On the subject of email interviews
I am very careful with this blog post. I’m going to put the caveat now: there is no ONE person who has triggered this blog post. If you read this and think, “Oh crap, it’s me she’s talking about!” I assure you that you were merely a drop in a bucket that just overflowed.
I am being deluged by email interview requests.
I’m not sure when it started, but it seems to all be coming at me now. I’ve done at least three in the past month, I have one on the to-do list and two more requests came in yesterday. It’s getting to where I am starting to feel a sinking feeling when someone asks me to do one.
Now, before you think I’m a total bitch for whining that someone wants to feature me on their blog and give me exposure, let me please explain what it is about email interviews …
The biggest issue is time. Over the phone or skype, I could spend about 15-20 minutes getting across the information that would take me over an hour to do over email. A good email interview will use about 1000-2000 words. It’s like writing a research paper about yourself. Now multiply that word count by several times a month, on top of an already busy freelance writing schedule.
I’m starting to feel odd when the interviewer tries to sell me on the interview by telling me that they’ve already featured this or that podcaster. I think what they’re trying to tell me is either, a) their blog has cred since they’ve interviewed my peers, or b) my peers/friends have already done it, so I should too. But what I’m starting to feel like, honestly, is being offered sloppy seconds. You tell me you’ve already interviewed Scott Sigler or JC Hutchins, then you’re making me feel like you’re going down the list. “OK, we got the big ones, who’s next? Let’s talk to Lafferty now.” You’re telling me I wasn’t important enough to be the first podcaster you wanted to interview. I’m not saying I HAVE to be the first. And I can easily find out by looking at your blog that I’m not, and that’s fine. It’s the principal of the thing. I should want to do your interview because I want to be on your blog, NOT because Hutchins, Sigler, Wallace, etc have already been there.
Let’s go over some dos and don’ts for email interviews:
DO:
- Make an email contact FIRST. Introduce yourself, explain your familiarity with my work, and ask for the interview. Tell me how long to expect it to be.
- Give me a deadline. I’m not a very good “Inbox Zero” kind of person, and it sometimes takes me days or weeks to get to emails that I know will take a long time to answer (see above).
- Research. Make sure what you’re asking me is something that you can’t find the answer for on my website. Don’t ask me how my job at Lulu is going (I got laid off a year and a half ago) or how Heaven is doing in sales (it isn’t in print).
- Be literate. If you don’t send me well-worded questions with proper spelling and grammar, I don’t have an incentive to give the same courtesy to you.
- Tell me what site you are writing for. “My site” doesn’t give me a lot of info.
DON’T:
- Tell me how awesome another podcaster/writer is. I know I’m not the end all be all, but if you’re interviewing me, i want to FEEL that way. Why would you interview me otherwise? (Unless it’s an interview about “What’s Scott Sigler REALLY like?” And hoo boy, I could tell some stories…)
- Send twenty+ questions. Remember, I’m going to try to present myself the best I can be, and a ton of questions will take forever to do. Think about your angle, think about your questions, and send 5-10, tops.
- Send a bunch of questions just assuming I’ll answer them.
- Ask yes or no questions. Granted, that’s an easy out for me, but if I feel rushed, I’ll take it. Ask good questions that will inspire good answers.
Here’s something to consider. A Skype setup to record is fairly easy now (I’m not going to tell you how- Google is your friend), Gizmo even easier (but not as good of quality). Even if you want to put an interview on your blog, you might consider offering to record the interview and call your guest. The tone will be much more conversational, and it will take far less time on the interviewee’s end.
And no, from now on, I will not be turning down email interviews, but I may be pickier as to what I agree to do. I appreciate people wanting to feature me on their blog, truly. Please don’t make this post deter you from asking for an interview, I just want to make sure people know what they’re asking, and they ask it in a way that streamlines it for both of us.
Originally published at The Murverse. You can comment here or there.