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There’s a big difference between asking an author, “Where do you get your ideas?” and asking something that actually makes them stop and think. The first question gets a rehearsed answer. The second one starts a real conversation.
Whether you’re preparing for a formal interview, hosting a book club, attending a school author visit, or just meeting a writer you admire, having the right questions to ask authors makes all the difference. These are the questions to ask book authors that go beyond the surface, ones that open doors the author didn’t expect, and make the whole experience more memorable for everyone in the room.
Here are 15+ questions worth asking, grouped by what you’re trying to find out.
Questions to Ask Authors About Their Writing Process
These are some of the best questions to ask authors if you want to understand how a book actually gets made: the habits, the struggles, the decisions that never make it onto the page.
1. What does your writing routine look like, and how long did it take you to find it?
Most authors don’t start out with a perfect routine. Asking how they found theirs reveals a lot about their relationship with the work, and it’s far more interesting than just asking “Do you write every day?”
2. Which part of this book gave you the most trouble, and how did you get through it?
Every book has a chapter, a character, or a structural problem that nearly broke the author. This question gets at the real process, the one that doesn’t show up in the acknowledgments.
3. How do you know when a draft is finished?
Some authors revise twenty times. Others trust their gut and stop early. The answer says a lot about how a writer thinks about perfection versus completion, and it’s one of the more genuinely interesting questions to ask authors about their writing.
4. Did this book change significantly from your original idea, and if so, how?
Books rarely end up where they started. This question opens up a conversation about creative evolution that most authors are happy to talk about at length.
5. What’s the one sentence you kept rewriting until it finally felt right?
A small, specific question like this tends to produce surprisingly rich answers. It asks the author to zoom in rather than summarize, and zoom-in answers are almost always more honest.
Good Questions to Ask Authors About the Book Itself
Once you’ve read the book, these questions to ask authors about their book let you go deeper than the plot summary. They’re the ones that make an author feel genuinely seen as a writer.
1. Was there a character you didn’t expect to love, one who surprised you as you wrote them?
Characters often take on lives their authors didn’t plan. This is one of those good questions to ask authors about their book that almost always produces a candid, enthusiastic answer.
2. Is there anything in this book that you’re still not sure you got right?
This takes confidence to ask, and it takes honesty to answer. Authors who engage with it seriously give you a glimpse into their standards and their doubts, which is far more interesting than praise.
3. What do you hope a reader feels on the last page, not thinks, but feels?
The distinction between feeling and thinking catches people off guard in the best way. It pushes an author to articulate the emotional intention behind the book rather than its intellectual argument.
4. If you could go back and change one thing about this book, what would it be?
Published books are permanent, but authors always carry a list of things they’d do differently. This question acknowledges that reality and invites them to be honest about it.
5. Which scene or passage are you most proud of, and why that one?
Pride is personal. The answer to this question tells you what the author values most in their own work, which is often different from what critics or readers focus on.
Interview Questions to Ask Authors in a Formal Setting
If you’re conducting an interview for a podcast, a publication, a school paper, or a literary event, these questions to ask authors in an interview tend to produce answers that are both quotable and genuinely revealing.
1. What’s the question you wish people would stop asking you, and what would you rather be asked instead?
A little cheeky, but authors love it. It hands them control of the conversation and almost always leads somewhere unexpected. Great for interviews where you want the author to show personality.
2. What book do you wish you had written, and what does that tell you about yourself as a writer?
The second half of this question is what makes it work. It’s not just about admiration, it’s about self-awareness. One of the more interesting questions to ask authors in any interview format.
3. How has your relationship with writing changed since you first started?
This works especially well with authors who have a few books behind them. It invites reflection without requiring them to summarize their entire career, and the answers tend to be surprisingly candid.
Questions to Ask Nonfiction Authors
Nonfiction comes with its own set of pressures and choices. These questions to ask nonfiction book authors get at what makes the genre distinct: the research, the responsibility, and the line between fact and narrative.
1. How did you decide what to leave out?
Every nonfiction book is built as much on omission as inclusion. This question gets at the editorial judgment behind the work, and the answers are often more interesting than any discussion of what made it in.
