Some authors on the site often beg for reader feedback, and some others contacted me and complained that the site’s feedback system is not working for them, or is broken.
I took it upon myself to test various issues with the feedback system.
The biggest thing that I’ve noticed is that authors explicitly asking for feedback or complaining that the system does not work, do not answer their fan mail. How do I know that? Well, simple, I tried it.
I emailed many of the authors who complained about the lack of feedback from readers through the system with comments about their stories. Some were simply a ‘thank you, keep up the good work’ notes and other more detailed feedback. I sent three messages to each author, and the three messages to prolific authors that don’t complain. Of course, I used different email addresses to identify myself.
I received no reply from the authors that complain and received a reply to each message from the authors that don’t complain.
So, what’s the verdict?
Well, just as authors want readers’ feedback, readers want to know that the author received their feedback and appreciates it. A simple ‘thank you for your note’ is often enough.
In the past, when I had more time to read stories, I’ve always sent feedback to authors and always felt disappointed when I don’t hear back from authors, and quit sending feedback to those authors that never replied. I understand that not everybody has enough time to answer each message, and I’m fine with ‘thank you for your note, I appreciate it, but I don’t have enough time to answer all my email’ type of response.
So, to all authors seeking reader feedback, answer your email or you won’t be getting more feedback from disappointed readers. You don’t have to send a two page response back, but you have to send something back. Anything, whatever it is, is better than nothing.
And if you’re a reader: authors need feedback to feel that their work is being appreciated. Votes are good, but email messages are much better. If you like an author’s work, let them know about it, otherwise they may feel that they’re not appreciated and stop writing.
65 responses to “Reader Feedback 101”
I have to admit that whenever a reader sends me a comment I will try to acknowledge then and also thank them for writing.
As writers we do have a responsibility to keep our readers happy if they take the time to write we should at least recipricate where possible – the ones who use the anonymous connection (pot and kettle comes to mind) are difficult to reply but they do write!
Wandering lanes (email wanderinglanes@hotmail.com)
I recently began resonding to authors. For the most part it has been very rewarding. A few authors have not responded, including a very popular one that is one of my favorites. Maybe that one is too busy. I made some points and asked some questions of one author about a story. He responded with some spoilers about some stories he has planned. Now, I like spoilers as much as the next person. However, I am in agony waiting for that story to be written. And I don’t expect it to be too soon as he has other stories to finish. Poor me, hahahaha. And yes, even a simple thank you acknowledgement is appreciated by us readers. Do you hear me mister very popular author? LOL.
Only a minute percentage of readers ever comment to a writer. Frequently more than ten thousand people will click on the story, and at least start reading it. Maybe a few hundred will vote. Only a few will bother to send the writer a message.
I probably vote on about a quarter of the stories I read — always a fair vote, I hasten to add — and I send a comment to less than half of the writers of the stories on which I vote. Occasionally, I’ll make a comment without voting. I don’t make enough comments to the writers, but I’d be thrilled to get that percentage of responses.
Probably about half of the writers respond. I suspect the better the writer “knows” you, the better your chance for a response.
Speaking about getting a response, I tried to set up an author’s account on StoriesOnline yesterday. There was no feedback on whether I was successful or not. I’ll post something one of these days, and then I’ll probably find out if I’m an author or not; at least I’ll know if I’m registered as an author.
Roxanne
I always try to respond to comments (although i must admit i haven’t been posting much new material lately).
If a reader has sent me an e-mail and included his e-mail address, it’s only polite to respond.
Naaahhhh.
Khanundrum, here. Also known as Arthur. 🙂
To alla you authors that have received my messages: I meant every word of ’em.
To alla you authors what replied: thanks! 🙂
It does mean alot to me that you care enough to speak back to your audience! And that is for sure what I am: sitting in my theatre seat, watching the marvelous pictures unfold on the screen of my mind as I voraciously eat your words and fall (usually) in love with your beloved characters.
It is so clear that most of you do love these folk who populate your psyche; and the fact that you share them here at old Lazeez’ place with all of us is really terrific. I vote alla youse into the charitable hall of fame! 🙂
Most of the time, I do make it a point to send along a note of appreciation to you authors who’ve moved me.
Most of the time! 🙂
I don’t write to every author I read, but I’m working on that! 😉
Then again, I know whereof Lazeez speaks on this issue: there are many ‘o you authors what have received mail from me and ain’t never answered. And your stuff sure did move me. And, in some cases, continues to regularly do so.
I don’t sweat that: I know precisely what it is to be real busy in life. Right now, I’m gots some time to chat with y’all. And that is wonderful! 🙂
But I don’t worry ’bout ya not respondin’. I just don’t write again, thats all.
