Interviews

The last few days I've been trying to get ready for a giant blog-fest that some other authors and I are putting together to promote our books. (I know, I'm a little early--but hey, I've got to get this started sometime!) Anyhow, as I've been attempting to pull together interviews for other people, I've come to realize something: interviews are HARD! (Duh, I know, but still! I didn't think it would be that way, though I really don't know why now that I've had a chance to think about it....)

So, here's the thing. I love reading interview from authors I know and love. But if I've never heard of a person, I'm less inclined to spend the time reading through a whole lot of words. This may not sound very nice, but I figure I've got a limited amount of time to read blogs during the day, so I'd rather spend it on something I like. SO, that means, I want to have interviews that people will actually want to read :) A few things that I've noticed will attract my attention are:

-Interviews that are short and sweet. Answers that run on for long paragraphs--lets face it--I'm going to skim unless it's funny. I'm not funny. Therein lies a problem...

-A killer book description (or at least one that interests me :). If I want to read the book from the blurb, I'm much more inclined to want to read about the author.

-A contest. Yeah, I'm a sucker for them. If there's a chance I can win something I want, I'll read it.

As for the content itself, I tend to like reading about how a story idea came to be, and what sorts of things motivate people to write. When I was answering the interview questions for others, I tried to keep this in mind. I hope they sound okay. It's really kind of strange to think of anyone wanting to read more about my books, let alone me. Guess it's something I'm going to have to get used to, or at least get better at!

So, what sorts of things attract you to an author interview? What keeps you reading?