the craft! The next step will unfold in due season. 

Born in the wrong century–except for the fact that she really likes epidurals and washing machines–Jessica Dotta writes British Historicals with the humor like an Austen, yet the drama of a Bronte.

She resides lives in the greater Nashville area—where she imagines her small Southern town into the foggy streets of 19th century London. She oversees her daughter to school, which they pretend is an English boarding school, and then she goes home to write and work on PR. Jessica has tried to cast her dachshund as their butler–but the dog insists it’s a Time Lord and their home a Tardis. Miss Marple, her cat, says its no mystery to her as to why the dog won’t cooperate. When asked about it, Jessica sighs and says that you can’t win them all, and at least her dog has picked something British to emulate.

BOOK BLURB:

The year is 1838, and seventeen-year-old Julia Elliston’s position has never been more fragile. Orphaned and unmarried in a time when women are legal property of their fathers, husbands, and guardians, she finds herself at the mercy of an anonymous guardian who plans to establish her as a servant in far-off Scotland.

With two months to devise a better plan, Julia’s first choice to marry her childhood sweetheart is denied. But when a titled dowager offers to introduce Julia into society, a realm of possibilities opens. However, treachery and deception are as much a part of Victorian society as titles and decorum, and Julia quickly discovers her present is deeply entangled with her mother’s mysterious past. Before she knows what’s happening, Julia finds herself a pawn in a deadly game between two of the country’s most powerful men. With no laws to protect her, she must unravel the secrets on her own. But sometimes truth is elusive and knowledge is deadly.

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A Writer's Notion by Roseanna White

A Writer's Notions

by Roseanna M. White

I don't know about you, but I tend to make assumptions. Not just about people, but about the ways things are...and the way things were. For a historical writer, that can be dangerous, LOL.

Back in the day when writing was just fun, when it was my way of winding down and expressing pent-up emotions, I didn't always bother researching like I should. And that's okay, since it was just for me. But one of the reasons I sometimes let that slide was because I would find things that contradicted my assumptions...which changed my story...and I had no clue what to do with that.

Once I determined to write for publication, though, that laziness had to go. And when I found contradictory information, I had to learn how to integrate it into my plot. Sometimes it's a simple matter of tweaking this or that. It changes things, yes, but nothing huge. Other times, though...other times it affects the whole premise.

I ran into this in the early days of Ring of Secrets. When I got the first niggle of an idea to base a book around the historical Culper Ring, America's first spy ring and the most trusted intelligencers of George Washington during the Revolution, I had these ideas. And honestly, my first scratches of research bore it out. That they were low-tech action heroes. James Bond with earlier gadgets. Jason Bourne during the Revolution. I rubbed my hands together and though "Oo, this is going to be fun!"

Then I got down to the serious research. As in, reading books instead of 200-word articles online. And as this portion of research is for me, it frankly involved some disappointment. Because I read actual documentation of the Culper Ring, you know what I found? That these weren't super spies. They weren't even trained. They had no history with espionage, their codes were flawed, they had nothing to do with the biggest event of the Revolution--Benedict Arnold's capture--even though those websites had led me to believe they had, and all the things they did help with were fairly small to my way of thinking, and spread out over a year. That doesn't exactly qualify as high-action for a romantic suspense.

So as I read my primary research book, Washington's Spies by Alexander Rose, my mind had to churn through my whole premise again. Did I want to write this book in a new way? Did I want to let go of my assumptions? Could I write the book under the banner of the facts, or should I forget the historical basis and make up my own spy ring?

There was some waffling in my mind. Because at first, I really didn't like reality, LOL. But I have this deal I make with myself when writing historicals: facts are sacred, motivations are up for grabs. I never, ever let myself change actual history, the events recorded by observers. (Okay, so I might fudge the phase of the moon now and then, but I beg forgiveness for that, LOL.) But I do let myself alter why people did the things they did, figuring that historians are only guessing about the reasons anyway. Even when people record their motivations, are they always honest? Who knows. So I can do with those what I will. But here? Could I work within those parameters here?

