Author Interviews As a RA Resource

I am currently working on my interview with Cassandra Khaw for the July issue of Library Journal and Just turned in my interview with Paul Tremblay for the June issue. I am also organizing a series of author panels for Summer Scares.

All of this is to say that author interviews are top of mind here at RA for All HQ. 

I know when I conduct these interviews, my mission is to create a conversation that will not only be enjoyable for you to read but also, I am intentionally trying to create a resource for you to use to help patrons. Whether it is letting you know more about the author and their processes or asking them about influences and favorite new writers, the goal is for these interviews to work for you.

Interviews in general are an excellent RA resource especially if you have a patron who has a favorite author. I also use interviews when preparing for book discussions.

Just Google the author in question and "interview" and watch the results roll in. 

Here are a few tangible things you can do with interviews as a RA resource:

• Use interviews to help a reader learn more about their favorite author and introduce them to other authors that favorite writer loves. This idea of using author recs of other authors is a topic I have written about in more detail here and it is one of my 5 Resources You Cannot Live Without.
• Use interviews to make better "While You Wait" displays and lists. Yes we can use NoveList or other resources to find readalikes based on appeal, but what about "While You Wait" resources that are more fun and interactive. Make displays or lists that say, "Waiting for a new book by [insert author here]? Try one of their favorite authors while you wait." This can be both when there is a long holds line AND if a popular author hasn't had a new release in a while. 
• Use author interviews as a collection development tool. Almost every author interview mentions other authors. When you come across interviews as part of the new book media blitz, take note of the authors your popular authors are mentioning and add them to your collections now. See the first bullet point (click through to the longer post) for why I know those books will circualte.
• Re-post author interviews on your website and social media. As new books come out, interviews are everywhere. Pick one per author to share and promote to your users and followers. You can even create a page for those links on your reader resources sections of your website to archive them for future use, both by you and tour readers for the reasons suggested above. Too often we worry about creating original content to share online, but as I always remind you with my 10 Rules of Basic RA Service, we use resources, it is what we do as library workers. Posting interviews in our digital spaces shows readers we are thinking of them and anticipating what they like to read. 

These are but 4 examples of how to use author interviews as a resource in your day-to-day work. Now you can make author interviews part of your go-to resources for helping readers.