Launching Today: Goodreads Q&A! Ask Your Favorite Author or Fellow Readers Questions on Goodreads!


If you could ask Margaret Atwood, Khaled Hosseini, or James Patterson anything, what would it be? Maybe you want to know their writing inspiration, what they read as a guilty pleasure, or you have a burning question about one of their bestsellers. Now's your chance because these three are among the 54 major authors who are helping us launch an exciting new program on Goodreads—Ask the Author!
Ask the Author allows readers to ask questions and get answers from their favorite authors. At Goodreads, we believe the relationship between authors and readers is very special. Authors tell stories and create worlds that spark the imaginations of their readers. Now readers can deepen that connection by asking questions about the new worlds, ideas, and people they've discovered in books.
Starting today, you can submit your questions directly to any of the 54 authors participating in the Ask the Author launch. (Full list below!) If an author answers your question you'll be notified, and every answer will be shared on the author's page so that other readers can enjoy them, too. In the coming weeks, all of the 100,000+ authors in the Goodreads Author program will be able to opt in to the feature. (To check whether an author is participating, visit his or her author profile and look for the "Ask the Author" section.)
We asked international bestselling author Dan Brown a question of our own about his thoughts on Ask the Author. His answer: "One of the most rewarding things about being an author is hearing from readers. I love engaging in dialogue with them, and I'm excited to have a brand-new way to stay truly connected with my fans. I'm looking forward to discussing writing, secret codes, ancient mysteries, and anything else that comes up with the Goodreads community. Then, of course, I will need to get back to writing because the most common reader question I get seems to be: 'When is the next book coming, Dan?'"
Reader Q&A
Of course, fellow readers are an endless source of book knowledge, too! So, we're also starting to roll out Reader Q&A over the coming weeks to provide our passionate, opinionated, and curious community with another way to connect over the love of books.
Reader Q&A for The Goldfinch

Reader Q&A for The Power of Habit

Reader Q&A for Night Film

Once Reader Q&A is activated for you, you'll find a new Reader Q&A section on every book page, just below your friends' reviews. When other readers start responding to a question, Goodreads members can click "like" on the answers they find most interesting, and the best ones will rise to the top.
To try out Reader Q&A, go to the book page for your favorite book or a book you've just read and submit a question for the Goodreads community. You can also look for questions to answer! If Reader Q&A is not yet showing for you, it will be coming shortly!
We'll be opening up Ask the Author to all Goodreads Authors in the coming weeks, but right now you can ask a question of any of the following authors:
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERS
![]() Author of The House of Spirits [image error] | ![]() Author of The Handmaid's Tale [image error] |
![]() Author of The Da Vinci Code [image error] | ![]() Author of The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success [image error] |
![]() Author of The Kite Runner [image error] | ![]() Author of Kiss the Girls [image error] |
FICTION
![]() Author of The Hours [image error] | ![]() Author of Firefly Lane [image error] |
![]() Author of The Color of Water [image error] | ![]() Author of What Alice Forgot [image error] |
![]() Author of Me Before You [image error] | ![]() Author of One More Thing [image error] |
![]() Author of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore [image error] | ![]() Author of Annihilation [image error] |
![]() Author of Red Hook Road [image error] | ![]() Author of Salvage the Bones [image error] |
NONFICTION
![]() Author of How to Cook Everything [image error] | ![]() Author of Another Great Day at Sea [image error] |
![]() Author of The 4-Hour Work Week [image error] | ![]() Author of Emotional Intelligence [image error] |
![]() Author of Third World America [image error] | ![]() Author of Bird by Bird [image error] |
![]() Author of Under the Tuscan Sun [image error] | ![]() Author of The Omnivore's Dilemma [image error] |
![]() Author of The Happiness Project [image error] |
YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN'S
![]() Author of Speak [image error] | ![]() Author of Tithe [image error] |
![]() Author of Just Listen [image error] | ![]() Author of Reasons to Breathe [image error] |
![]() Author of Angelfall [image error] | ![]() Author of If I Stay [image error] |
![]() Author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid [image error] | ![]() Author of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks [image error] |
MYSTERY & THRILLERS
![]() Author of Absolute Power [image error] | ![]() Author of Paranoia [image error] |
![]() Author of Relic [image error] | ![]() Author of Before I Go to Sleep [image error] |
ROMANCE
![]() Author of The Look of Love [image error] | ![]() Author of A Hunger Like No Other [image error] |
![]() Author of Reflected in You [image error] | ![]() Author of Just the Way You Are [image error] |
![]() Author of Beautiful Bastard [image error] |
FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION
![]() Author of Jedi Search [image error] | ![]() Author of Storm Front [image error] |
![]() Author of Transmetropolitan, Vol. 1 [image error] |
![]() Author of The Magicians [image error] |
![]() Author of Guilty Pleasures [image error] | ![]() Author of The Butlerian Jihad [image error] |
![]() Author of Wool [image error] | ![]() Author of Styxx [image error] |
![]() Author of Lost Girls [image error] | ![]() Author of Vampire Academy [image error] |
![]() Author of Old Man's War [image error] | ![]() Author of Theft of Swords [image error] |
Is your favorite author missing from the list above? Let us know which author you'd like to ask a question of in the comments below and we'll pass on the message!
Comments Showing 1-50 of 320 (320 new)
I love this, but more authors would be REALLY good like the latest and most recent authors of the very popular books of the YA gen:) I would love to talk to Veronica Roth, Cornelia Funke or even Suzanne Collins or Tim O' Rouke or even J.K Rowling I know many people would love the chance to speak to these writers too.