I kept reading, and the more I read, the more I got a grasp on what would become my absolute favorite part of Ring of Secrets. The very thing that made me moan and groan became my new, better premise. Because I realized that I didn't need super-spies in my book. I needed people. Normal, everyday people who were doing something extraordinary. And that is what the Culper Ring turned out to be. They were sickly farmers, they were nervous shopkeepers, they were over-confident sailors and soldiers with absolutely no grasp on how to accomplish this task assigned to them. They were creative and inventive and determined...and terrified. 

And that, with this book as with many other I've written, turned out to be the most amazing thing. Because my assumptions tend to simplify things. My vision starts out so narrow. But when I embrace the facts and let go of my notions, I discover what God's vision had been at the time. And needless to say, His is so much richer. So much fuller. So much better than my imaginings. 

It's my prayer that Ring of Secrets can show readers just a portion of what the real, original Culper Ring accomplished during the Revolution. That they were people just like us who stepped up, who fell to their knees, who put aside their fears...and who changed history forever.

~*~

Roseanna M. White pens her novels under the Betsy Ross flag hanging above her desk, with her Jane Austen action figure watching over her. When she isn’t writing fiction, she’s editing it for WhiteFire Publishing or reviewing it for the Christian Review of Books, both of which she co-founded with her husband. 

www.roseannawhite.com | www.facebook.com/roseanna.white | www.twitter.com/roseannamwhite

Order from Amazon | Order from B&N | Order from ChristianBook

Come back on Friday when Roseanna teams up with The Borrowed Book to give away a copy of her latest release!

Tweaking a Sentence to Add Drama by Donn Taylor

Who would believe that a subject as prosaic as punctuation of compound predicates could help dramatize the actions—and thus the immediacy and interest—of a novel? Yet, with apologies for the pedantry, that is what I will attempt to illustrate today.

First of all, though, I’d like to suggest that no structure of writing is too small for a writer to pay attention to. When the poet and dramatist Oscar Wilde said he had worked all day on a poem, someone inquired what took so much time in a single poem. Wilde replied that in the morning he put in a comma, and in the afternoon he took it out. The best writers do spend time on small details that others may think insignificant.

I would also like to cite a concept proposed years ago by literary critic Stanley Fish, that the meaning of a sentence is everything that happens to the reader as he progresses through it. The skilful writer can speed his reader up or slow him down, as appropriate to the events being described.

Now back to compound predicates: Elements of these are connected by coordinating conjunctions, usually and. Thus:

Light from the Jeep's headlights moved at right angles from the highway and then disappeared.

Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/doMqtrIKOMw

However, the sentence cannot be written this way: 

Light from the Jeep's headlights moved at right angles from the highway then disappeared.

The reason is that then is an abverb, not a coordinating conjunction, so it cannot connect the two elements of the predicate. (Yes, I know that sentences written this way appear in many poorly edited manuscripts, but that does not make them grammatically correct.)

However, another grammatical rule says that a comma is often used to mark an omission. In this example, and.

Light from the Jeep's headlights moved at right angles from the highway, then disappeared.

For fiction, this construction has the advantage of suggesting passage of time between the moving and disappearing.

The principle I’m proposing: Use the and to rush the reader through the sentence to suggest continuous action, but substitute the comma for and to make the reader pause, suggesting a time lapse or at least separation of the predicate’s two actions.

Here is an example from my suspense novel Deadly Additive:

The man hesitated, then spoke.

The comma forces a pause, dramatizing the man’s hesitation. That dramatization is lost if the sentence is written with the and, rushing the reader through to the second action:

The man hesitated and then spoke.

Here, from the same novel, are other examples in which I chose to force a pause for dramatization or to show a separation of the two actions. Also provided are the same sentences written the other way, with the and. It’s not that those are wrong. It’s just that they lose the dramatic or illustrative quality of those with the comma.

He nodded toward the eastern mountains, then threw a glance at [his companion].

He nodded toward the eastern mountains and then threw a glance at [his companion].

He held up the guilty document, then thumbed through her other receipts….

He held up the guilty document and then thumbed through her other receipts….

[The victim’s] twitching grew into violent convulsions, then subsided into stillness.

[The victim’s] twitching grew into violent convulsions and then subsided into stillness.

"Fools!" Contreras permitted himself the one exclamation, then asked for details.

