Author spotlights were everywhere about 15 years ago. They were a simple, community-driven way for writers to share their work without shelling out for expensive ads. There was significantly less money in the indie space then that there is now, and as we all know, there’s not much money in it now! So these things really helped.
The way is worked is that someone would interview an author, share that interview on their blog, both would share and as others to share, and it amplified outreach. It would also often result in someone who went to read an interview of someone they know reading interviews for other authors as well, which helped keep word going. We would also hold blog tours, which were groups of about six or so who’d alternate the author of the week. The group would all focus on sharing one author (and, of course, sharing others was fine, too, bit coordinating to all be sharing about at least one at the same time was the goal), again amplifying outreach.
I was working on setting up blog tours, but given what recent events have uncovered, starting up author spotlights in general for authors and others to share would give more authors a chance to be seen faster. I’m pretty certain many of us need a positive boost and to find like-minded authors to read rather than to risk funding…y’know.
So here’s the deal:
Who can participate: Any author, published or or soon-to-publish. The focus really is on indie, but honestly, trad pubs don’t exactly spend much on most of their authors, and sometimes nothing. And if you’re an aspiring author, contact me still. I would love to have something like an Aspiring Sunday or something, if there’s interest, since being heard at all is a bit emotional and mental boost for aspiring authors, too.
What matters: Your values. You must be firmly anti-fascist, anti-Nazi, and free of bigotry. Your book doesn’t have to feature LGBTQIA+ or BIPOC characters, but you must stand for equality and inclusion.
What doesn’t matter: Genre, tone, or theme. Romance, romantasy, horror, rom-com, dark fantasy, literary fiction…bring it on. We’re all writers and we can all lift each other up. I will, however, use discretion since I’ve seen plenty of authors try to shoehorn certain types of books in where they don’t belong. If your book is technically a romance, but it features Nazis in a positive light or is based on fanfic of someone like JK Rowling, that’s a NO. I will watch for covert fascism and bigortry. If you write those things, you will not find your readers here.
AI?: This is a tough one. I am firmly anti-AI, but don’t want people lying about AI-use. That leads to witch-hunts. So, while this author spotlight is focused on writers who aren’t using AI, if you are, contact me, and we’ll figure something, perhaps a monthly shared spotlight or something. I’d rather have a regular feature that has AI-disclosure so that consumers can make informed decisions than to have it concealed. Most authors I know are anti-AI, and I hope you all will understand why I would even consider anything other than entirely blocking out people who use AI. I really, really want to encourage disclosure. That would actually benefit all of us.
How long will it take?: Depending on interest, it could be a liiiiittle bit of time and I am in school (English degree…until AI can along and I pivoted to art…until AI can along and I pivoted to music…until AI can along and fuck…). But I also am fortunate to not need to work a regular job. So it could also be pretty quick. If there’s enough interest, I’ll gladly set aside several hours each week to work on a week’s woth of posts and schedule one to auto-post each day.
How It Works
- Contact Me to send me an email if you’d like to be featured. If you use AI, please let me know first, and we will figure out how to proceed.
- Choose any number of questions from the list below, or anything else you’d like to be asked that’s not below, and your answers. Let’s personalize this to each author.
- I’ll reply to confirm I received your email, and may have some follow-up questions.
- Before anything is published, you’ll have final approval of the post.
You’re welcome to include an author photo or any other image you’d like to share, links to your website, Threads, Instagram, or other social platforms, links to where readers can buy or preorder your book(s), and anything else. Let me know if there’s a specific tone you’d like for your feature, e.g. a whimsical tone, more formal, etc. If no tone is specified as preferred, I’ll likely default to conversational.
That’s it! Simple and free. Anything else would go against the spirit of authors helping authors.
Basic questions:
- Name and pen name(s). Do let me now if you don’t want your name to be shared and would only like to be known by your pen name.
- What genre(s) do you write?
- Are you published, do you have a debut scheduled, or are you aspiring?
- If published or have an upcoming, where can your work be found?
- What are your socials that you would like others to follow?
- If you are comfortable sharing, where are you from?
Some suggested interview questions (bold italics are my favorites):
- What first sparked the idea for your current or most recent project?
- What theme or question were you wrestling with as you wrote?
- Which book, film, or life event most influenced this story?
- Which scene changed the most from first draft to final, and why?
- Which character surprised you by doing something unplanned?
- What craft choice (POV, structure, voice) are you proudest of?
- Share a strange or delightful research discovery.
- What part of the process pushed you closest to giving up?
- How did you move past that obstacle?
- What’s the biggest misconception you had about writing or publishing?
- What do you hope readers feel after the last page?
- What’s the most valuable critique you’ve ever received?
- What is your writing routine?
- How has writing changed how you see yourself?
- If you could speak to yourself at the start of this book, what would you say?
- Share a favorite line or passage and why it matters.
- What part of the process turned out more fun than expected?
- What story or idea is tugging at you now?
- What has writing taught you about persistence or creativity?
- How would you like this work, or your body of work, to be remembered?
- What interview questions would you like to be asked?
If you are comfortable and you think it would fit the tone of your feature, please consider sharing some fun facts about yourself. Do you have a special interest in home-brewed kombucha? Have you spent a summer trying to not use the word “the”? Have you ever done a nekkid bike ride in Portland or San Francisco? Are you allergic to cats, but have five anyway? Or do you have six instead, like me?
That’s everything you need to know. Now it’s your turn! Reach out, pick your questions, and let us growing circle of authors who believe in lifting one another up. Our writing community thrives when we boost each other, and I can’t wait to share your story!