Youse guise, and you know who you is, that have corresponded with me: THANK YOU. It does mean alot to me that you care enough to talk back. If I send you a note about your stuff, take it to heart: you have moved me. So it makes me feel real good to see your answer waitin for me at my email inbox.
And it is so important to me that the messages I send are encouraging and light hearted; sometimes you authors have really hit me where I live. Your characters go wandering through the universe you created and they just nail my emotions and dreams to the nines. I find myself identifying with persons, regardless of gender. And the pleasure that I receive from that is just enormous.
And so I write to you.
Thank you, Lazeez, for keeping the faith for so long; this site has gotten so very fine these last few years. And the number of authors! 🙂
Wow! I just love it.
Thank you authors!! You make my free time so very rewarding! 🙂
It is so very good to be able to come here.
God Bless and keep you all.
Arthur (Khanundrum)
As an author, I make it a point to request reader feedback on a regular basis. Here are some things that I have found:
– I make it a point to answer each and every email that is sent to me that is not SPAM or a virus. If a person responds to my response, I decide whether or not to continue the “conversation.” If the response was “Wow! Thanks for responding!” then I leave it at that. If they want to talk about my characters or my writing, I love chatting. If they want to tell me how my story should go, and I don’t agree, I see no point in getting a reader angry.
– I get tickled pink when an author responds to me. I usually check out that author’s stories (if he/she is on SOL) because if that author likes my stories, then it’s quite possible we have a lot in common.
– I don’t send negative anonymous feedback.
– I don’t like receiving negative anonymous feedback.
– I prefer getting all feedback (positive and negative) so I can have a chance to either thank the reader, or to explain my own feelings on what they’ve told me.
– I send feedback, but usually anonymously (when it is positive).
– I love it when an author sends me feedback. That’s one time when I send feedback non-anonymously.
– Some readers like to send a line or two of feedback on every chapter I post! It’s nice to know that I’m not losing my readership!
– If you find a technical problem with my story, let me know. This includes grammar, spelling, or even plot continuity. I’ll make the necessary changes, if possible. If you do so consistently, I may even ask you if you’re interested in helping me edit my stories before posting them.
Verdict: I agree with Lazeez’ thesis. I’m not sure if I was one of the authors that didn’t complain but was tested. If so, my only sadness is that I might think that there are three more people in the world that like my stories than there truly is.
–JiMC
Speaking as one of the “Not Popular” authors on the site, I am not really suprised when I don’t recieve much reader feedback. However what feedback I do recieve, as long as the reader left an e-mail, I do reply. Any and all feedback I treat as special, I still have all e-mails that have been sent to me,from the first story I ever posted both on SOL and all other sites I have posted to.
Thanks to Lazeez for running that test. Opinions are sometimes interesting, but having some actual data makes a difference in the discussion.
I have commented to several of the best known writers and have had some continuing conversations with them over the past several years. I enjoy discussing ideas and writing itself as I have done quite a bit of writing myself although not in this field.
I have not written to every author whose works I have read…only those who tell the great stories I am compelled to read over again, and again.
There has been some great writing on SOL, some good writing, and some not so good writing.
The first group we should thank for giving us a life experience of a tale well told.
The second collection of authors should be encouraged for they are the majority of those who post their efforts for our enjoyment.
The third group needs input from both other writers and the readers to show them how to improve their works and edit, edit, edit, spell check, spell check, spell check
I’m gabby tonight but there-ya-go.
Readers, if you want to connect with an author, then by all means
leave feedback. Just voting accomplishes very little.
And yes, I do reply to reader feedback. Always. If you care enough to respond to one or more of my stories, then you certainly deserve an answer.
Thoughtful, constructive feedback is best. Even just asking questions is fine, too.
LordGarth says…
As a new author, I was surprised my the lack of feedback for my first story. Out of almost 800 downloads, I’ve gotten 38 votes, and 4 email comments (yes, I responded to all of them). While I have been happy with the results of the voting (and the comments), I was greatly disappointed by their lack of volume.
Basically, 5% of my readers voted, and a half percent commented. In a couple of discussions with other authors, I have found these percentages to be typical.
LordGarth
John Smith here,
I ask, and beg sometimes for emails. Ok, so I’m not proud! I love to know what people are thinking out there. If I ask for an email, then I should respond to it. I am frustrated when I get an anonymous comment that I’d love to tell the person why I did something in the story. Email addresses that aren’t typed in correctly are also a problem I have on occasion. It frustrates me that I can’t answer them. My sort of rule of thumb is that my response length is in correlation to what they have written.
