Etiquette Question - Invalid Email Address

[TheExperimentalist]

Someone recently contacted me through the editor program who has their email address set to the same value as their lit user name, with no "@whatever" attached: i.e. not a valid email address. I cannot actually respond to them by email.

(Side note: The editor sign-up form encourages people to make sure they respond promptly. It's weird to me that it lets authors contact editors when their configured email address is invalid.)

This author does, however, have a few published works already. I could comment, either anonymously or not, to say "hey, you contacted me via the editor form, but the email address you have set up isn't valid and I can't actually reply."

Pros:

• I don't want them to think I'm just ghosting them.
• If I can't contact them, no one else can either, and they probably want to fix that.

Cons:

• Story comments aren't really for that.
• Not every author reads every comment they get, so they may not see it.
• They may, for whatever personal reasons, not want it publicly shared that they were contacting me specifically through the editor form, or contacting an editor at all.

So... what's the etiquette here? Do I try to let them know through story comments, or just ignore it and leave it be? And if I do, should I do so anonymously, or by name? Thanks.

 

[PennyThompson]

Do they have the "send instant feedback" button enabled on their profile? If so, you could try sending them a message that way.

You could also try DMing them here on the forum, though they might not be active on this side...

I would try both of those before doing it as a comment on a story!

 

[TheExperimentalist]

Do they have the "send instant feedback" button enabled on their profile? If so, you could try sending them a message that way.

You could also try DMing them here on the forum, though they might not be active on this side...

I would try both of those before doing it as a comment on a story!

I would imagine that the instant feedback feature uses the same mis-configured email address as the contact via the editor form would, but I can try it. I can also try a DM here. Thanks for suggesting some alternate options.

 

[TheExperimentalist]

I would imagine that the instant feedback feature uses the same mis-configured email address as the contact via the editor form would, but I can try it. I can also try a DM here. Thanks for suggesting some alternate options.

Uh... one question, and I feel utterly idiotic that I can't figure it out but uh... how do I actually send a DM? I can't find a button to do it anywhere.

 

[PennyThompson]

Uh... one question, and I feel utterly idiotic that I can't figure it out but uh... how do I actually send a DM? I can't find a button to do it anywhere.

Click on the little envelope icon, then click Start a New Conversation, and then type in the user name

 

[TheExperimentalist]

Click on the little envelope icon, then click Start a New Conversation, and then type in the user name

No wonder I couldn't find it. I would have expected to see a button for it directly on the user's profile rather than having to go through my own inbox to do it. Thanks again!

 

[Jim1855]

This is probably a recent update, but you can click on their name to "Start Conversation".