Authors on the Web - Fiction Debut Author Roundtable

Fiction Debut Author Roundtable

AuthorsOnTheWeb has assembled a roundtable featuring a diverse group of 17 up-and-coming fiction writers who discuss the writing process, publishing/marketing support for debut authors, and their responses to first-time reviews from readers and critics.

While many of the guests are first-time published authors, some participants have recently made their debut on the American publishing scene after being published overseas. Others have written short stories or poetry and are now debut novelists. The participants are Steve Almond, David Benioff, Jill Bialosky, Terrence Cheng, Jill A. Davis, Stella Pope Duarte, Anahita Firouz, Ad Hudler, Masha Hamilton, Kate Manning, Jay Nussbaum, Arthur Phillips, Michael Redhill, David Rosenfelt, Gary Shteyngart, Karen V. Siplin, and Ali Smith.

Meet the Authors:

Steve Almond

David Benioff

Jill Bialosky

Terrence Cheng

Jill A. Davis

Stella Pope Duarte

Anahita Firouz

Masha Hamilton

Ad Hudler

Kate Manning

Jay Nussbaum

Arthur Phillips

Michael Redhill

David Rosenfelt

Gary Shteyngart

Karen V. Siplin

Ali Smith

Questions

1. AOTW: Did you outline before you began your book, or did you let the story evolve on its own? Whether you outlined, or not, did the story end up the way you planned?
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2. AOTW: Describe your editing process. Do you write and then go back to edit later, or do you revise a page until it is right, then proceed to the next page, and so on?
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3. AOTW:The dread of all writers, from novelists to columnists to college students at exam time is writer's block. What methods, or tricks, if you will, have you utilized to overcome the blank stare at the blank page?
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4. AOTW: Do you have a "day job," in addition to being a published author? How do you balance your "day job" with writing books?
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5. AOTW: In Stephen King's On Writing, he prescribed two things, which every aspiring writer must do: 1) read a lot and 2) write a lot. Do you agree with him? And if so, how do you balance reading and writing?
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6. AOTW: Where do you write? What do you envision as your "perfect" writing room?
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7. AOTW: Who is your "first reader" or "readers" when you finish your work?
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8. AOTW: Was there promotion/marketing done for your first book? If so, what was it? What might you have done differently? Did you or your publisher use the web to promote your book? Do you have a website? How are you using your website?
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9. AOTW: Do you monitor your Amazon ranking, or sales numbers vigilantly? If so, what do you find the best driver of them to be?
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10. AOTW: How did you feel and how did you react the first time you saw your book on a shelf in a bookstore?
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11. AOTW: What was it like to have your book reviewed by critics? Or to hear from readers?
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12. AOTW: Tell us about your next book and what you have in the works for the future.
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