One time I threatened to stop writing if I didn’t get a lot of emails. I received over 100 of them. That was a good learning lesson, as I had to respond to every one of them! But I did. I think it is very important to do.
As an author I also think it is important to send emails off to the people I have been reading. I know it is always a good feeling for me, when I know another author is reading my work. So I should do the same.
John
Hello all,
Not an author myself, and have nothing truly substantive to add to this discussion, unfortunately. Just, reading what you’ve said here reminds me that I’ve been remiss, of late, in my part as a reader to provide feedback to you guys. Apologies to all, but especially those whose work I’ve enjoyed and failed to thank properly.
Though, anyone have a suggestion as to how often one should send such feedback? I mean, as a realistic & constructive act? It’s easier to send more and more-in-depth emails towards the start of a tale because the revelations keep pouring in each chapter, but in longer stories (the kind I prefer, like the good John Smith’s) there is a necessary amount of “fill”. This “fill” isn’t the dramatic stuff that makes it easy to analyze and wax on about, but is both what makes us truly *feel* the characters AND set us up for the more dramatic points. After all, if you want to scare someone out of their shorts, or make them shriek in joy from giving them their greatest wish, you don’t want them expecting it.
So, balancing that with the need you good folks have, any practical suggestions as to how often to write in? A general rule of thumb that balances the author’s need for reassurance with a thoughtful reader’s wish to write something more than “Another nice chapter, thanks for the good read!” Or, for that matter, is getting something, even something that simple, helpful? Because I’ve felt frustrated, myself, when authors I follow religiously have moved there stories into those “fill” zones and I’ve not been clever enough to dredge up anything even mildly substantive to say.
Anyways, I want to thank you all again for your contributions. Things have been tight for me for a while, and having new tales by so many kind souls each night has been a great distraction and comfort. I’d list who among you have brought me such joy, but I don’t want to unfairly omit those who I may forget (I regularly max out the free-downloads limit, so there are quite a few of you). Thank you all!
khyranleander (KB)
Hi, Lazeez and everyone who’ll read this. It’s Tom Land and I’m just too lazy to “register” this morning.
I agree with Lazeez’s observations — I always reply to every single feedback email I get. Every single one. Some, the really ugly ones, I may let simmer for a few hours until I decide how to respond. Most of those I reply nicely; some I have ripped their “verbal lips” off. 🙂 But they all get at least an acknowledgement that I’ve gotten their email.
I didn’t get an email from you, Lazeez, or if I did, I assume I replied to it. I hope your “sneaky email” wasn’t that hugely ugly one I received last Saturday. 🙂
Best wishes to all of you and thanks for sharing your insights, Lazeez, and for all you do with this site.
Tom Land
My thoughts on author and reader feedback:
I post about a chapter of my latest story a week. There are some people (I recognize the way they “sign” their messages) that send me a single line that says, “Great chapter!” or “I like the way it’s flowing!” every week.
As an author, I love seeing that people are continuing to download my story! The download counts show that, but those one-line messages show that I’m still heading on the right track.
Some take me to task–most rightfully so–when I miss something. Sometimes I can fix it, other times I cannot, but I always take their suggestions into advisement. In the end, of course, the story is mine.
Some people send interesting suggestions and analyses, and it is great to get a fresh perspective on things–it helps me see things that I may not have seen.
Finally, if you just want to encourage a writer but don’t want to “waste the author’s time,” then send a simple message like this anonymously:
“JC here: Love what you’re doing! Keep it up! Peace!”
It’s simple, and it tells the author that you’re just encouraging him/her and don’t expect a response. I see anonymous things like that and it always brings a smile to my face.
I consider authors that don’t respond to feedback to be the equivalent of a struggling house band that ignores their fans’ requests for autographs. It’s squandering a potentially valuable resource! Sign an autograph and that fan will recommend you to his/her friends! Simple advertising and doesn’t cost much.
–JiMC
Hi, Lazeez and everyone else who may read this. I have just recently started writing and the idea from my first story came from a series of e-mails that started out as a comment on a pair of minor characters. I want to thank Caultron for responding to my feedback.
I have noticed what seems to be another patern in reader feedback. Most of the comments I get occur within two days of an update being posted. Of course, that might be more due to the amount I have posted so far than an actual general patern.
Knight Ranger
The Troubador here
First a strange comment. I couldn’t get SO to recognize my handle so am having to use anonymous.
Now the comment: I get to talk to lots of nice, and some not so nice people, via comments. Apparently some of the comments go astray for occasionally someone will say they never got an answer from me from an earlier comment. If it didn’t go astray, they sent the thing anonymously. I ALWAYS respond to those writing. If someone takes the time to tell me what they think, they deserve an answer.
