How do you handle comments?

[PriestOfIshtar]

Ideally, I would love to have a feature whereby the author could respond to comments. People ask questions or give useful feedback, it would be nice to have a good way to respond or reply.

But in the absence of that feature, what do authors do to engage with reader comments on a story?

 

[PeytonMirabelle]

I don't, really. Once or twice when someone made a salient point about plot elements, I might have addressed it. I've responded to some who used the Feedback tab to send me an email, mostly to thank them. But in the comments section itself, I don't respond to praise or bashing. I think it would clutter it up too much. I thank folks in advance (usually at the top and bottom of the submission) for any feedback and leave it at that.

I thought I read that it's on the site's "to-do" list to turn the comment section into a more tree-style format, so responses could be easily tracked, but I could have misread that.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Ideally, I would love to have a feature whereby the author could respond to comments. People ask questions or give useful feedback, it would be nice to have a good way to respond or reply.

But in the absence of that feature, what do authors do to engage with reader comments on a story?

You can add your own comment - it just goes to end of the list so you have to reference which comment you’re replying to. If I reply, I do a group one. But that’s not often.

 

[davion2308]

I tried

I tried to engage the comments in the first few stories I wrote but I find people who write hate messages just leave their bullshit and move on. There's no engagement there. And people who love the story usually just say they love the story and move on.

I don't use the Comment section for developmental feedback or wordsmithing or improvement; that's what my friendly Community Editors are for!

 

[Omenainen]

How do I handle comments? Why, I cherish each and every one of them except the occasional sewage spill from LW.

Okay, seriously. Sometimes I answer, but not to each and every one. I answer all email feedback with return address. Once I even wrote a story a reader suggested to me that way. But I’m so mushy I don’t get hate mail, so there’s that.

 

[PriestOfIshtar]

Thanks for the feedback everyone... I wish I could "like" your messages!

 

[oggbashan]

I handle them with long tongs. Unless they are abusive (or anon), I try to send feedback thanking the person who commented.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Unless they are abusive (or anon), I try to send feedback thanking the person who commented.

He does, too. It's embarrassing, being noticed by his proper upbringing and good manners.


But, WRT comments. You can, as noted, leave your own comment. As to the really nasty ones, some writers chose to delete them, others to leave them up as honourable scars of battle with the trolls. Your call.

 

[ScrappyPaperDoodler]

Sometimes, I post a 'reply', but always assume that the person I’m replying to won’t see it. So, the function is typically to leave something for future commenters (such as a clarification of something that didn’t come across well to some readers).

Once, I actually got a reply after addressing a reader’s comment. He seemed less angry in his second comment. Though, honestly, I think a reply feature would mostly lead to horrible fights! Young authors in particular will probably spend more time there than writing their stories.

 

[oggbashan]

Sometimes, I post a 'reply', but always assume that the person I’m replying to won’t see it. So, the function is typically to leave something for future commenters (such as a clarification of something that didn’t come across well to some readers).

Once, I actually got a reply after addressing a reader’s comment. He seemed less angry in his second comment. Though, honestly, I think a reply feature would mostly lead to horrible fights! Young authors in particular will probably spend more time there than writing their stories.

I don't usually 'reply' unless the comment is factually wrong. My 'reply' is for later commenters. What I do is send a thank you as feedback to the person who commented.

 

[ScrappyPaperDoodler]

I don't usually 'reply' unless the comment is factually wrong. My 'reply' is for later commenters. What I do is send a thank you as feedback to the person who commented.

The feedback portal is great. I wish more readers would use it, but I get that sending something directly to the author can be daunting.

 

[Payne_Hall]

The feedback portal is great. I wish more readers would use it, but I get that sending something directly to the author can be daunting.

Does anyone ever occasionally get... odd feedback messages through the portal? Not necessarily bad. But odd. Some of the past stories I have still get interesting messages.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I've only had random guys trying to make conversation via the portal, apart from one positive comment (a wheelchair user on my story Wheelchair Bound?).

I tend to reply with thanks to nice comments and suggest other stories they or future readers might enjoy, or respond to questions or odd comments - someone liked my I Say Ass story but said the science in it seemed rather 90s, so I pointed out it was definitely accurate for the early 2000s if not from 2010 onwards.

The rude comments are all left by Anon so I ignore them (and delete if I don't find them funny)

 

[AvroAnsonXIX]

Sometimes I'm havin' trouble with what's in a commentators head
They are givin' me the blues
I want my stories to be read and read
Here's what I usually do
Pick up the phone
They're almost always home
I can call Angus, Ron, and Malcom any time
Just ring
Australia 36 24 36 hey
They lead a life of crime ...

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Does anyone ever occasionally get... odd feedback messages through the portal? Not necessarily bad. But odd. Some of the past stories I have still get interesting messages.

Oh, yes! I get the odd comment correcting, for instance, my use of a word I haven’t used in the story.

 

[oggbashan]

Does anyone ever occasionally get... odd feedback messages through the portal? Not necessarily bad. But odd. Some of the past stories I have still get interesting messages.

I have had some advertising links.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Sometimes I reply to a commenter who plainly doesn't know what he/she is talking about.

Other than that, I read them, have a laugh or two and if they are a personal attack on either me or another commenter, I delete them. After that, I ignore them.

 

[Payne_Hall]

I have had some advertising links.

This is one I’ve gotten! Really strange links too.

