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
Isabel AllendeAuthor of The House of Spirits [image error] | Margaret AtwoodAuthor of The Handmaid's Tale [image error] |
Dan BrownAuthor of The Da Vinci Code [image error] | Deepak ChopraAuthor of The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success [image error] |
Khaled HosseiniAuthor of The Kite Runner [image error] | James PattersonAuthor of Kiss the Girls [image error] |
FICTION
Michael CunninghamAuthor of The Hours [image error] | Kristin HannahAuthor of Firefly Lane [image error] |
James McBrideAuthor of The Color of Water [image error] | Liane MoriartyAuthor of What Alice Forgot [image error] |
Jojo MoyesAuthor of Me Before You [image error] | B.J. NovakAuthor of One More Thing [image error] |
Robin SloanAuthor of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore [image error] | Jeff VanderMeerAuthor of Annihilation [image error] |
Ayelet WaldmanAuthor of Red Hook Road [image error] | Jesmyn WardAuthor of Salvage the Bones [image error] |
NONFICTION
Mark BittmanAuthor of How to Cook Everything [image error] | Geoff DyerAuthor of Another Great Day at Sea [image error] |
Tim FerrissAuthor of The 4-Hour Work Week [image error] | Daniel GolemanAuthor of Emotional Intelligence [image error] |
Arianna HuffingtonAuthor of Third World America [image error] | Anne LamottAuthor of Bird by Bird [image error] |
Frances MayesAuthor of Under the Tuscan Sun [image error] | Michael PollanAuthor of The Omnivore's Dilemma [image error] |
Gretchen RubinAuthor of The Happiness Project [image error] |
YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN'S
Laurie Halse AndersonAuthor of Speak [image error] | Holly BlackAuthor of Tithe [image error] |
Sarah DessenAuthor of Just Listen [image error] | Rebecca DonovanAuthor of Reasons to Breathe [image error] |
Susan EeAuthor of Angelfall [image error] | Gayle FormanAuthor of If I Stay [image error] |
Jeff KinneyAuthor of Diary of a Wimpy Kid [image error] | E. LockhartAuthor of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks [image error] |
MYSTERY & THRILLERS
David BaldacciAuthor of Absolute Power [image error] | Joseph FinderAuthor of Paranoia [image error] |
Douglas PrestonAuthor of Relic [image error] | S.J. WatsonAuthor of Before I Go to Sleep [image error] |
ROMANCE
Bella AndreAuthor of The Look of Love [image error] | Kresley ColeAuthor of A Hunger Like No Other [image error] |
Sylvia DayAuthor of Reflected in You [image error] | Barbara FreethyAuthor of Just the Way You Are [image error] |
Christina LaurenAuthor of Beautiful Bastard [image error] |
FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION
Kevin J. AndersonAuthor of Jedi Search [image error] | Jim ButcherAuthor of Storm Front [image error] |
Warren EllisAuthor of Transmetropolitan, Vol. 1 [image error] |
Lev GrossmanAuthor of The Magicians [image error] |
Laurell K. HamiltonAuthor of Guilty Pleasures [image error] | Brian HerbertAuthor of The Butlerian Jihad [image error] |
Hugh HoweyAuthor of Wool [image error] | Sherrilyn KenyonAuthor of Styxx [image error] |
Bob MayerAuthor of Lost Girls [image error] | Richelle MeadAuthor of Vampire Academy [image error] |
John ScalziAuthor of Old Man's War [image error] | Michael J. SullivanAuthor 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 201-250 of 320 (320 new)
I would like to see JR Ward on the list of authors next time. I love this Q&A feature. This is great!
Lucia wrote: "Saakshi wrote: "Christine wrote: "Well maybe they will"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 re..."
Of course the Goodreads staff aren't going to publicly lie and pretend to be the authors. They would be caught instantly, sued, and maybe worse. It's a big deal to impersonate someone else, why would they do that? It'd be too easy to catch for one thing.
Not to mention, of course, they wouldn't have the answers these authors would provide.
I am trying to find out what three books are included in Dakota trilogy (Dakota Series, #1-3) by Debbie Macomber. I have copies of Dakota Born and Dakota Home, books 1 &2 (but referred to as the Buffalo Valley trilogy inside the books).
Can you also include the following authors, Lori Spielman and Kate De Goldi? Kate De Goldi is a young adult author from New Zealand.
Is there any way I could ask a question to either (or both) Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell?(I think they belong either in Young Adult & Children, or Fantasy & SF.)
I love the following authors can you try to get these Richelle Mead- Georgina Kincaid Series Richelle Mead
Suzanne Collins- Hunger Games Trilogy Suzanne Collins - The Hunger games Mockingjay
Veronica Roth- Divergent Trilogy Veronica Roth
Jacquelyn Mitchard- The Midnight Twins series Jacquelyn Mitchard
I love all of 'em they are awesome
Can you includeDavid A. Wells
Morgan Rice
Kaza Kingsley
Dan Brown
Please3, include them I want to ask some question.
I'd really like to ask Amanda Hocking some questions. She started writing in a webpage, so she could give some advice to all the new authors.And don't forget about John Green and Veronica Roth, I want to ask them (and I'm sure I'm not the only one)why they broke my heart.
I would definitely want to add Suzanne Collins and Veronica Roth to this. I'm so glad authors can finally interact with their readers! :D This is great!
How about featuring authors whose books have been nominated for particular prizes, e.g., the Edgar Award, etc. and other categories. It's fun to read the nominated books and to vote for a winner online. Think Oscar Nominee viewing parties.... Just a thought.Scandinavian Gal
Wonderful feature. Please add Stephen King (if he would agree!) It takes a brilliant inventive mind to write the books he writes.
ha ha ha ha. oh thats funny :) thank you for making me laugh.Kanai wrote: "It would be great to include:
-JK Rowling
-Rick Riordan
-Veronica Roth
-John Green
-Markus Zusak
-Neil Gaiman
-Katheryn Stockett
-S.E. Hinton
-and William Shakespeare. (Just kidding.)"
Please include some Indian authors like Amitav Ghosh, Chetan Bhagat, Anuja Chauhan, Kiran Desai, Amish, Aravind Adiga etc. Also would really really appreciate a chat with Salman Rushdie.
What a thoughtful, insightful service -- long overdue!Please consider adding Poets:
Edward Hirsch
Natasha Trethewey
Robert Hass
Also, please add more international authors to the excellent list given above by another reader: if possible:
Arturo Perez-Reverte
Henning Mankell
Umberto Eco
-back home:
Thomas Pynchon
Lindsey Davis
Playwrights:
Tom Stoppard
Harold Pinter
ALSO:
Carl Safina
Cormac McCarthy
THANKS!
Arlind wrote: "What about Markus Zusak? His novel "The book thief"is translated into more than 40 languages and was also awarded many times for the best YA book."I'd love to ask Marcus Zusak some questions, I'd get so excited if he joined this feature! I've fallen in love with 'I Am The Messenger' and 'The Book Thief'! :D
Richard Russo is just about my favorite writer. I'd like to know what his next book will be and will it be available in paper and not just eB ook like his novella. Please add him to your list.

















































































Aurelia wrote: "Ooooh, I can't wait until this is rolled out to all authors. I'm all for interacting with anybody that looks me or my books up :-)"