And I have had a number of authors complain that no one ever sends them feedback. Now I have something to say to them.
I like and use feedback whether it tells me I am good, or it tells me I should never waste anyone’s time posting. As long as the negative gives me some idea what I did wrong.
For the writers who never answer, you are missing a lot of the best part of writing. I have made some good friends exchanging emails with commentors. And sometimes my ego gets stroked big time when one of my favorite writers comes back and identifies himself. My goodness gracious I say (or words to that effect) SHE/HE likes my junk?
One last comment to readers AND writers. Identify yourself, at least with a nom de plume. And give the author an address to respond to themselves. Sometimes I get feedback on specifics, and want desperately to get a conversation going; but with no return address it is impossible! There are sometimes reasons for what the reader feels is a problem. And sometimes I want to know what the reader thinks should have been done.
To the writers, you jerks! NEVER respond to a reader with a flame! LEARN from what they have to say. I do admit I’ve never gone to soak my head, but I have stored the problem in my mind. If I agree with it, or see how my approach could have been different, that is what happens.
Doug
the Troubador
One
I’ll agree with the previous writer overall — even those folks who write truly profane and ugle feedback emails, I don’t flame them. I’d love to — and I’d love to give them a piece of my mind, but I resist the temptation.
But, I generally take whatever is mentioned and as our previous commenter said, process it and see what grains of truth that I’m not seeing are contained there.
And, on some occasions, (particularly my story series on Bill and Monica), I take the reader on and point out how they’re comments are as one-sided as they perceived my story as being. And, nearly every time that reader has become a more faithful fan.
Tom Land
I just wanted to say that as a reader that does read what I can on this site, that seeing this I am going to start to it least firing off a short email to the authors. I have done this a few times but I will start doing it a lot more.
(Switch Blayde here)
Lazeez, that is a *very* interesting finding. Thanks for taking the time to do your study.
I received only 1 email for my single story at SOL (which, ironically, was because of a Blog post), but that may partly be because my story was externally linked and it’s more difficult for the reader to provide feedback (Lazeez explained, offline, why that’s the way it has to be).
I received a lot of feedback over the years from readers (shall I dear say fans?). And I can honestly say, I answered every one of them. Funny thing is, I have a Yahoo group to discuss my stories. Since I created that, my feedback has dropped off considerably. I wouldn’t mind if the Yahoo group replaced it, but there’s basically no posts there although the number of members keeps going up (almost 450).
Now for my confession. As an author, I love feedback. As a reader, I used to provide feedback to many authors. But, for some reason, I rarely provide feedback any longer. So, authors, if you’re a reader too, “do unto others as you want them to do unto you.” I guess after reading some of the comments here I plan to.
Switch Blayde
Prymael, a reader…
I like to read as much as possible, and reading around 300-400 pages in six hours makes for alot of reading…
I like to read various genres but am not much for replying about a story. For some of it, it is just not perservering enough (read: being lazy), and also since I do use the voting system I let that be my response, I don’t believe I have ever read a story and not voted, and everything has been at least a seven in my eyes.
I usually do see some things that could be fixed, mostly grammar or spelling, but I figure since I know what they meant or at least what I think they meant when they were typing out the story I let it go to next reader to reply about it cos it doesn’t really bother me in the least and don’t base my votes by it.
I figure I’m a typical such reader as there is out there making these types of decisions to not respond to authors by email, but authors I do read your stories so don’t feel that no one is appreciating your [work/creative outlet…].
If you’re an author that hasn’t gotten any responses or want some more really bad to actually hunt down your readers or prospective readers as it may be, well occasionally I look up my email at hotmail (but seriously, even my mom, and grandmother call me on the phone asking me if I ever got their emails cos I never reply 😉 ) but I guess if you’re determined go for it, I might shock you with a reply…
tur_prymael@hotmail.com
btw, long live all the authors out there and keep on writing!!!
Rougher63
After every posting, I had a couple of readers that emailed with a comment of appreciation. They were almost like friends and I appreciated their comments.
Though I didn’t get many emails, I tried to answer each one. Many were comments about the location of a story and their connection to the location. Most of the negative comments were polite criticism. The nastiest personal attack I ever got came on Friday Knight Writers’ Lounge, not from a SOL reader. Who needs a smart ass on a supposed support group? I’m don’t go there anymore.
I didn’t ask for feedback. Since I only sent feedback to authors about stories that touched me and were special, I guess I expected other readers would only do the same. I didn’t expect much feedback. I knew my stories didn’t approach the quality of stories by Downey, Wylie, or Scipio.