I'd love to ask questions of some of those writers too! Right now this feature is only live for the authors listed in the post, but we'll open it for all authors in the coming weeks. At that point, someone like Veronica Roth might also take advantage of Ask the Author.



Depends on who they are. PR depts. of big publishing companies will do that for any authors that want it. Soon Fiverr will offer to do it for SPAs I'm sure. (view spoiler)


Also:
Dave Eggers
Jonathan Franzen
Salman Rushdie
NoViolet Bulawayo
Maria Semple
Edwidge Danticat
Haruki Murakami
Also I second the Markus Zusak suggestion


-kristen ashley **********
-darynda jones
-sarah rees brennan
-stephanie meyer
-samantha young

Hey Aditi! This feature is enabled for Goodreads Authors, those who have signed up for personal accounts on the site. These answers will all come from the authors themselves, not from Goodreads staff.

Harlan Coben
Karen rose
Karin slaughter
Neal shusterman
Nicholas sparks
Lurlene McDaniel
Andrew gross
Lisa black
Lisa Gardner
Mary burton
John green
Julie Gregory
Allison Brennan
Jeff Abbott



At least the 'ask readers' one sounds like it. /:
I don't like that sort of thing. You don't learn anything from letting other people do your work.
Otherwise, nice idea.

I don't think Goodreads will hoodwink us into believing some cock and bull story that the famous authors will reply and instead the staff replies to our questions. Savage, i'd call it. I think this Q&A or whatever is genuine, don't you think so Christine?

Junot Diaz
Ellen Oh
Marjorie Liu
Marie Lu
Lydia Kang
Sandra Cisneros
Juan Gabriel Vasquez
Jorge Franco
Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Cindy Pon
Natsuo Kirino
Just to name a few.

-JK Rowling
-Rick Riordan
-Veronica Roth
-John Green
-Markus Zusak
-Neil Gaiman
-Katheryn Stockett
-S.E. Hinton
-and William Shakespeare. (Just kidding.)

So JK Rowling and the others who have not an account will not answer.
I would like to see Phillipa Gregory, J.K. Rowling, and Diana Gabaldon please :)
Thanks for this opportunity Goodreads, there are already so many great authors here!
Thanks for this opportunity Goodreads, there are already so many great authors here!

So JK Rowling and the others who have not an account will not answer."
Yes, this is how the feature works! All of the above authors are members of Goodreads.
Also, first.