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Why I don't write to (some) authors anymore โ€‹๐Ÿ˜ถ


L'oiseau

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Why don't you? You'll ask

The authors ask for critics and comments, yes.

But, my experience is that I am not getting an answer. I can name some.. but maybe there are authors who do answer emails, so unless asked, personally

I will not tell you now which they are. Some however have a lot of stories here..

It doesn't stop with writers here, also other sites, writers, don't.

I don't know why, maybe they are busy with new stories, maybe they are getting tons of mail ( I hope), maybe my mail gets right into their spambox. I'm writing from europe.

L'oiseau

ย 

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I can understand what you said. It dose not take away our enjoyment of the story they give us. I would say wright them if you wish. If they answer much better. If they do not answer then just enjoy what they give us in the story we read. We all have our own lives to live and we can not answer email at times. Do not take it personally.

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Monsiour L'oiseau,

I cannot condone others' lack of good manners in failing to reply or even acknowledge your letter to them. Of course I am not a prolific author of narrative, so do not exactly get swamped with fan mail. But as an academic writer I do attract a weighty post bag, even if that is nowadays metaphorical, regrettably. Add to that my daily medical business post and there seems to be a constant welter of letters with which to deal.

The point is, Monsiour, dealt with they are. It is a matter of discipline and organisation to get at the very least a brief pro forma note sent to each correspondent. When, as in my ย early childhood, such a thing involved dipping a pen in an inkwell on your school desk (I attended a school built in 1432!), then blotting the paper, folding, putting in an envelope, stamping the damn thing, and walking it to a pillar box, that was laborious. Now it takes a two second click of my mouse to recover the pro forma, affix my signature, and email the bloody tract.ย 

There is no excuse not to reply. Now, indeed if you have even gone so far as to offer a critique, then you deserve more. Then, as my correspondents will attest has been the case with me, I return the compliment by giving a raison d'etre for my storyline or character action or whatever.

But, as I began by saying, I can only speak for myself.As I say to my children, "As you interact with others once you leave home, remember, those who observe your actions won't only be judging you, but also those who raised you."

Adam

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L'oiseau,

I can't speak for anyone else, but I think the requests for comments are often inserted by the website as part of the posting format; either that or some editors insert the request.ย  Also, I think the forwarding method loses a certain amount of mail.ย  I know that windows 10 and its mail system, coupled with the presence of the edge browser, royally screws things up,ย ย and if a reader is using a web based email host, just clicking on the author,castleroland.netย  option does nothing, so I don't know what the reverse would do.

ย 

At any rate, I reply to emails that make it to me, but have no better idea where those replies end up than where other mails addressed to me get lost on the way.

Dan

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I have to agree, although I have found that there are authors who do correspond, on a frequent basis, if I continue to write them. I myself find the interaction appealing, in fact I check my email first thing each morning, and then frequently during the day, hoping for a reaction to my stories, whether itย isย a criticism or praise. I frequently get suggestions on how a story should develop, but I have to respond that the stories are completed before they are submitted. I have received suggestions for new stories and have acted on those and with those stories I give credit for the inspiration to the writer of the email it came from. It is the only way we (authors) know someone is reading our work. I myself have several dozen writers I have written over the years and have not heard from, but those are the exception to the rule, I hope. Thankfully I have had friendships form from all over the world, started by someone writing and saying they were enjoying what I wrote. Don't let a few recalcitrant writers stop you from writing them, or other authors. Art

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have always enjoyed getting emails from readers and I have never failed to answer them.ย  Unfortunately I have to admit that I do not always send an email of thanks to authors for their stories, but that isย completely on me.ย  I do write a lot ofย authors concerning their stories, and we have a nice email conversation.ย  Some I talk to quite a bit and I usually reconnect with them when I read updates to current stories or new stories.ย ย I have also contacted other writers on this site through the forum instead of writing them an email.ย  After 12 years of writing I can say that I have always answered the emails.ย  Even when someone pointed out a mistake I made.ย ย  I plan to continue doing that.

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Like most of the writers that have responded here I try really hard to respond to emails sent to me as I love getting them. Sometimes its a couple weeks after I get the email as I live a very hectic lifestyle. I am always on the go. Writing is a hobby for my so unfortunately its not a priority for me. Emails asking about stories or when the next update to a story will be often wait until I have a few extra minutes to sit down and respond. I know I should be better at it but again life does get in the way. If an author is not responding to emails at all then that is their choice and I cannot explain why they would make that choice.

I say keep writing to the authors, for some of us it encourages us to make some time to write more.ย 

If someone is reading this and they have sent me an email and I have not responded then its OK to send me another asking for a response. If you took the time to send me an email you deserve a response.ย 

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I, too, do my very best respond to all emails that are sent to me. The volume of mail peaks, of course, after each irregular posting of my story. (I'm not sure that I'm getting email directly through CR or not. I see almost none, from what I can tell.) I personally enjoy the conversations I have with my readers. It is part of the reward of writing, for me. I may not answer every email, every time, as I, too, have more in my life than just writing. But I do see each missive from a reader as something to be treasured.

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  • 1 year later...

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