"Fools!" Contreras permitted himself the one exclamation and then asked for details.

The rifle held steady, then wavered.

The rifle held steady and then wavered.

The guard came to present arms and back to port, then stepped aside.

The guard came to present arms and back to port and then stepped aside.

He worked his fingers to restore circulation, then shook hands with [his rescuer].

He worked his fingers to restore circulation and then shook hands with [his rescuer].

Deliberately, he touched his forefinger to his lips, then gently pressed it to hers.

Deliberately, he touched his forefinger to his lips and then gently pressed it to hers.

This is a small distinction, and one that may be meaningless to speed readers. But small distinctions like this make the difference between mediocre writing and good writing.

Donn Taylor led an Infantry rifle platoon in the Korean War, served with Army aviation in Vietnam, and worked with air reconnaissance in Europe and Asia. Afterwards, he completed a PhD degree at The University of Texas and taught English literature at two liberal arts colleges. His previous novels include a mystery, Rhapsody in Red, and a suspense novel, The Lazarus File (spies and airplanes in the Caribbean). Poems that he published in various journals over the years are collected in his book Dust and Diamond: Poems of Earth and Beyond. He is a frequent speaker for writers' groups and has taught poetry writing at the Glorieta and Blue Ridge conferences. His current teaching crusade is to promote the writing of good-quality poetry that's accessible to ordinary readers. He and his wife live near Houston, where he writes fiction, poetry, and articles on current topics.

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Marketing an Ebook by Cynthia Hickey

With the success of my ebooks, many authors have asked what I am doing to market them. I don’t believe I’m doing anything different than I would if the books were in print. My cozy mysteries, previously published through Barbour, have been re-released as ebooks and have sold more copies than they did in print. Other ebooks I’ve released myself. While I still have books in print, I also enjoy the freedom of ebook publishing. So, how do I market?

*Blog interviews and guest posts where I give away a free download

*At least once a week, I twitter and FB an announcement about one or more of my books, and ask others to retweet.

*I link my twitter, FB, and blogs together.

*I buy inexpensive ads in online magazines.

*I give away free downloads for reviews.

*I post pictures of my covers on Pinterest

*I write the best book I can. If someone mentions an error, I unpublish the book, fix the mistake, and republish.

I’m not sure whether any of these options work more than the others, I only know that I’m selling copies and having a blast. Hope I’ve helped others who may be wondering about ebook publishing.

Readers can connect with me at www.cynthiahickey.com, on FB at https://www.facebook.com/TKlinesmith#!/pages/Cynthia-Hickey/151333448227549 and Twitter at https://twitter.com/

I’d love to hear from you.

Multi-published author Cynthia Hickey had three cozy mysteries published through Barbour Publishing, with a novella scheduled to be released in March 2013. Her first mystery, Fudge-Laced Felonies, won first place in the inspirational category of the Great Expectations contest in 2007. Her third cozy, Chocolate-Covered Crime, received a four-star review from Romantic Times. All three cozies have been re-released as ebooks through the MacGregor Literary Agency, along with Deadly Neighbors, the first in a new cozy series. She lives in Arizona with her husband, two of their seven children, two dogs, two cats, a snake named Flash and a fish named Floyd. She has five grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer”. Visit her website at www.cynthiahickey.com 

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Interview with Carol Award Finalist, S. Dionne Moore

S. Dionne Moore started writing in 2006. Her first book, Murder on the Ol’ Bunions, was contracted for publication by Barbour Publishing in 2008. In 2009 she moved on to writing historical romances as an outlet for her passion for history. In 2010 her second cozy mystery, Polly Dent Loses Grip, was a 2010 Carol Award finalist and she was also named a Barbour Publishing 2010 Favorite New Author. In 2011 her first historical romance, Promise of Tomorrow, was nominated a 2011 Carol Award finalist.

For more information, visit her Website at www.sdionnemoore.com. 
Follow her on Twitter: @sdionnemoore 


Tell readers about your newest release: 

I have two this month, which is really exciting! Promise Brides, my first 3n1 historical, is available EVERYWHERE (rather than just the Heartsong Presents book club). A Shepherd’s Song is available through Barbour Publishings, Heartsong Presents Bookclub. A Shepherd’s Song is the first book in a new historical romance series set in Wyoming. 

