Guest Policy

I love having guests on the blog for interviews, guest posts and spotlights.  For one thing, they save me from having to create content.  For another, it's great exposure for both of us.  So, I'm always open to guests.  Here are my ground rules:

1.  EVERYONE IS WELCOME

You'll notice that in my introduction I've very deliberately said "guests" and not "guest authors" or "guest bloggers" or anything like that.  Yeah, this is an author blog and the lion's share of my guests have been authors.  But I've also made a concerted effort to invite editors, reviewers, and even characters on when I get the chance.  (I'd love to have a beer delivery man on sometime...I even finally got a beer delivery man on!)  So if you're something other than an author, or even if you just wear another hat, please throw that hat in the ring.

2.  NO REVIEWS (FOR THE MOMENT)

Trust me, I know from long, painful personal experience that getting reviews is haaard.  And getting those reviews cross-posted to Amazon where they really count is even haaarder.  But I'm an author, and even as a brand spanking bare-ass new baby author I still know literally dozens of other authors that I personally owe favors.  Their books take precedence on my to-be-read pile, which not incidentally is now even longer than my rapsheet.  It is exceedingly unlikely that I will get a chance to read your book any time soon, and I don't review books which I haven't grokked to completion.  If I ever get a handle on my backlog I may update this policy, but for now I'm not going to be able to do any reviews.

3.  DON'T BE BORING.

Still interested in a guest post, interview, or spotlight?  Here, read this post from Ginger Nuts of Horror.  Seriously.  Go read it.  I'll wait.

Back?  Okay.  So, long story short, if I take the time to research you and come up with a post topic or interview questions, please come up with something original and interesting in response.  And for the love of God, don't talk about writecraft!  Writecraft is boring!  I'd rather you talk about anything else than the craft of writing (except, perhaps, prescriptivist grammar rules.)

I've asked authors about dollmaking.  I've asked editors to play quiz games.  I did a character interview with Satan himself.  I even did whatever this is with a NYT Bestseller.  So you get the picture.

Oh, and about length: the ideal length for a blogpost is 500-1000 words.  Interview responses should be similarly robust.  I'm a nice person so I may not reject your 3000 word manifesto but I will laugh about you behind your back and no one will probably read it anyway.  Remember, the youngest generation wasn't even born yet when MTV reduced our collective attention span to five minutes.

4.  TAKE THE PLUNGE

Getting on the blog couldn't be easier.  It's a three-step process.

- Step one: e-mail me and tell me:

a)  who you are (a canned bio is fine, but something personal might help me come up with better ideas)
b)  whether you want to write a guest post, interview, or spotlight
c)  whether you have any topic ideas for the aforementioned feature
d)  any time constraints

- Step two: I'll e-mail you a topic or questions along with a thumbs up on the date

- Step three: send me your completed jazz, including:

a)  your guest post or interview (I don't really care what kind of document, but if I start getting a bunch of ridicu-formatting I may update this policy.)
b)  your headshot as a .jpg
c)  any photos you want included (i.e. your book cover, or just fun stuff) as .jpgs
d)  social media links and (if applicable) purchase links
e)  bio