On Wrangling Author Interviews

People — I need people! 

That’s my conclusion after investing many hours searching the internet, making phone calls and sending emails in attempts to line up interviews with book authors.

In some instances, I suspect the effort required to help promote an author’s work sometimes takes me more time than the author spent writing a single chapter! Why? Book authors who have hit the big time have people — publicists, agents, editors and personal assistants — and connecting with any of those people often is difficult, though most authors I've encountered do want to promote their work by talking to reporters like me who enjoy writing about books. 

For four decades, I’ve interviewed authors about their latest work, their process, their future projects and even their personal lives. In the past, I loved talking with Phil Rosenthal. Read my interview with Louise Penny here; my article on Daniel Pink is here; and here’s another favorite, my interview with Mary Pipher. And that's just a few examples.

Occasionally, scheduling interviews is a snap, and I easily meet my deadline. Sometimes, publicists and agents even come to me, requesting that I interview an author they represent. Other times, I spend weeks, even months, trying to schedule an author interview. 

Few of these writers are ever aware of just how many guard dogs I’ve had to disarm to get the interview, and many have sent me lovely notes after we’ve spoken — often thanking me for having read their books before I interviewed them, which apparently is rare. 

Where I Spied Anne Rice's Secret Message to Readers

I know that from personal experience. I’ve written books, 15 of them, for national and regional publishers. Once when I was a guest on a morning TV talk show, the host kept flipping through my newest book — clearly the first time he had held it — and remarked repeatedly how great the photos were. As it was morning, I was barely awake, or I would have pointed out I didn’t take any of the pictures.

Reading a book before an author interview always pays off, for some obvious reasons and others as well. I once spied a sentence in a book that seemed to directly address a recent public admission from Anne Rice about her pen name. When I interviewed her, I mentioned that sentence. She said I was right, and added that I was the only person to ever ask her about it. 

Finding that subtle announcement years ago was easier than securing some interviews today. At one time, most book authors included an email address on their websites. That’s no longer so, though some do provide a contact form. I’ve filled out dozens of the forms, and rarely hear back. Apparently, many authors’ personal assistants do not monitor interview requests sent through contact forms on websites. 

On one form I submitted, I pointed out that the author’s name was misspelled on the site, but no one cared enough to answer — and it hasn't been fixed, either. 

Here's the Number to Call to Order a Book

A phone call to a publisher’s editorial division used to work well. The individual who answered (gosh — remember those days?) would kindly provide the name and email address or phone number for the author’s editor, or, at the least, contact information for the publicity department. Today, few publishers make public the phone number for the editorial division, but they all are happy to offer a number to call so you can place an order for the author’s book.  

Here's one of my secrets: Often, authors express thanks to various editors on the acknowledgements pages of a new book, and that's a great place to score a name or two. That said, editors and publicists seem to change jobs often, so even when I find an email addresses online, a lot of the time they are out of date, and my interview request emails bounce back. 

Book Authors and Your People: If I can’t reach an editor, a publicist, an assistant or the author, how can I schedule a time to talk and help promote the book? I suspect part of the problem is the volume of interview requests received by the people who work for authors, especially famous ones. Of course, sometimes, when I’ve established contact with exactly the right person, I get a flat “no’ for an answer — though on at least one occasion, that decision was reversed.  

After repeatedly turning down an interview request, an agent called early one morning to offer me 15 minutes on the phone with the author — right then. Ironically, my “I-just-got-up” voice matched author/playwright/actor Harvey Fierstein’s distinctive gravelly rasp, but I got the story. 

Promises I Hope Authors' People Will Keep

Some publicists try to satisfy inquiring reporters (and bloggers and influencers and other social media stars) with releases that feature a canned Q&A session with an author. When I was offered one recently, I replied that parroting a release would not suffice, as I had a contract from a publication that requires original work from professional journalists. 

That seemed to satisfy the publicist enough to offer me an email interview, where I submit questions and the author responds via email. That’s never ideal, as it isn’t a real conversation, and offers no opportunity for spontaneous follow-up questions to surprising answers. Plus, I wonder why publicists haven't sorted out that email interviews always take authors more time than a 20-minute phone interview.

Still, I accepted, I crafted five meaty questions and I told the publicist the author had a month to respond. That deadline has come and gone, but I remain hopeful. On June 12, I requested an interview with another book author. I’ve now “met” electronically seven different people on her team, and two of them have hinted that soon I may be granted an interview. Stay tuned! 

All the barriers in place that keep writers from interviews with book authors seem so counter-intuitive to me — but maybe I’m looking at this the wrong way. Instead of trying to wrangle interviews, perhaps I need people of my own to do it for me.