Renee Dover made a foolish decision. . .

When fiery Renee Dover seeks adventure and searches for a gang of outlaws, she never expects she’ll find them. Captured by the gang and certain her recklessness has gotten her brother killed, she escapes right into the arms of Tyler Sperry, a quiet sheepherder with a mysterious past.

Compelled to accompany him on his journey leading sheep to summer pasture, Renee finds it impossible to return home. She must endure the silence of this man and the solitude he’s chosen. And Tyler must decide what to do with Renee as every option he sees risks her life or challenges his.

Along the way, Renee discovers there’s much more to this shepherd who keeps his history hidden. Something he’s found that she desires. But when Tyler’s past comes back to haunt him, it just might get them both killed.


Promise Brides, is a compilation of three historicals, Promise of Tomorrow (a 2011 Carol Award finalist), Promise of Yesterday and  Promise of Time, set in 1889 Johnstown, PA., Mercersburg/Greencastle, PA, and Gettysburg, PA, respectively. 


Love never comes without sacrifice.


Promise of Tomorrow
Alaina Morrison loves Jack Kelly. So why won t he realize that all she wants is to get married and begin their new life together? She doesn t need a large home or new clothes or other things. She only needs him to actually spend time with her and to show how much he loves her. As dangerous floodwaters threaten their home of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, will Alaina and Jack allow God to bridge their growing differences with His unifying love?


Promise of Yesterday 
Escaping the horrors of slavery, Chester Jones returns home after many years. After meeting the enigmatic Marylu, sparks fly as he gently pushes his way into her heart. As love blossoms, secrets from Marylu's past arise, causing her to question her newfound feelings. And then what about those rumors linking Chester to a murder. . .? Will Marylu allow God to heal her heart or will it be shattered again?


Promise of Time
Ellie Lester sees time stretching endlessly after the death of her husband in the war. She manages to find some purpose in helping slaves escape through the Underground Railroad. When her husband's cousin arrives, however, time seems to stand still. Is her heart awakening to something new? Theodore Lester is determined to reach his cousin's widow in the North with the truth of her husband's death, even if he must flee from the Confederate Army. Seeing her again sparks something in his heart and makes him want to stop running. But he can t escape from his dreams. . .or himself.

What made you choose the setting for A Shepherd's Song? 

I became fascinated with the Johnson County Wars. Early on, I read that much of the tension was between sheepherders and cattle barons, though that was later discounted. But the career of herding sheep intrigued me and I knew it would make a good story. Using Psalms 23 as a parallel, I rediscovered and came to better understand why God used that particular analogy in that first verse. And I read. . .

A book on a woman's adventures as a sheepherder which helped shape some of the tragedies and challenges inherent in those who undertook the career. And the loneliness. Many men of Basque descent came to the states to be sheepherders. If you ever get the chance to see some of the carvings the Basque sheepherders left on Aspens in the high elevations during the lonely months of herding sheep, it's an interesting glimpse into the psyche of the men as they worked to overcome the terrible separation from family and friends as they fulfilled their contracts.

What does your office look like?

Oh dear. Messy right now, but here it is in all its glory. For those who might be interested, I'm working on editing the third book in the Wyoming series.

Parting words for those interested in become published?

Writers write. They don't talk about it or imagine it, they do it! That might seem over simplistic, but you wouldn't believe how many people have said, "Oh, I'd love to write a book one day." But they never do. LOL! Maybe it's not their calling, and that's fine, but if you truly want to pursue publication, you'll have to discipline yourself to make the time for writing and learning about writing.

Comment to win an autographed copy of A Shepherd's Song. 

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Inside a Blog Tour

More from Bonnie S. Calhoun ~ Founder and Publisher of Christian Fiction Online Magazine

Okay so you’ve decided that you are going to take the plunge, gather up a large group of book reviewers, and put on a blog tour for your latest novel. Okey dokey smokey…how hard could it be?

Well let’s see…first you need to decide if you want actual book reviewers or do you just want influencers. There is a world of difference in the two, and never the twain shall meet. 

