Need a quote from some national authority to wrap up your latest masterpiece on business communication? How will you get some experts for that round-up article on healthcare reform and where can you possibly find a couple willing to tell the story about how swing dancing broke up their marriage? Look no further than your computer terminal. All of this and much more can be obtained through e-mail interviews (e-views) which promise to replace the more familiar face-to-face and telephone genre for some writers. To enhance both credibility and salability of your nonfiction writing, try following these five simple steps.

1. Develop your contact list. Unless you already have the e-mail address of a specific person you want to quote, the first place to start is a series of web searches for the person's name. If you don't even have names yet, search the topic areas.

Consider using a top search engine site for these initial inquiries such as Google.com^TM or alltheweb.com. Google Scholar has become increasingly useful for locating experts. You might be lucky enough to find a home page for some experts and even a direct e-mail link. If not, you can at least begin your potential contact list. Don't overlook bookseller sites to get the names of authors who have written in the field you're researching. If you already have existing articles or literature, add names from these sources to your list. Make your initial list as large as you can and prioritize it with the best-known or most important contacts at the top, knowing that you may be able to locate e-mail addresses for only a small percentage of the names. Also don't overlook special search sites for specific disciplines such as the Medline search engine for medical topics and PsycINFO for psychological topics.   

2. Locate your contacts: The next step is finding the e-mail address of your contact. There are several people-find search sites which usually include e-mail addresses, although they are only marginally useful for this purpose. You will have much better luck searching for work/business websites and especially university faculty directories, which are usually accessible through the university's homepage. Searching through the faculty directories from several major universities can identify many potential experts who are not so well-known to the general public. Professional associations and speaker bureaus are other places to seek out experts on the web, not only to find specific people but also to add new possibilities to your list.

3. Compose the first contact letter. Contact letters should contain at least four basic sections: First an introduction: explain who you are, describe your current project, and identify your reading audience. It is best to say outright that you are looking for experts to quote.

The second section is a series of questions for the purpose of eliciting usable quotes. Keep the number down to fewer than five questions and always have some open-ended questions like, "What is the burning issue in this field?" or "What are the most important things my reader should remember?" Ask your experts to answer any of the questions they would care to address and to feel free to skip any items they wish. If you have sufficient background on the experts, ask specific questions about their research or their special areas of expertise. Many nonfiction articles can be structured around a series of questions you intend to answer for your reader. If you ask these questions in your e-views with several experts, you can selectively pick the best quotes for each question. This can make for better copy and increased credibility as you have more authorities to cite.

In the third section, request identifying information in order to make an accurate attribution. Ask for the experts' full names, titles, business and academic affiliations, degrees, cities and states of residence, and if they wish, websites or e-mail addresses.

The final section should contain heartfelt thank you's and identifying information, including your day and night phone numbers. You should also ask for snail mail addresses if they would like to receive tearsheets when the article is published.

4. Process replies: In about ten to fifteen percent of your inquiries you can expect a fairly prompt reply with usable quotes. Consider staggering your initial contacts so that you can change the questions when you find yourself overloaded with quotes on a particular topic. Often you will get a polite turn down (I don't have the time.) or rarely an impolite rejection (I don't work for free). Rarer still you may get a paranoid reply (How did you get my address?) or an outright hostile one (What makes you qualified to write this article?). Some experts will offer phone interviews instead and provide times and phone numbers were they can be reached. Although the e-mail responses are often easier to manage (the quotes are always accurate and you don't have to take notes), take advantage of these phone interview offers when you need deeper background or the expert is a high profile authority who would add prestige to your piece. Be prepared to receive an influx of clippings, articles, video tapes, CDs, books, and even product samples in response to your inquiries.

5. Wrap it up: Finally, always send a prompt thank you (even to turndowns-- maybe next time?) and when appropriate ask specific follow-up questions or clarifications. These dialogues can be especially productive and help build a future source list. Download all usable e-mail quotes into a separate data file that you can later cut and paste into your piece. Finally, be scrupulously polite and remember to send tearsheets to the people you quote as soon as the article is published. Don't overuse or abuse your sources-- you're dependent upon them.

Newsgroups and special interest bulletin boards can be used to obtain first person stories, which can enhance a variety of nonfiction works. When I completed piece on children's sleep disturbances, I included a wealth of well-written and poignant anecdotes that were e-mailed to me in response to a request posted on a parenting site bulletin board.

