Does the "message author" function actually work?

[Ilfen1]

In each author profile, there's a tab named "Contact" where you can send a PM of sorts to an author.

I've sent several comprehensive feedbacks through that function, but always had nagging doubts about whether it actually works because I never receive replies.

Made a dummy account to test it yesterday and it hasn't worked. Does it actually work? If you leave the email field blank will the author know the account you sent it from?

 

[HisArpy]

It works.

I have feedback turned off for all my stories because I decided to not feed the trolls by giving them the easy opportunity to, well, troll.

However, I get a lot of feedback, both good and bad, through the contact author option. It's always from "anonymous", although if you fill out the email address field, that shows up. It helps cut down on the trolls because it takes more effort.

I don't reply because A) it's from anonymous and there's no return address, and; B) it's feedback. There's not a lot to have a conversation about when someone tells you that your story sucked or that your story "wowed!!!" them, although I have had several nice short conversations about my works based on other messages.

As for replies: If someone wants me to reply, they should say so in the email and specifically give me an address to reply to. And remember, it's an EMAIL, not a PM. It doesn't come to my Lit account, it goes offsite to the email address I set up for that. At that point it's up to me to decide to reply, if the sender asks. Like I said, I usually don't because it's feedback and there's not a lot to say in response to: "Thanks, great story. Loved the protagonist, hated the antagonist, and the Goth butterflies were a nice touch."