Influencers are the friendly souls that know and love you and want to help get the word out about your latest book. They sign on to “influence” others to pick up your work and read it.

Where as actual book reviewers…do just that. They review the book. Now sometimes that turns out to be a great thing…and sometimes not. Everyone has their own personal perception of what they read. (This goes back to my first post about “target audience”) Usually when people sign up for a blog tour, they are are genuinely hoping to like the book.

So okay…you’ve spent the time gathering the reviewers, setting the time frame for them to post, getting the books into their hands. What could go wrong? This sounds easy.

There is an old adage…when something can go wrong it will. Let’s say you have 40 people posting for your tour. I bet I can find at least 40 things to go wrong *snort-giggle*!

Let’s look at some of the recent serenity sappers that I’ve encountered…

1. Several tours where the books didn’t get delivered on time for the reviewers to read them before needing to post. (Now sometimes that’s not always a killer. A lot of people are willing to post an introduction about the book, and add a review later.)
2. Several people went to the hospital for unexpected surgeries. Fortunately they all turned out fine, but you can hardly demand for someone to post from their hospital bed…even when the hospital does have WiFi!
3. And personal problems galore!
4. A new baby decided to show up 3 weeks early…the little guy just couldn’t wait!
5. Floods, tornadoes, and wildfires…oh my! And let’s not EVEN get into the winter season and major snowstorms. Yanna…I found out that the Post Office doesn’t always deliver in bad weather like they used to in the old days *snort-giggle*
6. And let’s not even discuss one recent book that was published by a Christian publisher…and had NUMEROUS cuss words in it! That one REALLY gave me a headache…and quite a few people who refused to post for it (which I totally understood)
7. And then horror upon horror…don’t even think about the people that for one reason or another don’t like the book. I prefer for people to tell the truth about how they feel about a book without attacking the actual author, but a lot of times Christians are loathe to say anything negative about another Christians work, so they just don’t post…what are you gonna do?

And then sometimes the blog tour fairy smiles upon you and everything goes absolutely right! Auhhh…the feeling doesn’t usually last too long. So enjoy it while you have it. And happy blog touring…it can make you old before your time, and it’s not for the faint at heart!

About the Author...

Bonnie S. Calhoun is the Founder and Publisher of (CFOM) Christian Fiction Online Magazine. She is also the Owner and Director of the (CFBA) Christian Fiction Blog Alliance which is the parent organization for the magazine. And she serves as the current President for (CAN) Christian Authors Network. She is the Northeast Zone Director for (ACFW) American Christian Fiction Writers, and won their Mentor of the Year Award for 2011.

In addition to her passion for spreading the word about Christian fiction, Bonnie is also an author of snarky suspense. Her novel Cooking The Books (A Sloane Templeton Novel) will release from Abingdon Press in April 2012. It is presently available for digital e-reader download if you are a book reviewer. Go to NetGalley.com, Abingdon Press as the publisher.

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Inside a Blog Tour

More from Bonnie S. Calhoun ~ Founder and Publisher of Christian Fiction Online Magazine

Okay so you’ve decided that you are going to take the plunge, gather up a large group of book reviewers, and put on a blog tour for your latest novel. Okey dokey smokey…how hard could it be?

Well let’s see…first you need to decide if you want actual book reviewers or do you just want influencers. There is a world of difference in the two, and never the twain shall meet. 

Influencers are the friendly souls that know and love you and want to help get the word out about your latest book. They sign on to “influence” others to pick up your work and read it.

Where as actual book reviewers…do just that. They review the book. Now sometimes that turns out to be a great thing…and sometimes not. Everyone has their own personal perception of what they read. (This goes back to my first post about “target audience”) Usually when people sign up for a blog tour, they are are genuinely hoping to like the book.

So okay…you’ve spent the time gathering the reviewers, setting the time frame for them to post, getting the books into their hands. What could go wrong? This sounds easy.

There is an old adage…when something can go wrong it will. Let’s say you have 40 people posting for your tour. I bet I can find at least 40 things to go wrong *snort-giggle*!