Most feedback was supportive or justified criticism. For the last few chapters of my thirtieth story, I had a couple of editors. Both editors offered to help me in feedback comments about my stories. Both helped and cut out most feedback on form. Non-form problem feedback is more enjoyable.
I figure positive feedback is related to how well I develop a character and not because of bad readers.
Low scores are negative comments enough and I don’t send them. If I were a nicer person, I would send encouragement to the writers with scores in the mid to high 8’s. They’re the writers who need it the most.
rougher63
Dai (dai_wakizashi) here. Too lazy to sign in for a membership! 🙂
I agree with the comments made by other authors, particularly what JiMC and Troubador said.
Even when a regular reader sends a simple message such as “keep up the good work” or “great chapter” and similar, it is nice to respond with a simple thank you message.
Then there are those that send-in analyses of the story or the chapters, which usually starts an ongoing convesation if they supplied an e-mail. Otherwise I have to resort to my ‘chapter-end’ notes, and ask them to contact me. The anonymous feedback is a nice feature, but sometimes it’s a pain in the neck. But, usually that gets a response from the anonymous reader, if he wants to initiate a conversation.
I have some anonymous flame and other crappy mail, and most of the time I ignore that crap, unless they go too far away. The problem is then to decide whether I should respond publicly, and the only way is using the ‘chapter-end’ notes. I’m wondering about how some of the other author’s deal with that issue.
Up to now, I have responded a handful of such messages. I only respond when the reader thinks he knows where the story should go, or what a character should do, such as: “What loser… He should forget about that girl and move on…” I guess that really bugs me, when somebody tells me what to do, when, from his comments, and reasoning, it’s obvious that he has “no idea” about what’s happening. What’s more, the readers are never privy to all the info we have about our characters and plotline…
Anyways…
Dai
Thanks for taking the time to do the research, Lazeez, and also for maintaining what I consider the best site on the web for these stories.
I’ve been posting here for a little over a year (53 stories) and have found the feedback system to be quite satisfactory. From the reader’s POV, it would be nice if he/she could vote and send feedback at the same time, but I’m not complaining, since I haven’t found another site that does as well.
I answer every email that has a valid email address, and many of those readers have become ‘regulars’. In fact, with their permission, I keep the names of those who send me frequent feedback in a mailing list and notify them when new stories are published. It’s worked out well, and if any of those readers read this, I want to thank them for their support.
Since I don’t get money for this, those readers are my ‘bread and butter’, and I do my best to take care of them.
Shakes
Pixy here,
I have never replied to fan mail of any extreme (good or bad). Partly due to laziness, partly due to the fact that I don’t want my inbox full of shit. (viagra pills anyone?)
What I have done in the past is add footnotes to the end of posted stories. Since much of the feed back is asking the same question, that generally takes care of it. (did I say I was lazy?)
On a side issue. I really liked the feedback system on the old ‘Sex Stories Post’ site. Before they came up with a “New improved site” that is, quite frankly, shite. I no longer go to or post there.
People had the chance to comment at the end of stories, so many did so (probably to see their name ‘in print’). This meant that if an author replied to a post, anyone else with the same question would get some sort of an answer to their query without actually having to type.
On the downside was probably the extra space these ‘chats’ required and the fact that some of the resultant discussions were better than the stories they belonged to!
In fact, it was very much like what we are doing now, on the end of every story.
On yet another tangent: I, like some of the other ‘Bloggers’ keep every email sent. I know it’s a bit anal but it helps to spot potential fans. Also I have kept a record (Out of curiosity, honest!) of how well my stories are doing since my first post in 2002 and some of the information it throws up, is that I only average about 2.8% for people who read and vote. Which I suppose demographically means that the resultant vote scores are not really indicative of the quality of writing and of the opinions of my readers.
Anyway what was I doing before I got side tracked…..
Have to say I *always* answer any email sent to me.
May not be straight away.. but they are always answered. Not very onerous – I suppose I get one every two or three months.!
Perhaps I ought to write more. But even then it would be nice to get the odd mail – even if they said things were not to their taste.
Sven(tE)
Viagra pills??? Never, ever! My web mail address that I use for my JiMC stories only gets stuff from my home page on asstr, SOL feedback, and from readers on the EMCSA. On SOL, my email address is never shown, except in the copyright section of my stories pseudo-shrouded to prevent harvesting.
Still, I get junk mail, and only one kind: viruses!
Since I only do my writing on my iBook (Mac OS) or a Linux system, the viruses are easy to spot and ignore. Excite is getting better at blocking them, as well. I guess a few of my fans have infected Windows boxes. [shrug]
–JiMC
Maybe I should clarify that point about emails. What I meant was, that I don’t reply to emails because, at the end of the day, these people are unknowns and if you reply to them you normally end up giving away your email address, which could lead to all sorts of dubious shenanigans.
