How do other LW authors manage comments?

[metropolinational]

I am a new author here. About a month ago, I published my very first story, a series called The Botched Marriage. It's in LW, so I realize some of my questions may be very specific to that genre and its unique readers.

That said, I do have some questions I would love some feedback on.

First of all, is there an expectation to respond to comments? I enormously enjoy many of the comments, even the nasty ones. I would love to reply to some of them, but the system makes it hard to reply. I feel like I could do so with authors that leave their name, but not with Anon users. What do other authors do? Do you get in there and reply?

Second, some comments are so interesting, I am tempted to click on the user icon and reply to them via the email messenger. Is this creepy? Should I not be doing that?

Finally, many of the comments request that I take the story in a specific direction. Of course, I'm not going to do that. Do any authors feel any responsibility to explain why? I don't want to argue with anyone. However, I do feel some of the ideas are interesting, but not viable for my characters for various reasons. Again, curious what other authors do.

Thanks! I have to say that I have really enjoyed publishing my story in LW so far. I had braced myself for a tsunami of rudeness, but in fact, it has been incredibly humbling and rewarding. I can definitely understand why some authors say that the comments are their payment for writing! It has really been an unexpected reward for me!

 

[dirk2024]

First of all, is there an expectation to respond to comments? I enormously enjoy many of the comments, even the nasty ones. I would love to reply to some of them, but the system makes it hard to reply. I feel like I could do so with authors that leave their name, but not with Anon users. What do other authors do? Do you get in there and reply?

I have occasionally replied to comments on my stories, but I don't think there is an expectation from commenters to do so. I have seen some authors tag the commenter by using "@commentername" and then reply. I have tried it, with no results to report from the effort.

Second, some comments are so interesting, I am tempted to click on the user icon and reply to them via the email messenger. Is this creepy? Should I not be doing that?

I have done this, have heard in here of other authors doing it. I have yet to receive a reply. I don't think its creepy as long as your reply is specific to their comment on your story. It would get creepy if you were to offer, "Hey, how about getting together for some coffee?"

Finally, many of the comments request that I take the story in a specific direction. Of course, I'm not going to do that. Do any authors feel any responsibility to explain why? I don't want to argue with anyone. However, I do feel some of the ideas are interesting, but not viable for my characters for various reasons. Again, curious what other authors do.

If I reply, I thank them for their idea and leave it at that. Although there is one story I have where I wasn't initially thinking about a part 2, and now I am. So I did save a couple of the idea's that had merit just in case.

Thanks! I have to say that I have really enjoyed publishing my story in LW so far. I had braced myself for a tsunami of rudeness, but in fact, it has been incredibly humbling and rewarding. I can definitely understand why some authors say that the comments are their payment for writing! It has really been an unexpected reward for me!

Welcome to Literotica and Happy Writing to you!

 

[TarnishedPenny]

First of all, is there an expectation to respond to comments? I enormously enjoy many of the comments, even the nasty ones. I would love to reply to some of them, but the system makes it hard to reply. I feel like I could do so with authors that leave their name, but not with Anon users. What do other authors do?

No, not at all. Respond only if you wish to. I make a point of sending a DM to those who identify themselves, but that’s just me.

Second, some comments are so interesting, I am tempted to click on the user icon and reply to them via the email messenger. Is this creepy? Should I not be doing that?

Go for it. Sometimes you’ll get into an interesting conversation, sometimes not.

Finally, many of the comments request that I take the story in a specific direction. Of course, I'm not going to do that. Do any authors feel any responsibility to explain why? I don't want to argue with anyone. However, I do feel some of the ideas are interesting, but not viable for my characters for various reasons. Again, curious what other authors do.

Ah, the penultimate compliment! It’s up to you. Sometimes I’ll say No, Thanks. Sometimes I’ll just say Not Now. You’re hardly bound either way.

All that aside, Welcome! It’s a giddy feeling seeing a story go up.

If I could make one suggestion, you might want to put a link to your stories in your signature.

Hope to hear from you again!

 

[metropolinational]

Thank you Penny, what a great suggestion. I did exactly that!

 

[designatedvictim]

Welcome aboard! You published in what might be the most conflicted category on the site. (I've never published there, and I usually don't go in there.)

(Clicked your stories link, holy cow! You've been busy!)

First of all, is there an expectation to respond to comments? I enormously enjoy many of the comments, even the nasty ones. I would love to reply to some of them, but the system makes it hard to reply. I feel like I could do so with authors that leave their name, but not with Anon users. What do other authors do? Do you get in there and reply?

I think you'll find the consensus is that many - but, by no means all - authors do. Since there is no real direct feedback between the original comment and your own reply - especially with anon - you can't really expect any reliable interaction with the original commenter.

