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Judith Spelman on Getting
the Celebrity Author Interview For the past 17 years Judith Spelman has earned her living as a full-time freelance journalist in Great Britain. She writes features for national newspapers and magazines, trade journals, and columns for The Writers' News and Writing Magazine. "Writing is part of my life, ever since I was a small child," she said. "Unless I do it every day I don't feel right, somehow." She learned on the job, beginning her career in journalism as a research assistant to the literary editor of the Montreal Star in Canada, then going on to spend four years immersed in the publishing industry in England. She has worked on local newspapers and at one point edited five free newspapers in Hertfordshire and Essex assisted by three journalists and two photographers. In addition to editing a house journal for a leading breakfast cereal manufacturer, and a newsletter for a training provider, she also writes the occasional short story for women’s magazines. Spelman said she enjoys her work because of the variety: "It's not the same day after day." She is a member of both the Society of Authors and the Chartered Institute of Journalists. I interviewed Spelman at the Writers’ Summer School (2002) in Derby, England on the approach she uses for getting the celebrity interview with many of England's leading authors. To cite only a few, in recent years she has interviewed Geoffrey Archer, Simon Brett, Andrew Crofts, John Gardner (who wrote the James Bond books after Ian Fleming died), and Roy Hattersley, who is a politician as well as a writer. Locating a subject Spelman said she seeks out writers who have published more than three or four books, "so that they are established, they know what writing is about, and then I ring their agent or publicity person and ask for an interview." "However, because I have been doing it for so long, I am quite well-known in the trade and so the publishing houses tend to call or write or send me a book and information and ask if I am interested in interviewing this writer." Nonfiction writers know they can save time by querying before they proceed with a piece, and Spelman is no exception. "I clear it with my editor before I do the interview; he may say no if somebody else is doing a piece on them." She then knows whether to proceed with the piece or not. Preparation Before conducting the interview she tries to find out as much as she can about the person. "I read at least one book, the latest if possible. I don't read it fast and sometimes I am enjoying it so much I don't want to finish it. "I also read other interviews that have been done about that person, find out a lot about their background, what they like, or dislike, what their job is if they are not a full-time writer, and then I've got something to work with." "Preparation ahead is the key. It is awful to go to talk to somebody and not know anything about them." Spelman has some questions in mind when she conducts the interview, and from the responses she will probe further. In an interview with Andrew Crofts, published in Writer's News, June-July 2001, she informed readers that he is one of Britain's most successful ghostwriters. On learning that his contracts stipulated he must not disclose his involvement, she posed the question 'how can a ghostwriter can give away his own work for someone else to reap the praise?'" His response was that he wanted to make a living. "I ask questions that are going to help writers who are just starting out, and maybe have got to the tricky bits. I then let the writer's views influence me as I think it will be interesting to the reader." In Crofts interview she asked him what makes a good ghostwriter and how does he handle the situation when the subject is given the finished manuscript. "Sometimes the first response is negative, he said, but out of about 50 or so ghosting projects he estimated only one or two had proved difficult." Meeting deadlines "I work to deadline, I don't do it, say, three weeks ahead. I know how long it should take me to write something and so I manage to meet my deadlines." Spelman says that if you are professional you have to be disciplined. "I tend to start early in the morning because I do better writing in the morning, but I will go to on to midnight if I have a deadline. It's so good now to have e-mail because I can send my copy off in the middle of the night if necessary." Why she prefers to conduct a face-to-face interview "When you are talking to the person you are interviewing you need to make sure they are relaxed," she said. "In a face to face interview you have the body language, see the person, and interact with that person, that's very important. I can’t do interviews over the telephone with people I have never met because when there is a pause I never know whether they are waiting for the next question, or whether they are thinking." Spelman is open to doing a later telephone interview if she has met the person previously. "You have to also let that person trust you. You have got to show that you are serious about what you are doing, that it is very important to you as an interviewer to talk to that person and you really want to know the answers to your questions." Don’t set yourself up in competition with the person being interviewed. "I may have to interview somebody who is not as experienced as I am, but I make them feel that they are more experienced." According to Spelman, some subjects are not easy to work with-- sometimes they are even hostile, but the interviewer has to ignore that and concentrate on obtaining the information they seek. You may have to be accommodating and open to conducting your interview outside of normal business hours. "I will go anywhere possible to get my interview. For one interview I got up at 4 a.m. because the only time Roy Hattersley could see me was when he was walking his dog early in the morning. So I did it, because I wanted that interview with him." Checking facts Check all your facts and write to the correct number of words that you've been asked to write. "You must be accurate, it is so important for your credibility." "I tape my work so I then have to transcribe it, but I get accurate quotes. When I'm doing my interviews and working on them I do take a lot of time, you have to, and it shows in the work." About Rita Berman: Author of The A – Z of Writing and Selling, Berman has published more than 400 features, interviews, and travel essays in the United States and Gt. Britain, and taught nonfiction writing as lecturer and workshop leader at conferences and universities. |
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