Quora is a site where random people post questions and random people answer them.
If you don’t like having to come up with topics for your blog or for your social media posts but still want to have an online presence in a relatively calm and thoughtful platform, Quora is a good place. Plus, you might turn some of your answers into blog posts.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find many sci-fi and fantasy authors on Quora. But, on the other hand, this means that there’s an opportunity here for writers to gain an audience. Perhaps you write stories about time travel — this could be an opportunity to answer time travel-related questions and set yourself apart as an expert on the topic. Quora will also automatically send you emails with questions that people have asked that they think you might answer.
A note of warning, though. Quora can be a huge time-sink. People post answers to everything under the sun, many with answers based on real expertise or hard-won personal experience. Do you want to know what it feels like to be a narcissist or a psychopath? People on Quora have written entire tomes on the subject.
Mercedes Lackey
Fantasy author Mercedes Lackey has about 45,000 followers on Quora and answers questions about being a writer, about psychic stuff, about pets — anything and everything really. Her answers have been read 53 million times. Her Amazon author page is here. You can also follow her on Twitter at @mercedeslackey and on Facebook at Mercedes Lackey.
David Brin
Sci-fi author David Brin has around 43,000 followers on Quora and answers questions about science, economics, politics, and, of course, science fiction. His answers have been read 3.8 million times. His Amazon author page is here. You can also follow him on Twitter at @DavidBrin and on Facebook at David Brin.
C.S. Friedman
Sci-fi and fantasy author C.S. Friedman has about 21,000 followers on Quora and answers questions about politics, science, cats, and writing. Her answers have been read nearly 55 million times. Her Amazon author page is here. You can also follow her on Facebook at C. S. Friedman.
Orson Scott Card
Sci-fi author Orson Scott Card has around 15,000 followers on Quora and answers questions about science, economics, politics, and, of course, science fiction. His answers have been read 6.8 million times. His Amazon author page is here. You can also follow him on Twitter at @orsonscottcard and on Facebook at Orson Scott Card.
Lawrence Watt-Evans
Fantasy author Lawrence Watt-Evans has around 1,700 followers on Quora and answers questions about writing, grammar, and the business side of being an author. His answers have been read 1.9 million times. His Amazon author page is here. You can also follow him on Twitter at @wattevans and on Facebook at Lawrence Watt-Evans.
James H. Jenkins
Sci-fi author James H. Jenkins has around 2,000 followers on Quora and answers questions about fantasy and science fiction. His answers have been read 2.2 million times. His Amazon author page is here. You can also follow him on Twitter at @etarnon.
Bob Mayer
Sci-fi and thriller author Bob Mayer has around 1,100 followers on Quora and answers questions about the military, about survival, and about Area 51. His answers have been read 3.7 million times. His Amazon author page is here. You can also follow him on Twitter at @Bob_Mayer and on Facebook at @authorbobmayer.
David Lascelles
Fantasy author David Lascelles has around 750 followers on Quora and answers questions about science fiction, fantasy, science, and other topics. His answers have been read 3.5 million times. His Amazon author page is here. You can also follow him on Twitter at @areteus and on Facebook at D. A. Lascelles.
Timothy Ellis
Sci-fi author Timothy Ellis has around 700 followers on Quora and answers questions about science fiction, politics, and other topics. His answers have been read 2.6 million times. His Amazon author page is here. You can also follow him on Facebook at Timothy Ellis.
Kamila Miller
Fantasy author Kamila Miller has around 700 followers on Quora and writes about writing, with a mix of other topics thrown in. Her answers have been read 1.2 million times. Her Amazon author page is here. You can also follow her on Facebook at E. M. Prazeman.
Rachel Caine
Urban fantasy author Rachel Caine has around 400 followers on Quora and writes about publishing and writing. Her answers have been read 1 million times. Her Amazon author page is here. You can also follow her on Twitter at @rachelcaine and on Facebook at @rachelcainefanpage.
Janette Rallison
Fantasy author Janette Rallison has about 300 followers on Quora and answers questions about publishing, writing, and relationships. Her answers have been read about 400,000 times. Her Amazon author page for C. J. Hill is here. You can also follow her on Twitter at @authorcjhill and on Facebook at @AuthorCJHill.
Maria Korolov
Yup, that’s me. I was a top Quora author in 2016 and 2017. I have… looking it up… around 600 followers and have answered more than 400 questions, mostly about virtual reality, which have been viewed more than 850,000 times. I cover VR as a tech journalist, so those were the questions I typically answered. Last month, my answers had… more than 8,000 views. I’ll have to do better, especially now that I’m editing this magazine.
Am I missing anyone? Let me know in the comments below.
Edited by Melody Friedenthal
MetaStellar editor and publisher Maria Korolov is a science fiction novelist, writing stories set in a future virtual world. And, during the day, she is an award-winning freelance technology journalist who covers artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and enterprise virtual reality. See her Amazon author page here and follow her on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, and check out her latest videos on the Maria Korolov YouTube channel. Email her at maria@metastellar.com. She is also the editor and publisher of Hypergrid Business, one of the top global sites covering virtual reality.