Q&A With Jeff Circle 

Jeff Circle is the Editor of The Writers Dossier! Jeff also has a youtube channel and is a co-host on The Writer’s Stuff Podcast. He’s spoken with over 150 authors, audio book narrators, and agents, editors & publicists! Hilariously, we’ve spoken with some of the same people when it comes to authors and others in the publishing world! 

Q: Jeff, would you please tell the readers of the blog & I a little bit about yourself & tell us a little bit about what drew you into editing for the Writers Dossier & your blog, podcast & youtube channel?

A: Hi, Bianca. It’s so cool to be on your BookNotions blog! I love what you’re doing with your website to promote authors. Well done! To answer your question, I come from a military intelligence background, but I’ve always been a writer. When I decided to write full time a few years ago, I started learning more about the authors in my thriller genre. To that end, I met some great people, and I read many of their wonderful books. Naturally, I wanted to tell others, and the best way to do that turned out to be the idea to create The Writer’s Dossier. 

Taking my experience working with classified material for the U.S. government, I decided to craft a theme around releasing information on some of the biggest and upcoming writers of thrillers, mysteries, crime, and suspense novels. I created a poster that looks a little like a traditional dossier, and then I started coming up with five fun questions. All my writers have been incredibly gracious putting up with my silliness, and it’s been a ton of fun. I’ve learned so much!

Q: We came across each other on BlueSky because we have a mutual friend with publicist Megan Beatie! When interviewing people for your youtube channel & podcast, do you do what I do and message people on social media and email them? 

A: Megan Beatie is amazing, isn’t she? My approach to getting in touch with people is always different. In Megan’s case, for instance, we met in person at the last Bouchercon in Nashville. We both sat on a panel for book promotions and it clicked. I knew I had to interview her because of the great things she was doing for authors like Robert Dugoni and Victor Methos (and so many others!), plus she’s just so darn nice. 

With other writers I interview, many are people who I just happen to know through conferences and mutual friends, and many are contacts I’ve developed through social media. If I don’t have their email address, I often contact them through a direct message on their biggest social media platform. Sometimes I go through a common third-party, sometimes I hit them cold with a message. I can’t remember one person who didn’t respond to a message I sent, which seems a little surprising. It goes to show you just how accommodating writers are in responding and how gracious they are with their time.

Q: How long have you been editing for The Writers Dossier? For anyone wanting to go into editing, what wisdom have you learned that would help others?

A: I launched The Writer’s Dossier on 7/28/2023 with eight authors who agreed to help me out of the kindness of their hearts. They were I.S. Berry, T.R. Hendricks, A.M. Adair, Steve Stratton, Bill Schweigart, David Darling, and Taylor Moore. What a group! The real work started almost two months earlier, however, when I met T.R. Hendricks at ThrillerFest in New York. We had a common military experience and bonded over his hit book, THE INSTRUCTOR. After I read it, I loved it. That’s when I knew I had to do something to tell others. The result was The Dossier.

The wisdom I would pass along to others who want to get into editing a website like I do is to be patient. Whenever I come across an idea for a post or layout or an expansion, I do a draft page and consider it. Within a day or two, I always find things I could have done better. This is especially true with images and web design. Although I’m self-taught in html, I’m not a natural designer, and I always find ways to do things better. Be patient and keep looking for ways to improve.

Q: What lessons do you have for those who want to have a blog, youtube channel and podcast? I have a blog so I’m willing to keep being open to any advice that may help! 

A: Anyone who wants to grow something needs a hook! Your brand has to be clear about what you’re trying to do, who the target audience is, and then you have to find a way to stand out from everyone else trying to do the same thing. That takes research and study—that’s your first stop. Look at the area you want to focus on and learn everything you can about it. What are others doing and how are they doing it? Ask yourself what your natural strengths are and capitalize on that. Is it writing reviews, writing interview questions, doing a podcast, or shooting videos? Lean into your strengths and stretch into new things you can learn. Study what seems to be working well and consider how you can do it better without compromising your standards. You can try new things, but never compromise your standards just for clicks.

While exercising patience and learning how to polish your approach (how you contact people) and your media presence (website and social media involvement), get to a point where you feel comfortable and then get uncomfortable. Shoot for bigger names and play at a higher level. Make your questions relevant for the writers you interview in ways that reveal something they want to get out there and present it in ways that appeal to the audience you want to reach. Above all else, always be sincere, grateful, and thank everyone for their time.

Q: Since you are an editor at The Writers Dossier, which authors books have you edited?

A: As the creator and editor of The Writer’s Dossier, I produce the 150+ author interviews on the website. Although I’m not a traditional book editor, I’ve been asked for advice on a few writing projects. I would love to have the time to offer developmental editing services, but since I’m focusing on writing my own books right now, I’m not as involved in editing as I’d like to be. 

Q: Would you please provide links to The Writers Dossier, your social media accounts and your youtube channel so we can all follow and subscribe?

A: Absolutely. Thank you! You can find everything at www.thewritersdossier.com. From there you’ll have free access to all my interviews. Here are all my social media links and my personal website. 

Website: www.jeffcircle.com | www.thewritersdossier.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jeffcircle 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeffCircleBooks

X: https://x.com/Jeff_Circle

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcircle.bsky.social

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffcircle_books

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@jeffcircle_books