What Guidelines Does Whatever Give for Publicity, Blurb, Interview, and Fan Mail Requests?

Updated

Whatever (whatever.scalzi.com), John Scalzi's blog, routes all such requests through a dedicated guidelines page linked in the site menu: "Guidelines for Publicity, Blurbing, Unpublished Work, Story Ideas, Social Media Boosting, Guest Blogging, Charitable Solicitations, Autographing, Fan Mail, Educational Use and School Assignments." A separate menu entry covers "Optioning/Licensing Work, Writing Queries, Interview and Appearance Availability." The menu tells you these categories exist and where to look; the actual terms live on those pages, so read them before sending anything.

What the guidelines page covers

The menu title itself lists the request types the page addresses:

Category What it signals
Publicity Requests to promote a book, project, or event
Blurbing Requests for a cover quote or endorsement
Unpublished work Submissions of manuscripts or writing samples
Story ideas Pitches or suggestions for story concepts
Social media boosting Requests to share or amplify something
Guest blogging Proposals to write a post for the site
Charitable solicitations Requests for donations or support
Autographing Requests for signed items
Fan mail General reader correspondence
Educational use and school assignments Use of his work in classes, or student outreach

Interview, appearance, and licensing requests

These are grouped separately in the menu under "Optioning/Licensing Work, Writing Queries, Interview and Appearance Availability." If you want to interview Scalzi, book him for an appearance, or inquire about optioning or licensing his work, start with that page rather than the general guidelines.

How to use this

  1. Open the guidelines page from the site menu and read the category that matches your request.
  2. For interviews, appearances, or licensing, check the separate optioning/interview page instead.
  3. Follow whatever contact method the relevant page specifies; the menu does not state response times or acceptance rates, so treat a reply as discretionary.
  4. For general background before writing, the menu also links "About," "A Brief Biography of John Scalzi," "Books and Other Projects by John Scalzi," and "Contact Information."

Common pitfalls

  • Sending a blurb or publicity request without reading the guidelines first; the page exists precisely to set expectations for these categories.
  • Mixing request types: an interview query belongs with the interview/appearance page, not the publicity guidelines.
  • Assuming a listed category means the request will be accepted. The menu confirms the topics are addressed, not that submissions are welcome in every case.