The potential of e-views to reach authorities from around the world is staggering. Crank up that modem and remember, "It never hurts to ask."

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A Successful E-view: An Example

This is an e-mail interview conducted with Jean Donaldson, best-selling author of Dogs are from Neptune for a round-up article on aggressive behavior in dogs. I ended up using several of her excellent quotes in my  DOGworld Magazine article, "Decoding the Many Faces of Aggression." Professional writers such as Donaldson often make the best e-view prospects, since they are so comfortable with written expression. The original inquiries are in bold type; responses are italicized.

Dear Ms. Donaldson:

My name is Terry Stawar and I'm a psychologist and freelance writer  working on a roundup piece for DOGworld Magazine on diagnosing and managing aggressive behaviors in dogs. It is a comprehensive overview of the area and as usual I am looking for experts to quote. I am familiar with some of your writings and work in this area and feel your comments would greatly enhance my article.

The following questions summarize the areas in which I need expert opinion. I would appreciate your responses to any of these questions that you are inclined to address.

1. How serious a problem is canine aggression and what are the most common sources of canine aggression?

Canine aggression is an extremely serious problem. It bears repeating that dogs are animals and animals bite when they feel threatened or are defending resources. There is a dangerous head-in-the sand attitude from many dog owners that if a dog has a "nice" temperament (i.e., is "normal") he is at low or zero risk for ever behaving aggressively. Statistics do not bear this out. The vast majority of dog bites are example of dogs behaving normally, for dogs...

2. What treatment or training strategies seem to work best with aggressive dogs?

In the case of resource guarding and handleability (which encompass the vast majority of intra-familial bites), systematic desensitization to the tricky scenario(s) achieve the best results. Things like object exchanges, food-bowl desensitization, placement-command practice have excellent track records...

3. What kinds of canine aggression are easiest to treat and which kinds are most resistant to treatment?

In general, younger animals are easier to resocialize than older. Also, there is a clear genetic predisposition to both resource guarding and ease of socialization. Relative to virtually all other types of behavior problems (except fear and anxiety type problems, also emotionally based), all types of aggression are tricky to treat....

4. Can medications help treat aggressive dogs? What medicines work the best? Which should be avoided?

Yes, there are promising initial results with SSRI's. My only reservations are that 1) the long-term effects of dogs being kept on them are not yet in and 2) if drugs like Prozac work -too- well, they will diminish incentive to breed for non-aggressive animals as well as good overall husbandry of puppies...

6. What's your opinion on the frustration-aggression hypothesis as it pertains to canine aggression?

I am only superficially familiar with this theory so don't feel right commenting.

7. Are dogs sometimes aggressive due to imitation of people or other dogs?

There is no good evidence of this.

8. What are some physical problems might contribute to aggressive canine behavior?

I am aware that certain types of seizures, tumors as well as any medical problem resulting in acute or chronic pain can cause of facilitate aggression.

 9. Do you have any great articles, reprints, or sources on this subject that I might quote from?

I have published two books (Culture Clash and Dogs Are From Neptune) and you have permission to quote from either.

10. Any other thoughts, opinions, or theories about aggressive behavior in dogs?

Overclassification and presumption of motive are common in this field but not helpful, in my experience. If a dog bites when his nails are clipped, we know he doesn't like having his nails clipped. What we don't know is whether this has anything whatsoever to do with his self-perception of his "status" or "dominance" in the "pack."

Finally may I have the following so I might cite you and your work correctly:

 Name: Jean Donaldson

 Degree/Profession: Owner of Renaissance Training, Writer

 Affiliations: Member of various trainer organizations

 Town, State Country: Montreal, Canada

 Other identifiers you would like used (e-mail/website, etc.):

www.lasardogs.com

Also if you would like a a reprint of the article when published, please provide a snail mail address:

 Thanks so much for considering my request!

Terry L. Stawar, Ed.D. is a psychologist and writer from Georgetown, Indiana. His most recent book is How to be a Responsible Father: A Workbook for Offenders, published by the American Correctional Association in 2006. He writes a weekly newspaper column in Southern Indiana and is a frequent contributor to Funny Times and other publications.

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