There is probably some way of hiding the senders address in hotmail, but to be brutally frank, I’ve got better things to do than learn the ins and outs of email systems.
Pixy
Pixy: I am paranoid. I am a programmer and have done security work for some three letter agencies in the government.
If you don’t respond to emails because it will give your email address away, then I think you are even more paranoid than I am. Are you afraid to answer your own telephone because you fear that if you do, people will have your phone number? Email is just a tool, and not something to fear.
I keep a separate web mail address for my pseudonym. I have one on Hotmail (I use that for posting stories on USENET), and one on Excite (which is where I direct my readers). I poll the Hotmail address once a day, and the Excite every time that the HOME page shows that I have email (it checks every 20 minutes). None of those addresses go directly to me, so if they are abused, I can simply abandon them.
It’s a bit of work, but it allows me my anonymity. Hey… if I posted under my real name, and then went to look for a job, somebody might “google” my name and find erotica with my name on it. Is that something you want to show a prospective employer? Not me! My fiction is done on my own time, and has nothing to do with my professional life.
My wife and kids have the ability to figure out my pseudonym; they have seen either complete stories of mine or portions of them. They could probably do a google search for unique phrases in my stories and from there get my pseudonym. We have a Mexican standoff: I don’t read their emails or track their web surfing, and they don’t pry into my Internet publishing.
(Actually, I did a “google” search for all the main characters in “Lucky Tickets” and found that my story is on a few sites that I cannot access–“for profit” web sites that need an adult-check ID. I hate it and I think I’m powerless to do anything about it.)
Anyway, Pixy, your reasoning about not answering readers doesn’t hold water. I’ve been publishing my stories for years and have yet to have anything untoward happen to me because somebody has my email address.
If you really are a tinfoil hat person, do a google search for “anonymous email redirector” to find a way to send email without being tracked.
–JiMC
JiMC, funny you should mention not answering phone calls….
Pixy
As a contributer that dislikes the attention of user feedback, I still make a point of replying to each and every email. It is only polite. It may take me a couple of weeks (I only check that address infrequently at best) you must understand (and recently I have gotten a hundred emails, approximately, per week to answer).
If anything, the comments amuse me and remind me that I am not the only fucked-up-bastard alive.
Too many ‘authors’ take this shit way too seriously. Chill and enjoy – thats what the readers are doing as well.
🙂
Caesar
Rev. Cotton Mather here-
Lazeez, you are absolutely right. I try to answer everybody who takes the time to send a comment my way (though sometimes it takes me awhile to do so), and it irritates me when I send off a comment to a fellow writer and receive no acknowledgement. The biggest issue with this series of messages is that you’re preaching to the choir. The ones who really need to see these comments are exactly the people who won’t bother to check them out.
What’s to be done? Ultimately, nothing. Most of us write because we want to or have to, and we post to free sites such as SOL because otherwise our work exists only in a near-vacuum.
So here’s a shout-out to all the writers who have taken the time to make their feelings known. Thanks for doing what you do. And thank, Lazeez, for so generously providing our forum.
RCM
Connard Wellingham here:
This is an very interesting thread which simply reinforces Lazeez findings. I have sent comments to and received comments from a fair number of the posters. They are all who like me, respond to reader feedback. This is hardly surprising. In any interest group there is only a small percentage who are genuinely supportive – they are the backbone of the group who help, support and encourage because they genuinely care. You find them in any voluntary organisation.
However, in fairness to everybody else, I suffered a Damascene conversion when I changed from reader to writer last year. As a reader I did not even consider disturbing the peace of the august presence that was the author! It felt like sacrilege. I am sure many must feel the same way. As a writer, of course, I eagerly seek the scraps of solace an e-mail from a reader brings.
Dear reader, please write. Our lives are empty without you.
Connard
I try to reply to all my feedback, except when someone is particularly nasty.
My BDSM femdom-malesub stories tend to get the most praise — equally from submissive men and from dominant women.
While my maledom-femsub stories tend to get more varied feedback — praise from submissive women, but flames from feminist-type women — and not much at all from men.
Hungry Guy
Pleasure Boy 1 says:
The vast majority of my reader replies, consist of the “When are you gonna post the next chapter!?!?” type messages. I know because I’ve saved every one of them.
I don’t reply to all of them. I know, I’m a wicked, evil person. But for the ones that write more than a paragraph I usually always reply, and I do reply 99% of the time to people who ask a question (other than the when are you gonna write more stuff). Maybe I should reply, but lately I’ve just been refering folks to my blog where that question is answered.