Any reply is more like tossing it out as if you, too, were a random commenter. It's more for the follow-on commenters, not the original commenter.

Second, some comments are so interesting, I am tempted to click on the user icon and reply to them via the email messenger. Is this creepy? Should I not be doing that?

I'm of two minds with that. Yeah, you can argue that there's a hint of creepiness, but they commented on your post, you have the same option, too. Some authors do just that with registered commenters.

Also, you're limited to doing that with registered users.

On one of the pieces to my on-going work (my first story) I had a registered user make a writing comment on my material (which I wanted). It was completely valid and I replied in the comments, myself. Initially I thought he was over-thinking things, but once I re-read the story with his comment in mind (he criticized a frequent lack of proper speaker-tagging), his objection was instantly proven accurate.

He actually read my reply and commented again. I replied back to him with my own reaction and then, again, owning up to the validity of his comments.

I made edits and re-uploaded the earlier parts.

Finally, many of the comments request that I take the story in a specific direction. Of course, I'm not going to do that. Do any authors feel any responsibility to explain why? I don't want to argue with anyone. However, I do feel some of the ideas are interesting, but not viable for my characters for various reasons. Again, curious what other authors do.

You'll find those sorts of 'directorial' comments on just about any type of story. Some posters may simply make suggestions and they can take you in some interesting directions, but others will actually demand that you do what they want.

YMMV

You can, of course, explain your reasoning for the path your characters take, but you are under no obligation to actually do so.

You seem to be a busy, little writer, already. Good luck.

 

[lovecraft68]

I don't reply to any comments because in my opinion its tacky, looks needy and falsely pads the stats.

I also don't reply when it comes to LW because most of the comments come from 'men' you couldn't pay me to so much as look at in real life so why interact with them here?

I never delete them though, let their unhinged stupidity be there for all to see

My reply will eventually be in the form of another story that will piss them off.

Understand that when we write something that gets a bad reaction from readers-especially LW-we own them, not the other way around.

 

[metropolinational]

You seem to be a busy, little writer, already. Good luck.

Thank you! I have found the experience of posting here and seeing the comments to be so much fun. People's responses in LW are out of this world. Some commenters are writing whole essays in there. It's humbling and exasperating all at once!

 

[metropolinational]

I don't reply to any comments because in my opinion its tacky, looks needy and falsely pads the stats.

Thank you. The bit about padding is one that had never even occurred to me, and that's what makes it so useful!

Just to clarify, when you talk about padding the stats, do you mean posting dozens of replies to every individual comment, or are you talking about ANY amount of replies? Are there some people going around posting dozens of replies to their own stories for the purpose of gaming some site algorithm? For example, does having more comments somehow lead to more reads?

 

[lovecraft68]

Thank you. The bit about padding is one that had never even occurred to me, and that's what makes it so useful!

Just to clarify, when you talk about padding the stats, do you mean posting dozens of replies to every individual comment, or are you talking about ANY amount of replies? Are there some people going around posting dozens of replies to their own stories for the purpose of gaming some site algorithm? For example, does having more comments somehow lead to more reads?

I'm talking about the authors who will reply to every comment. So if you're looking through stories for something to read and you see something that has say 40 comments and you think hey, that's got some buzz and you click on it only to see half the comments are from the author.

Each comment left I believe will push the story up a bit in the algorithm so its an edge in that way as well, but I think its more about the author wanting to respond to everything.

I'm not saying its wrong, but my opinion is as I said, it looks tacky and seems needy. But people are free to do what works for them.

 

[metropolinational]

Thanks Lovecraft for the explanation. I agree, putting a ton of replies in there would be silly and just cause more chaos.

I had not thought to use number of comments as a filter for what I click on - since I had no benchmark. I will try to borrow yours (40) and see if that gets me to the better stories. The fact that the rating system seems totally broken has been a disappointment for sure! Sometimes it feels like 3.75s are the best stories here. Makes no sense.

Thanks!

 

[M_Calum]

I don't reply to comments. I read them all, but I think replying sets me up for bad situations.
My opinions on my writing are already in the writing. They are carefully written and curated thoughts that I obsess over before submitting.
I have responded to polite and friendly private messages.
My least favorite thing to read are comments about what a reader would have written, but for some reason couldn't, so why didn't I do it for them?
I've had to grow a thicker skin for sure, but I look at it this way, authors are already brave enough to write about deeply personal and revealing stories to be read and enjoyed or ridiculed. We don't owe anything more to anyone.
You do you, but make sure it's for you.

