Today is so exciting because it’s Insecure Writers Support Group day. IWSG was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh for the purpose of encouraging other writers—or anyone who’d like to learn the craft. Writers can ask questions and express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. We’re a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds. We invite you to follow other IWSG members here or by using the twitter hashtag #IWSG. You can also go to our Facebook page and Instagram. We’re awesome!
Co-hosts for the January 2 posting of the IWSG are Patricia Lynne, Lisa Buie-Collard, Kim Lajevardi, and Fundy Blue!
Our January 2nd question is What are your favorite and least favorite questions people ask you about your writing?
The question I dislike the most but hear often is are you still writing? That’s a sure sign they haven’t Googled me, looked me up on Amazon and they certainly aren’t reading me. Yeah, yeah, I know I’m putting all the work on them. The way I see it (and like it) is if they do what they’re supposed to do (track me down) then I won’t have to do what I should be doing (promote myself and my books!) I really have a rough time promoting myself.
Questions I’d like to hear are:
Hey, I was thinking about you the other day and Googled your name. You’re really out there, girl! How did I miss all the excitement in your life? Now that would make me laugh out loud! I might even strut a little.
Or this question:
I can’t get your first book out of my mind. It was such a fun novel, I really loved all the Elvis trivia. Have you thought about writing a sequel?
Yes, a prequel and a sequel, but no, my Elvis days are over.
Answering questions about our work is part of the job–regardless of whether they’re good questions or bad questions. Promotion, advertising, doing interviews and blog hops is expected. Every contract I’ve signed has included a paragraph about promoting the project.
Having interviewed authors for Southern Writers Magazine for almost seven years, I noticed how some authors have a knack (a personality) for answering questions and others come across dull as dirt. Maybe the dull ones are trying to come across as serious professionals. Then again, maybe they just have no personality or humor about them. Answering questions seems like an easy task but as an interviewer, I believe there’s an art to it. We all need to learn how to answer questions in a way that encourages the reader to find us interesting and want to know us better. We should put personality in our answers.
In 2019, I hope to write, sell and answer a lot of questions. How about you?
