FAQ page examples for authors

**What does it cost?** [your honest starting figure], and the bio comes in three lengths, so the right one is always to hand. What moves the number is [the two or three things that actually change the price] — so the quote comes after I have seen the book, not before.

Always answer this. The visitor who leaves to find it does not come back.

**How soon can you start?** Usually within [timeframe]. If I am booked further out than that, I say so rather than holding your date loosely.

Use this where availability is the deciding factor.

**[the question they are too polite to ask]** The honest answer is that giving a book hours they will not get back, for a writer they are not sure about is a real risk in this trade. What I do about it: name the books and who published them, and keep the bio in three lengths, because every form wants a different one.

Use this for the worry people have but do not ask about.

**Are you a published author?** Yes. Published work, with the publisher and year stated rather than implied. Ask and I will send the documents before I start.

Use this wherever a credential is checked before anything else.

**What happens after I contact you?** Tell me which book you have read and what you want to ask about it. I agree the scope and the price in writing before anything begins, and nothing starts until you say so.

Use this to take the friction out of the first contact.

**What if something goes wrong?** I put it right at my cost. [your guarantee, in one sentence]. I would rather fix it than argue about it, and that is easier to promise on a page than to do — so ask me for a reference from someone it happened to.

Use this where the risk is what stops people booking.

**Do you also do [the adjacent service people ask about]?** [Yes, and here is how] — or: no, I do not, and [who you would call instead] is who I would ring. Saying so up front saves us both a phone call.

Use this to catch the enquiries you want and deflect the ones you do not.

**Is there anything I should do beforehand?** [the one or two things that genuinely help]. Beyond that, nothing — I bring what I need.

Use this where a little preparation makes the job cheaper or faster.

**How and when do I pay?** [your terms: deposit, on completion, invoice]. I do not ask for payment for work I have not done.

Use this where payment terms are a real question and silence reads badly.

**Why are you more expensive than the cheapest quote?** Usually because the cheap quote leaves something out. I name the books and who published them — that is in my price. Writing that earns the hours it asks for is the part you cannot see on a quote sheet and the part you notice a year later.

Use this only if you are, and only if you can answer it well.