Interview Guidelines

All author interviews on this blog are now done as a DIY style of interview. Please read the following instructions and follow them precisely.

I'm primarily looking for interviews from authors who write fantasy, paranormal, science fiction or horror, or any of their sub-genres. Poets, writers of historical fiction, mystery and thriller writers are also acceptable. Due to the general tone and theme of my blog, I do not post interviews from authors of children's books, non-fiction, self-help, general fiction, women's fiction, erotica, or romance (except for paranormal romance). You do not have to send a query if you meet the criteria, but if you are unsure as to whether I will post an interview or have any questions, feel free to email (see below) before attempting the DIY Interview.

How To Do The DIY Interview

From the list below, please choose nine questions in total, including the mandatory question.

Answer the questions and click Contact to email them to me in either Word format (.doc or .docx) or Notepad (.txt). If neither of these formats are available to you, you may put the interview in the body of the email. I do not like PDF, please do not send me PDF files (they are a pain to copy and paste to Blogger).

When emailing the finished interview, put the word "interview" in the subject line, and please attach your interview file to the email. Attach an author photo and/or a photo of a book cover separately to the email. Do not embed them in the interview file. In the body of the email, include your author name, a short (one or two paragraphs) author biography, and tell me what genre you write in. Any relevant links you want added to the interview can be put in the email, or the interview file itself. Any book blurbs may also be included in the body of the email or interview file.

Please DO NOT include any of the headers, or ANY part of the guidelines in your interview. Just the questions and answers, please. 

Please include the ENTIRE question. DO NOT abbreviate it.

I'll try to coordinate any accepted interviews as soon as possible onto my schedule. I'm willing to accommodate any scheduling for book releases, virtual tours, etc.  Just let me know if you want to have your interview posted on a specific date or time frame.

Please Note: I don't feature giveaways, unless they are part of an interview, book spotlight, or a guest post, and I no longer take review requests.

DIY Interview Questions:

Mandatory question:

Why don’t you begin by sharing a little about yourself.


Optional Questions:

Could you tell us a bit about your latest book?

How long have you been writing, and how many books have you published to date?

Of all the books you've written, do you have a favourite?

Do you have a favourite character? If so, why?

Why did you decide to write in the __________ genre? (Please fill in blank with the genre you write)

What is the hardest part of writing __________ fiction? (Please fill in blank with the genre you write)

What do you enjoy most about writing in the __________ genre? (Please fill in blank with the genre you write)

You write in several genres. Do you have a favourite? And if so, why?

Who is your intended readership?

Are there particular challenges in writing for your core readership?

Why did you write this book? What was your inspiration?

What did you enjoy most about writing your book?

What did you find most challenging about writing your book?

Did anything surprise you about the process of writing your book?

What did you hope to accomplish by publishing your book?

When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

Can you tell us about your writing process? Where do your ideas originate? Do you have a certain writing routine?

What is your greatest challenge as a writer?

Do you have a favourite author, or writing inspiration?

How do you research your books?

What advice would you give beginning writers?

Do you have any amusing writing stories or anecdotes to share?

What do you like to do when you're not writing? Any hobbies?

How did you become interested in ____________? (Please fill in blank with your subject of interest)

Are you working on another book?

What’s your next project? Any upcoming book secrets you care to reveal?



I also do character interviews, called Fireside Chats. If you have a paranormal, fantasy, or horror fictional character you would like interviewed by my fictional interviewer, Richard Dale, drop me an email at this link: Contact Me 

You can find an example of my character interviews here: An Interview with Balthazar

I also offer live 15-20 minute live video book chats on my Between the Pages show over on Facebook and YouTube. Message me through my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/afstewartauthor/, to arrange a chat.