How to have someone interview you for your book

Why being interviewed works better than talking to yourself

When you talk alone, you explain things the way you always do, skipping steps that feel obvious. A second person notices the gap and asks about it. They also react: they laugh, look confused, lean in. Those reactions pull out more detail than a silent phone ever will. And the appointment itself helps. It is much harder to cancel on a person than on yourself.

One example: Matthew Ray Scott and his co-author on Physician Brand Rx lived in different states. They met on Zoom, recorded their conversations, printed the transcripts and marked them up, with a goal of two finished chapters a week. His story is on scribemedia.com.

Who to pick

Three qualities matter more than anything else:

• Curiosity. They want to know the answer, not to give theirs.
• Distance. They are about as informed as your reader, so they ask what your reader would ask.
• Reliability. They will show up every week for a few months.

How to brief them

Your interviewer cannot ask good questions about a book they do not understand. Before the first session, send them a one-page brief and talk it through for 20 minutes, unrecorded.

Include the "rambling" line. Everyone has a habit that turns answers vague, and a good interviewer will cut in on it if you give permission in advance.

How to give them your outline

Share the full outline once, at the start, so they see the shape of the book. After that, give them only one chapter at a time. A day before each session, send:

1. The chapter title and its one point, in one sentence.
2. Ten to fifteen questions for the chapter, drawn from the question bank.
3. The two or three stories you expect to tell, by name ("the binder story," "the Denver client").
4. Anything left over from the last session's gap list.

The worksheet on this site produces a session plan in this shape, which you can copy and send.

A session agenda that works

What a good interviewer does during the session

• Asks one question at a time, then waits. Silence after an answer often pulls out the best part.
• Follows up before moving on: "Give me an example." "What happened next?" "What did you say to them?"
• Asks the dumb question the reader would ask: "What does that acronym mean?"
• Keeps a list of loose threads to come back to, rather than interrupting a good story.
• Steers back gently when the conversation drifts: "That is great; is it for this chapter or another one?"
• Does not fill silences with their own stories. It is your book.

What you do as the author

• Prepare stories, not answers. Notes on a card are fine; a script is not.
• Tell it as it happened, with names, places and what people said. You can disguise details later.
• Say "let me try that again" whenever an answer comes out muddled, then retell it. The transcript will contain both; you keep the better one.
• Flag sensitive parts on tape ("this part needs the client's permission") so they are easy to find later.

Ground rules to agree in writing

1. Ownership: the recordings, transcripts and book are yours.
2. Confidentiality: what they hear stays private, especially client stories.
3. Schedule: a fixed weekly time, and how far ahead either of you can cancel.
4. Credit and payment: whether they are thanked in the acknowledgments, paid, or both.

After each session

Within a day: back up the file, name it by chapter (see the recording setup guide), send it for transcription, and write a three-line note: the stories covered, the best moment, and the gaps for next time. Read the transcript before the next session so you can tell your interviewer what to dig into.