i don't reply to email

[bg23]

from my readers, that is
i always feel so bad about it.
i read the feedback, glow for a bit, and then stick it in my "feedback" folder, where i tell myself i will eventually get to replying to it.
but i never do.
and then now it's built up to this enormous pile, and i'm completely at a loss.
i really do feel very guilty about it...

...but who else has this problem?
and how do you deal with the guilt?

 

[carsonshepherd]

I do it all the time myself. *shrug* I'm far too busy posting on Lit to be bothered.

No, seriously. I tell myself the exact same thing: I'll get to it. And about once a month I take a crack at it. Long since stopped answering PCs though... I'm a lazy shit.

 

[NoJo]

from my readers, that is
i always feel so bad about it.
i read the feedback, glow for a bit, and then stick it in my "feedback" folder, where i tell myself i will eventually get to replying to it.
but i never do.
and then now it's built up to this enormous pile, and i'm completely at a loss.
i really do feel very guilty about it...

...but who else has this problem?
and how do you deal with the guilt?

personally I think it's rude not to reply.

 

[bg23]

it is very rude!
i started off so well.
i replied to every email.

now i think i have about sixty that i haven't gotten to. it's been three months since the last time i replied.

 

[NoJo]

it is very rude!
i started off so well.
i replied to every email.

now i think i have about sixty that i haven't gotten to. it's been three months since the last time i replied.

So sixty people now won't bother reading your next story.

 

[bg23]

i'll do it eventually.
but yes, you're right, they're probably most annoyed at me and won't read it.

 

[rgraham666]

Don't sweat it, bg.

When I send off a comment on a story, which I almost always do, it's not in the expectation of getting a reply. It's to tell the writer how much I liked their story. If they reply, it's nice, but I don't demand a reply.

I never miss replying. Not that it's hard to reply, I don't put much stuff up, and I don't get huge numbers of comments.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Maybe it's just me, but I generally don't get much email for my stories. Two, maybe three pieces is about it, so responding is pretty much enjoyable.

I don't respond to public comments as a matter of principle, but I'm really conflicted about it. On the one hand, I'd like to thank people who had nice things to say about the story, but on the other I like to think of PC's as things that readers say for other readers, and so the author should butt out. Thanking people for PC's feels a bit like soliciting endorsements to me, kind of like patting people on the head when they say something nice about you.

For the record, I don't expect to get responses to the PC's I leave either. If I want a reply, I'll email.

---dr.M.

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

I respond to all email Feedback. If they took the time to write me, who am I to be too important to answer in return.

In the case of Public Comments, they are Public, and do not require a personal response.

Of course, in both instances, I am referring to signed messages. Anonymous, by definition, are unanswerable.

A short “Good one!” or similar response receives a simple “Thanks!” in reply. The longer, more involved questions (or criticisms) get the longer more involved replies (or acknowledgements/excuses).

If possible, I even answer signed PC’s (by email, never on the PC board) At least I try to do so early in their run, when I am still regularly checking their numbers. Later, it may be weeks before I return to notice a PC (and sometimes I can’t remember if I have already acknowledged them.)

But emails always get a response. I have not yet become so successful that I can ignore my only certain readership.



Maybe next month?

 

[OhMissScarlett]

I try to reply to every pc and email. I know I probably miss some occasionally, but I do try. It helps to not let them stack up, reply to them as they come in.

Recently, I replied back to a feedback email and the recipient told me that in five years of reading on Lit, he'd never once had an author reply to his email. To me, that's really upsetting. If people take the time to comment, we should take the time to reply.

 

[LadyJeanne]

I reply to email and most of the PCs, although I don't necessarily do it in a timely fashion. I procrastinate, and I do tell people that when I reply to something that's been sitting unanswered for a while.

I read a lot of the poetry and leave quite a few PCs, and I've noticed that a majority of those don't get replies. That doesn't bother me so much, although I very much appreciate every reply I do receive. That kind of communication with an author makes me more likely to go back and look up more of their work to read.

 

[cloudy]

I thank everyone for feedback, whether it's in email, or a PC. To me, raised by one of the last true southern belles, it's just the right thing to do. I suppose I just had it drummed into me that when someone gives you a gift, you thank them. And, in a way, that's what feedback is. Someone took the time to let me know that they enjoyed my story, so the least I can do is thank them.

 

[carsonshepherd]

Note: thanks to this thread I have just replied to some email that's been sitting in my inbox for about a week

 

[Octavian]

I always reply

I always reply to feedback and am glad to see that the majority here do the same.
I also try to thank those who post public comments.

Octavian

My Stories

 

[lustybard]

It's so rare that I get a response, that it's never become an issue. The few I've gotten, I did reply, though.