The Wildly Undervalued Expert Interview

I’ve wanted to write a novel since I was 25 or so, and I’ve started to get a bit more serious about it recently.

My plan is to Tacklebox the heck out of the process and hope that that gives me a result most novels don’t get. Because, most books don’t sell. Like, at all. Graph thanks to Seth:

Since I’ve never written a novel, I’m deep in the “expert interview” part of the process — reaching out to authors that have written my favorite novels, reaching out to publishers, etc.

And, of course, my subconscious jumped in immediately — “Why would famous authors talk to you? What would you even ask them? What could they say that’d be that valuable?”

No matter how long you do this stuff, your subconscious will always default to protecting you from anything even the least bit uncomfortable. But I’m used to this now, so I pushed through.

First, I emailed the author of my favorite novel of all time, and the exact type of novel I’d like to write — Big Fish by Daniel Wallace. I spent a lot of time on the email and came up a few questions I’d love to hear his opinion on. A few hours later, his response came through. It was way more helpful than I could’ve predicted, and we’ll stay in touch.

I followed with 9 more emails to authors of books I love. Four have responded so far.

This might surprise you but it shouldn’t. A well-crafted email with a question or two that make it clear you chose this person because they can be uniquely helpful usually gets answered. I’ve asked about process, about books to read, about publishing vs self-publishing, about a career as a writer and doing it on the side and gotten unbelievable answers.

Each email was different and specific and took time. Probably 20–30 minutes each with no guarantee of an answer. But, the math is wildly in favor of this type of approach.

I spent ~4.5 hours and now have a mini board of experts that I’ll keep in the loop as I write. This might lead to nothing, but it might lead to introductions to a great editor, a publisher, help with the writing or even a forward or review when the book comes out. If nothing else, it was wildly inspiring and motivational.

I charge ~$400–600 per hour for most 1x1s I do, so I “spent” maybe $2k on these emails. And they could result in a better book, a great editor, a forward, a review, invaluable insight into an industry and process I’ve got no background in, and, possibly, hundreds or thousands of more books sold.

When you’re entering a new industry, expert interviews are all but mandatory. Think about the people who could most help you — the ones with unique insight into the problem, the process, the wickedness of what you’re up to. And reach out in a thoughtful, useful way.

If you know the industry well…do the same. You’re probably even more likely to make those connections.

Reach out to the 50 people who could change your business. Aim as high as possible. If even 3 respond, it could change everything.