JOURNAL OF A DEBUT AUTHOR - CHAPTER SIX: What on earth is an Author Questionnaire?

This post talks about the author questionnaire, which was something I had to fill out very early on in the publication process.

It is basically an information request from a publisher, to see what (or who) you know that might be helpful for your publicity or marketing, and also to see what interesting stories there may be behind your work.

And my understanding is, the more they know about you the better!

So what is an Author Questionnaire?

To be honest I had never heard of an author questionnaire previously, but it seems when you sign a contract, your publisher wants to know everything they can about you, your novel, and any relevant or connected background information or connections you may have that will help them promote you and your novel.
This includes any interesting stories you may have about the inspiration behind the novel, any personal connections to your story that you’d be willing to share, and of course, do you know anyone important who can help promote the book?
 
I guess this is an instance where it is very helpful if you have been active in your chosen field, engaging with your community (for me that would be the #LoveOzYA community online and through book clubs / author events etc.). And you know what? The fact that I had met some local authors and knew some people really engaged in the #LoveOzYA community really helped me here.

​The one thing I am learning over and over as I take this journey to publication, is how important networking is, and what an advantage you end up having if you’re lucky enough to be in a position to meet and network with others in your community. Of course this may be over the net if you live somewhere regional, and that is fine too, but I am really coming to realise that connections are really important in a lot of ways, both for support, advice and friendship, and also, for those moments your publisher asks if you know anyone who might be willing to read and offer a cover endorsement on your book.

To be honest, it wasn't super easy to fill out my author questionnaire, simply because I hadn't thought of my book in these terms, or myself either, but it was a great learning curve, and an interesting experience.
 

Author Questionnaire Contents.

So if you are interested I popped down some example topics my publisher wanted to know as follows (please note I haven't ripped these straight from the questionnaire, but this is basically the kind of stuff they wanted to know, just reworded slightly):
 

• Book description (key selling points, aims, special merits etc.)

 

• Author background in relation to book (why did you write it, any interesting stories here?)

 

• Any current events that tie into your book?

 

• List any media or online platforms you think might be relevant for promoting your book. (local media, radio etc.)

 

• Are you well known in any communities (here or overseas) that may give you an advantage (societies, fields of expertise, conferences, events etc.)

 

• List the keywords associated with your book (that readers may use in search engines!)

And there you go!
So this was a shorter post today, but I have a lot of these coming, and in the leadup to my debut's release on 01 March, I'll be posting them a lot faster and closer together, so if you are enjoying them (yay!) there is a whole lot more to come.
Thank you for reading!

​Tell me your thoughts, had you ever heard of an author questionnaire or had experience with one?
I'd love to know!