Another thing that comes to mind are ones where I think people think they know me. They’ll mention having met me some place and I... don’t live near that place. I’ve had my upcoming baby shower mentioned, too. I’m not having a baby shower. Or kids.

 

[WalterAndOliveAnn]

This is one I’ve gotten! Really strange links too.

Another thing that comes to mind are ones where I think people think they know me. They’ll mention having met me some place and I... don’t live near that place. I’ve had my upcoming baby shower mentioned, too. I’m not having a baby shower. Or kids.

On a crowded street.

Man No. 1: "Dave, God, it's been a while, how are you?"

Man No. 2: "Sorry, I'm not Dave."

Man No. 1: "Martha will be happy to hear that I bumped into you, Dave, me must get together and have a drink for old times sake."

Man No. 2: "Look mister, I'm not Dave."

Man No. 1: "So Dave, how's Christine doing. Man-o-man that wedding was great."

Man No. 2: "My name's not Dave!"

Man No. 1: "What Dave, you changed your name?"

 

[TadOverdon]

I just got an email from my number one fan on Literotica, the guy who posted the nasty personal insults as comment on my first posted story here.

Since I set my options not to receive anonymous feedback, he just sends the stuff using a throwaway email address.

He's an author on the site, seems to have been around a couple of years.

Anyway, here's his latest flattery:

stop publishing your garbage. stop putting your not incest crap in the incest category. you suck as an author and your storys are so unarousing that i feel like my genitals shrink any time i come across another 1 of your storys.

I do struggle with categorizing the very long stories that are broken into chapters, as I've mentioned in another topic here. Been following the best advice I've been given in this forum, and keeping all the chapters in a single cat (most all the chapters at least reference ongoing family relations between the characters). Sadly, no one solution seems to be ideal.

 

[J_Patish]

I just got an email from my number one fan on Literotica, the guy who posted the nasty personal insults as comment on my first posted story here.

Since I set my options not to receive anonymous feedback, he just sends the stuff using a throwaway email address.

He's an author on the site, seems to have been around a couple of years.

Anyway, here's his latest flattery:



I do struggle with categorizing the very long stories that are broken into chapters, as I've mentioned in another topic here. Been following the best advice I've been given in this forum, and keeping all the chapters in a single cat (most all the chapters at least reference ongoing family relations between the characters). Sadly, no one solution seems to be ideal.

Man, that is savage. He IS aware that he has the option of not reading your stories,right?

And, yeah, it makes sense to keep chapters of a story in the same cat. If they deviate too much, maybe they belong in another story? Just a thought.

I’ve had some savage comments, but they were almost all of them on-point, and - sadly - I agreed with most of them. Thing is, it’s mostly in regard to storylines - I do wish people gave constructive criticism on the storytelling. Well, I guess that’s what volunteer editors are for, might be a good idea to try and find one.

 

[TadOverdon]

Man, that is savage. He IS aware that he has the option of not reading your stories,right?

And, yeah, it makes sense to keep chapters of a story in the same cat. If they deviate too much, maybe they belong in another story? Just a thought.

I’ve had some savage comments, but they were almost all of them on-point, and - sadly - I agreed with most of them. Thing is, it’s mostly in regard to storylines - I do wish people gave constructive criticism on the storytelling. Well, I guess that’s what volunteer editors are for, might be a good idea to try and find one.

I think the cuckold stuff in my first story posted here really triggered him. It was personal right away, for him, and has remained so.

I'm not sure why a dude who panics at the thought of cuckoldry thinks he's got what it takes to intimidate a girl.

I mean, especially as I have the apparent power to shrink his genitals.

Most comments are considerate and they often are helpful. When they're negative without offering something I can use - and most do offer at least some small thing - they usually are not unkind. I decided to turn off the anonymous commenting option, and that's pretty much taken care of the folks who think they can humiliate strangers.

As far as chapters belonging in another story...no, generally not. Writing mostly novellas or short novels I'm usually working with a number of characters and they're not all into the same things - and those that are, aren't only into one thing, and certainly not all of them together in the same place at the same time.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I just got an email from my number one fan on Literotica, the guy who posted the nasty personal insults as comment on my first posted story here.

Since I set my options not to receive anonymous feedback, he just sends the stuff using a throwaway email address.

He's an author on the site, seems to have been around a couple of years.

What a jerk. Surely he could just not read your stuff, if it enrages him so much.

By turning anon comments off, though, you'll miss some of your best feedback. I'd say turn anon back on, but delete junk comments like the one cited.

 

[TadOverdon]

By turning anon comments off, though, you'll miss some of your best feedback. I'd say turn anon back on, but delete junk comments like the one cited.

I debate that with myself. I haven't seen anything useful in the anons so far; the invisible army seems to be where the haters go to fry.

But...maybe I'll read the anon comments on some other writers I like, and see if I decided too quickly.

I've only deleted one comment, from the Big Time Fan we're discussing. He reposted it a few days ago without the personal abuse included, and I left it alone. I guess I credited him with being a quicker learner than he's turning out to be.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I debate that with myself. I haven't seen anything useful in the anons so far; the invisible army seems to be where the haters go to fry.

But...maybe I'll read the anon comments on some other writers I like, and see if I decided too quickly.

I've only deleted one comment, from the Big Time Fan we're discussing. He reposted it a few days ago without the personal abuse included, and I left it alone. I guess I credited him with being a quicker learner than he's turning out to be.

I don't seem to attract clowns to my writing - I'd never turn anon comments off. Some of my best comments have been from Anon.