 

[metropolinational]

Thanks Calum,
For me, it really is about curiosity. I am fascinated by the way people think. I love to peek into the way people make choices, or the words they choose to use. I wish people who say things like "why hasn't he divorced her already" explained what they meant by that. I really am just curious. Do they wish he had killed her? That he had fled the country? That he had filed the next morning and become a weekend dad? Or are they asking why I don't fast forward, skip all the suffering and plot and character arc, and get to the divorce chapter already?

I just have a lot of questions! But the commenting system here makes it hard to ask them!

 

[dirk2024]

Thanks Calum,
For me, it really is about curiosity. I am fascinated by the way people think. I love to peek into the way people make choices, or the words they choose to use. I wish people who say things like "why hasn't he divorced her already" explained what they meant by that. I really am just curious. Do they wish he had killed her? That he had fled the country? That he had filed the next morning and become a weekend dad? Or are they asking why I don't fast forward, skip all the suffering and plot and character arc, and get to the divorce chapter already?

I just have a lot of questions! But the commenting system here makes it hard to ask them!

You can try contacting them via direct message. I'm not sure how much people respond to that, but if they comment on the story, they might be interested to talk with the author.

 

[Actingup]

I reply to some comments to clarify my thinking or acknowledge something particularly interesting, and I often send DMs to thank commentators or write a more generic thank you. If a comment is personally abusive, I will delete it, but that’s only been a few times.

 

[CalBishForNow]

I've replied to two comments and sent one private message about a comment on my work so far, out of about 50 comments I've received, mostly but not entirely in LW.

In one case it the commenter seemed confused about something about my own writing process I've given a lot of thought to on my own. In two other cases they had feedback about where the story was going, and I provided some thoughts about it. I wouldn't generally respond to that, but they were polite about it, and made open-ended comments rather than giving me a script to follow like some people do, and it was generally reflective enough that I wanted to return the favor.

General "liked it", though? I'm grateful but there's no point in responding. "Hated it"? Guidance about who should fuck whom next? An anecdote about their own lives that barely has anything to do with the story? Less than no point.

 

[iwatchus]

I reply to some comments to clarify my thinking or acknowledge something particularly interesting, and I often send DMs to thank commentators or write a more generic thank you. If a comment is personally abusive, I will delete it, but that’s only been a few times.

This is about where I am as well. (Of course, @Actingup was one of my early role models on here about proper behavior so that should not be shocking.) I will often respond directly to comments that are particularly positive, thanking them. I have only deleted one comment. I will respond in the story (as a comment) to what seems like a legitimate question, often following up with a message to the commenter if not anonymous.

The vast majority of my comments have been positive, with the next largest group are legitimate complaints, which I do consider seriously. I have had a few really odd ones, but I have no problem ignoring them.

 

[metropolinational]

Thanks for the ongoing feedback. This is all very helpful! My only experience here so far has been LW, and so I would say easily a third of my comments are odd or beyond odd. I am currently posting a series and a number of my comments in the last few chapters have been about a theory that I am intentionally delaying the posting of chapters in order to derive sexual gratification from the readers' suffering. I would say that, on average, I post a chapter every 3-4 days.

I have been replying in the way you guys (up above) have - good questions, polite suggestions, or the extremely kind ones that make my day.

 

[NoTalentHack]

I almost never reply to comments in LW, and then only acknowledge if I screwed something big up like switching between character names. However, I almost always reply to emailed feedback.

 

[metropolinational]

Oh my God! It's NoTalentHack! You are one of my favorite LE authors ever. "You Could Have Stayed" is the story that got me hooked into the LW genre!

Ahem. Sorry for the embarrassing fanboying. I'm done now.

 

[NoTalentHack]

Oh my God! It's NoTalentHack! You are one of my favorite LE authors ever. "You Could Have Stayed" is the story that got me hooked into the LW genre!

Ahem. Sorry for the embarrassing fanboying. I'm done now.

Hey, that's really kind of you to say. For what it's worth, I've been following along and enjoying your story. Keep up the good work.

 

[DHerbert]

I'm talking about the authors who will reply to every comment. So if you're looking through stories for something to read and you see something that has say 40 comments and you think hey, that's got some buzz and you click on it only to see half the comments are from the author.

Each comment left I believe will push the story up a bit in the algorithm so its an edge in that way as well, but I think its more about the author wanting to respond to everything.

I'm not saying its wrong, but my opinion is as I said, it looks tacky and seems needy. But people are free to do what works for them.

I'd not realised that comments move the algorithms like that - probably explains a few where the writer replies to each individually.

 

[DHerbert]

You can try contacting them via direct message. I'm not sure how much people respond to that, but if they comment on the story, they might be interested to talk with the author.

I've had a couple of people contact me after reading one on my stories, very nice messages saying hi & they liked them. Not sure what they expected from me though, as when I reply they then disappear and that's the last I've heard from them.

