easy content

Interview an Expert

Looking for content for your blog or social media platform? Interview an expert. This increases your credibility and reach as well as that of your interviewee. Win-win.

Who?

  • Another author in your genre
  • A technical expert on a topic relative to your books
  • Someone who does the same job your main character does
  • An expert in the craft of writing and publishing (such as your publisher, editor, audiobook narrator, or someone like JoAnna Penn)

How

  • Identify someone that your ideal readers would find interesting. See our article titled “Identify Your Reader Persona” for more on this.
  • Contact them via email and ask, politely and professionally, if they’d be willing to do an interview. Introduce yourself, explain why you’ve chosen them, and include the medium (email, Zoom, etc.). Even if they say no, you’ve made a new contact.
  • Do the interview itself via email.
    • You can send your questions and the interviewee can answer at their leisure.
    • You and the interviewee get a chance to edit it before it goes live.
    • This is especially helpful if the topic is technical.
  • Do the interview via Zoom or Skype.
    • On Zoom, you can live stream or record it for later posting (or both).
    • Do email them the questions you plan to ask in advance. No ambushing of your interviewee.

Tips & Best Practices

  • It does not have to be long. One question? Two? Ten? It’s up to you.
  • If you choose to go longer, remember that you can break it up into parts and feed it out to your audience in multiple posts. Even more content!
  • If you’re shy/introverted, start with someone you know. With practice, it will get easier.
  • Email is more professional than a Facebook message, if you have access to an email address. If not, a social media message is your second option. Be sure to check LinkedIn, where you may find better contact information.
  • Ask in advance whether the interviewee has any topics they’d like to cover. Maybe they have a new book out that they want to promote.
  • Ask your interviewee for a bio, web link, and a photo that you can use.
  • Be respectful of and grateful for your interviewee’s time. They are busy people.
  • Let the interviewee know where you’ll be posting it, and send them the link(s) once it’s posted. They will share it too!
  • Use the same questions for multiple guests. Depending on your topic, this may or may not work, but it will save time.
  • Post it everywhere you have a presence: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, GoodReads, Amazon, etc.
  • Friend/like your interviewee everywhere so that now you’re linked through social media.
  • Use email templates so you don’t have to re-invent the wheel every time. See our article “Use Email Templates” for more on this.


Did this inspire any ideas? Share them in a comment.