2. Was there a moment during your research when everything shifted, when you found something that changed the direction of the book?
Research rarely goes in a straight line. Most nonfiction authors have a story about the document, interview, or discovery that rewrote their assumptions. This gives them space to tell it.
Fun Questions to Ask Fantasy Authors (and Genre Writers Generally)
Fun questions to ask authors don’t have to be lightweight. These work especially well for fantasy, sci-fi, and genre fiction writers, questions that take the world-building seriously while keeping the mood light.
1. If you had to live in the world you created, where would you go and what would you avoid?
This is one of those questions to ask fantasy authors that sounds playful but reveals how fully the author has thought through their own world. The best world-builders have detailed answers.
2. Did any of your characters ever refuse to do what you needed them to do?
Genre writers especially tend to talk about characters “taking over.” Whether they believe it literally or not, the way an author describes this phenomenon tells you a lot about how they think about storytelling.
3. What’s one rule in your world that you almost broke, and why didn’t you?
Internal consistency is a craft question dressed up as a fun one. Authors who’ve thought hard about their world will have an immediate answer.
Quick Reference: Which Questions Work Where
| Setting | Best Question Types | What to Aim For |
| Book club | About the book, characters, and emotional intent | Personal reactions and reader connection |
| Formal interview | Writing process, career reflection, craft | Quotable, specific, surprising answers |
| School visit | Fun, accessible, about inspiration and routine | Relatable and encouraging for young writers |
| Fan Q&A | Behind-the-scenes, favorite moments, future work | Warmth and personality over analysis |
| Nonfiction event | Research process, omissions, responsibility | Depth, nuance, editorial thinking |
| Genre/fantasy event | World-building, character agency, and rules of the world | Enthusiasm and creative specificity |
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What Are the Best Questions to Ask an Author About Their Book?
The best questions are specific rather than general, and they invite reflection rather than summary. Instead of “What is your book about?” try “What do you hope a reader feels on the last page?” Instead of “how long did it take to write?” try “which part gave you the most trouble?” Questions that assume the author has thought deeply about their work, and invite them to share that thinking, almost always produce better answers than open-ended prompts.
2. How Do Authors Come Up With Book Ideas and Characters?
It varies widely, and most authors will tell you there’s no single answer. Ideas often come from a combination of personal experience, obsessive curiosity about a particular question, and a lot of time spent noticing things. Characters sometimes start from a real person and drift into fiction; others appear fully formed from somewhere the author can’t quite explain. The honest answer is usually “I don’t entirely know“, and the best author questions give book publishing writers room to sit with that uncertainty rather than demand a tidy explanation.
3. What Inspired the Author to Write This Book?
Inspiration is real, but it’s rarely the whole story. Most books start with a spark: a news article, a memory, a “what if” question, and then survive on discipline long after the inspiration has faded. When you ask an author about inspiration, the most interesting follow-up is always: “And how did you keep going when the inspiration ran out?” That’s where the real answer lives.
4. Which Questions Should Readers Ask Authors During Interviews?
The questions to ask authors in an interview that work best are ones that open up craft and process rather than plot. Ask about decisions, what they chose to leave out, how they handled a structural problem, and what they’d change if they could go back. Authors are interviewed constantly about their subject matter; they’re asked less often about how they think as writers. Going there tends to produce answers they’re genuinely glad someone asked for.
5. How Can You Ask an Author Meaningful Questions About Their Story?
Read the book first, all of it. Then think about the moments that stayed with you, the choices that surprised you, the things that didn’t quite add up. Meaningful questions to ask an author usually come from genuine curiosity about those specific moments, not from a pre-made list. The author can tell the difference between someone who read the book and someone who read the blurb. One of those conversations goes somewhere interesting. The other doesn’t.
One Last Thing
Asking great questions is a skill, one that gets better with practice and genuine curiosity. The questions to ask authors that land best are the ones where you actually want to know the answer, not the ones designed to sound impressive.
If you’re an author yourself and you’re thinking about how to connect with your own readers, through interviews, book events, or your online presence, Books Publishing Inc works with writers at every stage of the publishing journey. We’d love to help you find your audience and tell your story well.