If you’ve sent me a comment and gotten no reply. PLease forgive me. I can barely even find time to write these days.
PB1
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The Cheap Whore Theory
by DiscipleN
First, thanks Lazeez. Your commentary on this issue is exactly what we need. Yes, every author would be very wise to answer their fan mail. It’s a lesson I was lucky to have learned early from the community on ASSD. Answering fan mail will greatly enhance future feedback, up to as much as 1 percent of readers, if you’re a great writer and very lucky.
Now, I’m going out on a limb and declare the other 99% are a mixed bag of slackers, busy people, quick JOs, and many other types who won’t be providing feedback anytime soon. I think there’s an underlying notion that porn writers just ain’t worth it.
Like cheap whores, why should johns look at us after tossing five bucks worth of their attention to our stories? We are a shunned profession!
I am not ashamed of the stories I write, and I’ll bet nearly all the other authors are quite proud of their efforts. I’m also a great proponent of completely decriminalizing prostitution. Yet, I know in my heart, the only way to get the public to respect us is to…
Publicly respect ourselves. So, again, I thank Lazeez for his steps in this direction. I hope everyone, readers and writers realize how awesome it is to have a place were we can create a mutually supportive community that, unlike ASSD, is free from the spammers and hate mongers.
If we made this community as public and as self-reaffirming as possible, our peerage would grow. I can almost guarantee it.
One idea, as an example ONLY, would be having authors forward ‘cool’, recent feedback into a pool that Lazeez could pick from and insert directly between stories in the new stories and updates sections, as ‘interesting/humorous/intriguing bits from the SO community’.
This puts not only our stories into the hands of the ‘mob’, but fun slices of what goes on between authors and readers who participate in the community.
Truly, that was an example only and could be a nightmare to actually implement, but there must be many ways we can show our pride and what we’re proud of, as well as our art. And attract more interest in participating.
thoughts?
Oh SHIT! Somebody kill those duplicate posts! I did not mean to do that. I don’t even know how I did that!
BIG apology from DiscipleN
It is possible that you never recieved replies from the complaining authors because they never got the feedbacks you sent them.
After reading Lazeez’s blog entry, the same thing occurred to me as did tenyari. If people are complaining that they’re not getting feedback, and you send experimental feedback to them, and they’re not answering it, the conclusion that pops into my mind is that they’re not getting their feedback.
Now, you’ve done such a professional job at programming SOL, Lazeez, that I doubt that the problem is with SOL. I applaud you for your efforts and writing and maintaining SOL!
As we all know, there are a billion things that can go wrong with computers! The authors’ inbox might be full, their ISP might be screwing up, their spam filter might be blocking email from SOL (a known “porn site”), they may have mistyped their email addy when they registered (or changed it) on SOL, and lastly (sorry Lazeez) there may indeed be a funky special character or some other unusual circumstance peculiar to those particular authors’ accounts that is causing SOL to fail sending the outgoing feedback email to SOL’s SMTP server.
I believe I see a ‘cop out’ followed by a ‘string’ of further cop outs. Fess up, sometimes we are just ‘too busy’ to take a moment, and a proper response falls by the wayside.
Gina Marie here–
Like most of the writers who’ve posted replied here, I try to reply to every email I get, although to be honest when someone sends ‘Great Chapter’ for six months in a row, I run out of unique replies.
One issue I would like to bring up to those of you who are readers: SOL’s anonymous posting system requires you to type in your email address to be recognized. Spelling counts, as we all know on the net. At least once a week someone misspells their address and the email bounces back. Sometimes I can figure it out, and sometimes not.
Last, and most frustrating of all, are comments like: “You never reply so I’m not going to read anything of yours again.” — with the anonymous return address. In the faint hope that some of those people will read this and understand that you have to put in your email address or I can’t even begin to guess. Well, once I guessed, but that’s another story.
Well, the real last thing: I want to thank Lazeez for hosting SOL, all of the other writers for putting up a heck of a lot of nice stuff to read and you readers for reading it! Thanks loads everyone!
Gina Marie
First, if SOL is “eating” your feedback, it could be the author’s own fault. The author should NEVER find this out by an absense of feedback. When he/she creates his/her account, an email address is requested. On your FIRST story, send yourself feedback. If you don’t get it, check the address, and if you still have a problem, go to Lazeez.
Other things to look for: is the email address in your profile the one that you are currently using? ISP’s are routinely purchased and email addresses change. Keep up to date!
I still think that answering feedback is essential, even the very short one-word “Thanks!” messages (except when they’re anonymous). I usually answer with something along the lines of “I truly admire your economical writing capability and appreciate the fact that you seemed to like my story. Please keep in touch!” (In other words, overkill!) I think Hobson said something similar in the movie “Arthur” so it’s not original, but it’s still funny.
