The #1 Question To Ask When You Meet a Famous Author

It might not be what you think

I’ve been pretty damn lucky in my life to meet some literary heroes. Ray Bradbury, Terry Pratchet, and Neil Gaiman, just to name a few. And it took me some time to figure out what to ask them to really get an honest answer that would shed light on why they write what they do.

First off, there are some questions you should NEVER ask. Unless they bring it up themselves and open the discussion to it, asking really personal questions are taboo. When talking about a character dying in their book, an author doesn’t want to be confronted with: “Did you write this because of your mother’s death?”

If they want to talk about those personal connections, they will bring it up. They don’t want a fan of their writing stepping over the line and delving into what they consider private. Sure, you might KNOW that so-and-so’s mother died because it’s in their bio, but that doesn’t mean it should be the topic of a very public conversation in front of an audience.

I know in today’s day and age, when information about anyone is more public than ever, that this might seem like an old-fashioned concept. But trust me — if you want an author to like/remember/talk to you, keep their fiction separate from the nonfiction parts of their lives.

Let’s start out with the basics. Some good warm-up questions that authors are always happy to answer:

1. What are you working on now?
2. What’s a recent book you’d recommend?
3. When’s your next book coming out?
4. What’s your most popular book/series?
5. What other authors have inspired you?

These are pretty standard questions, and most authors are happy to answer them because they help with their book promotions. They also make their publishers happy, and as an author, you always want to keep your publisher happy.

But I didn’t realize until I became an author myself what would matter to me as a writer. Because there’s one thing that many authors will agree with: what becomes popular isn’t always what they consider their best work.

Now, that leads to THE question. If I only have 1 question to ask an author, what would it be? Here it is:

What is your favorite book/story of all the works you’ve written?

And variations of the above: Who is your favorite character that you’ve created? What’s your favorite genre to write in? What’s a genre you’ve never written but would love to try?

While fans might like one story, that’s not always the case for authors. Especially authors who’ve been pegged into a particular hole with a very popular series (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle comes to mind — he hated Sherlock Holmes so much that he tried to kill the character off. However, fans protested, so he had to resurrect Holmes from the dead).

Authors might be pulling the strings, but they’re also putting their heart and soul into every written work. However, some works get a little bit more H&S than others. I always like to read (or re-read) a work when an author tells me it’s the favorite piece they’ve written and see what the message is in the book/story. That message is near and dear to their hearts, and something to look for in other works by them too.

On top of that, this is a personal question about their writing that isn’t stepping over the line. It’s getting authors to become engaged with you because you want to know that THEY consider their best work. And the answer could surprise you.

For example, Ray Bradbury’s answer to that question was The October Country when I met him. Many fans (myself included) might have thought it would be his more popular and well-known Fahrenheit 451. Or my personal favorite by him, The Illustrated Man. And perhaps The October Country wasn’t his favorite book of all time, but his favorite that day when he was asked. But it made me take a look at that book again in a whole new light, which was a pretty cool insight for me to get about one of my all-time favorite authors.

Hopefully, that’s given you a bit more of a peek into the authorly mind. Wishing you happy reading!