Let’s look at some of the recent serenity sappers that I’ve encountered…

1. Several tours where the books didn’t get delivered on time for the reviewers to read them before needing to post. (Now sometimes that’s not always a killer. A lot of people are willing to post an introduction about the book, and add a review later.)
2. Several people went to the hospital for unexpected surgeries. Fortunately they all turned out fine, but you can hardly demand for someone to post from their hospital bed…even when the hospital does have WiFi!
3. And personal problems galore!
4. A new baby decided to show up 3 weeks early…the little guy just couldn’t wait!
5. Floods, tornadoes, and wildfires…oh my! And let’s not EVEN get into the winter season and major snowstorms. Yanna…I found out that the Post Office doesn’t always deliver in bad weather like they used to in the old days *snort-giggle*
6. And let’s not even discuss one recent book that was published by a Christian publisher…and had NUMEROUS cuss words in it! That one REALLY gave me a headache…and quite a few people who refused to post for it (which I totally understood)
7. And then horror upon horror…don’t even think about the people that for one reason or another don’t like the book. I prefer for people to tell the truth about how they feel about a book without attacking the actual author, but a lot of times Christians are loathe to say anything negative about another Christians work, so they just don’t post…what are you gonna do?

And then sometimes the blog tour fairy smiles upon you and everything goes absolutely right! Auhhh…the feeling doesn’t usually last too long. So enjoy it while you have it. And happy blog touring…it can make you old before your time, and it’s not for the faint at heart!

About the Author...

Bonnie S. Calhoun is the Founder and Publisher of (CFOM) Christian Fiction Online Magazine. She is also the Owner and Director of the (CFBA) Christian Fiction Blog Alliance which is the parent organization for the magazine. And she serves as the current President for (CAN) Christian Authors Network. She is the Northeast Zone Director for (ACFW) American Christian Fiction Writers, and won their Mentor of the Year Award for 2011.

In addition to her passion for spreading the word about Christian fiction, Bonnie is also an author of snarky suspense. Her novel Cooking The Books (A Sloane Templeton Novel) will release from Abingdon Press in April 2012. It is presently available for digital e-reader download if you are a book reviewer. Go to NetGalley.com, Abingdon Press as the publisher.

Picture from Andy Eklund's Creative Streak.

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Too Many Interview Requests, Not Enough Time?

You're published. Now what? You market, of course. And marketing means interviews. As in requests for interviews.

Bittersweet.

Sweet because it marks the culmination of all your hard work to get published. Sweet because you can share your excitement and encouragement to others who aren’t quite as far down the path. But after the first few, they can become yet another thing to juggle as you work on edits for your contracted manuscript and write toward the deadline for your newest novel. Add in family and friends, social engagements and soccer practice, and you’ve got a problem. A big problem. So it’s easy to feel justified in serving up pat answers to the questions you’ve been asked to answer.

Don’t do it.

Interviews are important. They are a way to connect to your intended audience and gain new readers. To the question, “How long did it take for you to get published?” go ahead and answer, “Six years.” I dare you. Six years.

How profound. How inspiring. How. . .absolutely dull.

After reading the first question of an interview submitted for posting here at The Borrowed Book, I can tell whether the author has really put their heart into the answers or if the interview was approached as a necessary evil. Really good interviews will reward the time and effort you put forth in answering the questions with thought and feeling.

Here are some suggestions to make your interview more memorable.

Target your audience.

Put personality into your answers.

Use a conversational tone.

Good questions = good interviews. If a question doesn’t intrigue you skip to the next one. (Like the time someone asked me if I were an inanimate object, what would I be--huh?)

Check your spelling and punctuation. Nothing screams, “I’m an amateur” like poor grammar skills, and it is not the interviewers job to edit.

Just as in your writing, use strong verbs, colorful similes and metaphors.

If the problem is time, pace yourself. Choose the toughest question and answer it the first day. Edit that answer the next day, then answer another question and repeat the process until the interview is finished. Procrastination is your worst enemy. When you’ve completed all the questions, shoot them to your critique group and ask them to let you know if anything falls flat, doesn’t make sense, or needs to be expanded upon.

You want people to click with you on that first question and stay with you through the entire interview. By then, hopefully, you’ll have won over a new fan. Or two. Or ten.

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