Seems odd to me. I'd be delighted that the author responded and want to go deeper.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I am a new author here. About a month ago, I published my very first story, a series called The Botched Marriage. It's in LW, so I realize some of my questions may be very specific to that genre and its unique readers.

That said, I do have some questions I would love some feedback on.

First of all, is there an expectation to respond to comments? I enormously enjoy many of the comments, even the nasty ones. I would love to reply to some of them, but the system makes it hard to reply. I feel like I could do so with authors that leave their name, but not with Anon users. What do other authors do? Do you get in there and reply?

Nope, no expectation at all. Entirely up to you. I sometimes reply to questions or comments in the comments, depending. It's pretty subjectibve and again, totally up to you. YOu do build reader engagement that way tho

Second, some comments are so interesting, I am tempted to click on the user icon and reply to them via the email messenger. Is this creepy? Should I not be doing that?

Perfectly okay. I do that now and then and yuo can have some great discussions. Generally, when I get reader feedback thru the feedback option and it turns up as an email, I reply. It's not like I'm Stepehen King with millions of fans LOL, so I generally take the time to email back. In the comments, it's "depends". With a new story, after it's been up a while and there's a few comments, I make take the time to do one comment replying and thanking everyone and maybe answering questions, all in onre comment if my own. But replying to readers direct isn't creepy at all. Thinkof it as encouraging reader engagement and building your audience. An engaged reader is one who will come back for your next story - and you nest and your next - and before you know it you have a few hundred and then a few thousand followers.

One qualifier: Use a Literotica-specific email, do not EVER use that email address for anything other than Literotica or Literotica-related chats, and don't for goodness sake ever use your real name or anything like it and don't give away any personal details. I use my real first name because I'd probably forget a fake one and use it anyhow, but there are so many Chloe's out there it really doesn't matter, but if you have an unusual name, use another one. LOL Best is to tie it to you Literotica userid so there;s no mistake - and when your reader hgets your email reply its clear who its from

Finally, many of the comments request that I take the story in a specific direction. Of course, I'm not going to do that. Do any authors feel any responsibility to explain why? I don't want to argue with anyone. However, I do feel some of the ideas are interesting, but not viable for my characters for various reasons. Again, curious what other authors do.

I never bother explaining unless it's to one of my volunteer editirs I discuss things with. People can ask all they like - and on some of my stories I do ask readers to comment and make suggestions - which I may or may not use - some of them are good and when readers are into a story you do get suggestions which make you think and maybe add smething to the story. But I never committ.....

It's up to you - it's your story. I do enjoy those reader suggestions tho. I have had some good ones that I have used.

Thanks! I have to say that I have really enjoyed publishing my story in LW so far. I had braced myself for a tsunami of rudeness, but in fact, it has been incredibly humbling and rewarding. I can definitely understand why some authors say that the comments are their payment for writing! It has really been an unexpected reward for me!

 

[feel_the_beast]

I am a new author here. About a month ago, I published my very first story, a series called The Botched Marriage. It's in LW, so I realize some of my questions may be very specific to that genre and its unique readers.

That said, I do have some questions I would love some feedback on.

First of all, is there an expectation to respond to comments? I enormously enjoy many of the comments, even the nasty ones. I would love to reply to some of them, but the system makes it hard to reply. I feel like I could do so with authors that leave their name, but not with Anon users. What do other authors do? Do you get in there and reply?

Second, some comments are so interesting, I am tempted to click on the user icon and reply to them via the email messenger. Is this creepy? Should I not be doing that?

Finally, many of the comments request that I take the story in a specific direction. Of course, I'm not going to do that. Do any authors feel any responsibility to explain why? I don't want to argue with anyone. However, I do feel some of the ideas are interesting, but not viable for my characters for various reasons. Again, curious what other authors do.

Thanks! I have to say that I have really enjoyed publishing my story in LW so far. I had braced myself for a tsunami of rudeness, but in fact, it has been incredibly humbling and rewarding. I can definitely understand why some authors say that the comments are their payment for writing! It has really been an unexpected reward for me!

One author deleted all my comments [many were favorable] from all their content after I posted a warning that a particular popular series had been left unfinished, for several years, while they published numerous other works right up to the present. Since there were no other such warnings in the comments, it is pretty clear this author does this routinely.
I comment a lot. Some authors ignore me, or maybe they never read comments. Some tell me to piss off. And some engage me in interesting discussions of their stories. Some thank me for spotting typos, and some tell me to lighten up. I see no issue with using email to chat, since you'd have to be an idiot to submit an email address that is accessible to anyone you wouldn't want to know that you write here.
Not that some of us aren't idiots....