Ask an Author

Goodreads just started a neat new feature – “Ask the Author”. It allows readers to ask any author, who has turned on this feature, anything. The author then has the choice to answer or not and do so whenever they want. Their answers will be broadcast to the person who asked, their friends, and to everyone following the author as well.

I think this sounds like a great idea on so many levels.

First of all; a reader can get questions answered directly from the author. They can ask anything from ‘why the heck did the hero do this just then?’ to ‘how does magic work in this world?’. Anything at all that is bothering them or that they want to know more about.

To me, this is really nice because I don’t have a FAQ page on my website. I’ve thought of putting one up, but I don’t know what Qs would be FA (what Questions would be Frequently Asked). I’ve got a page that tells all about the Vallen world and explains everything—accessible to those who have either of my Storm books through a link in the back. So, answering readers questions on Goodreads will be a great way to find out what questions readers have and then from that I can build a FAQ page and put it up on my website.

Another great thing about this new feature is that it gives me (and all authors) another way to connect with readers. I love talking with readers, finding out what they like and don’t like in the books they read (both mine and those of other authors). And, of course, I love talking about my writing—I mean, what writer doesn’t?  So, if people use this, I’ll have another opportunity to speak directly to readers—yay!

And finally, because my answers will be broadcast to not only the person who asks, but to their friends, those people, who may not have heard of me and my writing, will do so and know that their friend has read my books. Free advertising! My name gets put in front of people who may not have heard of me—always a good thing!

My answers are also sent to people who already follow me. A gentle reminder that I’m still here and still writing, in case they’d forgotten. On seeing an answer I give, maybe they’ll pop over to my page or my website to see what’s new with me (if they don’t follow me on Facebook), or they’ll think of a question for me that they never asked because they didn’t want to email me directly. Now they’ll know that I’m still here, still writing, being active and answering questions. This is all good!

So, thank you Goodreads! I love your new feature! Now, I’ve just got to hope that there are some questions for me to answer…

What do you all think of this new program? Like it? Hate it? Don’t see the point since you’ve never felt shy about emailing an author directly with any question you might have?