Don’t Skip It: How the Author Questionnaire Sets You Up for Success

You have finished the editing process-which was an arduous back and forth between you and your editor, finalized your cover image, and now you're ready for the sales and marketing teams to take over! The first task you'll be asked to complete for the sales and marketing teams is to fill out the marketing questionnaire—and trust us, it’s more than just paperwork. This simple document is a powerful tool that helps your sales and marketing specialists understand who you are, what your book is about, and how best to market it. From media outreach to event planning and social promotion, the details you provide lay the foundation for your book’s success. If you’re tempted to breeze through it or leave sections blank, here’s why you might want to give it a second look.

But I already filled out the author proposal

You might start off by asking why you need to repeat information from the author proposal which asked a lot of the same information. The reason we ask for you to fill this out in addition to the proposal is because you started this journey a long time ago! Some of those locations might have closed, reporters might have moved on to new jobs, and sometimes even basic email addresses change. So we want to make sure that we have the most up-to-date information possible to sell your book.

 Don't they know this information?

You might think that your sales and marketing specialists know every bookstore in town - and in some cases, they do! But your team is covering a lot of ground, literally! The territories are large and span across multiple states for each person. No one knows your town or region better than you (which is why you wrote a book on it!) and we want to make sure we have as much information possible when it comes to who to approach in your town. 

What is important to include?

While we appreciate every bit of information we can get, we do like to know the local establishments - not just bookstores but other retailers as well. It's also important to include whether you have a personal relationship with the owner/managers of these retailers, so we know how to approach them. Please also be sure to note that if you do have a personal relationship, if you plan to speak with them yourself so we can avoid doubling our efforts and making it seem as though we lack communication with our authors. 

And then there's the media

We've talked a lot about sales and marketing opportunities, but what about media? Our publicists use a media database to get accurate contact information for media associates to reach out to, but that media database often doesn't include the local free papers. It also doesn't specify which radio stations would be most conducive to an author interview vs which ones just play music. And, we don't have any information on local influencers and personalities who we might ping to say a quick blurb on the book. This is why we ask you to fill out as much as you can. If you have direct contact information - that's great! But if you don't, you're not obligated to go hunting for a certain reporters email address and phone number - that's stuff we can find out. But just knowing the name of the outlet and potentially the best person to contact (if you have that information) is greatly helpful. At the end of the day, our media database is VAST so when we are hunting for media to reach out to without your help as the area expert, we are often just throwing a pin in a bucket and hoping it sticks. 

Taking the time to thoughtfully complete your author questionnaire isn’t just a courtesy—it’s an investment in your book’s success. The more your publisher knows about you and your work, the better they can tailor their marketing efforts, pitch you to media, and connect you with readers. It’s your chance to shape the narrative, spotlight your strengths, and ensure your book gets the attention it deserves. So don’t treat it like a formality—treat it like your first marketing move.