How to Prepare for an Online Author's Chat

If you are an author, then chances are you will be scheduling online author's chats at some point. Whether the discussion takes place in a chat room or on an e-loop, it is important to know what you need to do to prepare for it.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Create a file on your desktop for each book you author. You can do this by simply right-clicking your mouse, selecting "New," and then "Folder."
2. Give your folder a name that identifies it as the container for your online preparation files for a particular book.
3. Place all the exerpts for your book in this folder, and clearly label them. This way they will be easy to find and you can just cut and paste them into your chat.
4. Come up with a list of possible questions that anyone who attends one of your chats might ask. Then answer those questions, so you can give thoughtful answers at your chat. Put this list in your folder for easy access.
5. Create a document that has snippets from reviews for your book, and the link to the full reviews. Add these to your folder. You can use the snippets in chats to help sell your book. Giving the link allows participants to read the full review later.
6. Add a list to your folder of all the places that you are active on the web, such as social networking websites, your author's website, your blog and websites for any author's organizations you belong to. Readers like to know which social networks you are member of so they can add you as a friend.

Tips & Warnings

• Have at least three exerpts in your folder so that you can use different exerpts for different chats.
• When you're interviewed and the interviewer asks a good question, add it and your answer to your questions list. You never know when someone from a chat will ask the same question.
• Periodically update your folder with fresh exerpts, possible questions, new review snippets and any new social networks or organizations you have recently joined.
• Add a copyright to the bottom of all exerpts, especially exerpts from a work in progress, to avoid someone plagiarizing.