Anyway, I answer every message possible. What can it hurt? At the very best, I might make a friend. Who knows? It might be a book publisher. [smile]
–JiMC (getting verbose again)
> I believe I see a ‘cop out’ followed by a ‘string’ of > further cop outs. Fess up, sometimes we are just ‘too > busy’ to take a moment, and a proper response falls
> by the wayside.
Actually… I do in fact reply to everyone that writes me with a valid email.
It is a matter of simple courtesy.
I’ve had a few bounces but nothing egregious though I don’t try to ‘figure’ out what the right email address unlike Gina.
I have taken to posting interesting or question-asking anonymous emails in my blog and replying that way.
Anytime that I don’t have the time to give an email a courteous amount of time, I hold on to it until I can.
I have another reason to reply to everything… there’s a lot of things I don’t think about in a my stories.
I understand somethings conciously but am too surprised by how well certain ‘additions’ work out to believe that somewhere in my head the story is being worked out at a different level. Communicating with readers who have their own perspectives and questions is one of the most reliable ways for me to access that level.
So it is not a ‘cop out’.
Then again… my life could just be that pathetic 🙁
ElSol
I have never (that I know of) failed to respond to a comment. Sometimes it’s just “thanks” if the comment is simple, but usually I write back more than I receive. I like to talk about stories.
My experience is that I get replies to about half of my comments. Usually more laconic than my comment.
I’m one that “begs” for feedback, but don’t get as much as I want. (Sort of like sex!)
D’oh!
Frank Downey here…
Every author is about to hate me, but, hey :-). I can’t reply to every email. I get too much. (And you’ll never hear me begging for it).
Every time I post a new chapter or a new story, it’s a couple hundred (from here and ASSTR). When I posted Chapter Nine of Rewind, it was *six* hundred. In four days. You want me to respond to all that, or you want me to write?
Anyone reading this who’s been tempted to write to me: don’t. Pick one of the other worthy authors right here on this thread that are begging for your feedback and write them.
Yes, it’s a ‘nice problem to have’ and one shouldn’t consider this a complaint. One should consider this a warning that you probably won’t hear from me. Especially for the one-line ‘great chapter!’ or ‘when’s the next chapter?’ feedback. Right now my life is in such an uproar I don’t have time to *write*–this is the first time I’ve been on SOL in two months–and when I am writing I barely have time for that.
Sorry, Frank…
I have written a few stories, and have had thousands of messages sent to me. With few exceptions, I’ve replied to each one. Why?
Well, there was this one author I wrote to. He didn’t answer me. I said that I could do better. I’m not a better author than he, but I am getting very good comments from my readership. I may become a better author thanks to the feedback that I’ve received.
Oh, six hundred messages per chapter posted is a burden, but you could at least send some acknowledgement that you saw it.
If you don’t want reader feedback, then why the fuck are you posting your stories online? That’s the reason I post my stories. I like the fact that people can give me the “great chapter!” messages and also the in-depth analyses of my stories.
Without reader feedback, you are fucking masturbating.
In public.
As to the question of answering 600 emails, well, you can divide that by the frequency you post (say, once per week). Thats only a hundred per day. Even a canned message is an acknowledgement that you have read the message. If you aren’t interested in other people’s opinions, you will find that other people will lose interest in you.
I don’t know. Your answer has reduced any interest that I would possibly have in your stories. Why don’t you post in your subject line “DON’T READ THIS! I HATE FEEDBACK YOU FUCKING MORONS!”
Your attitude is one of the reasons I almost gave up on posting online. However, I didn’t think I could be such a prick.
Hello, all.
Being both a writer and a fan of good writing, I am very appreciative of every comment I receive from those who like my writing, as well as any and every reply I get from authors who take just a moment to say thanks, or more than that. I will never have Frank’s problem, given my sporadic output, but be it one email or six hundred, I still try to respond as quickly as possible to anyone who bothers to send me a comment. Everyone has their own outlook on this subject, but, no matter what my schedule or other committments, I can always find the time to say hello to and thank those who taken some of their own time to try to support me. I always feel thankful that something I have written could somehow touch someone else enough to encourage them to drop me a line.
As for the authors I have written, I find them to be a most gracious and supportive majority, with only a few too busy to reply to me. That is the great part of writing and enjoying our SOL universe…the diversity of styles and personalities does not tend to dilute common courtesies such as a simple thank you, when and where it is warranted. That is truly something to be grateful for.
David
I really enjoy this site. Both for reading and posting my own stories. I always enjoy comments, both good and bad. I always reply to any comments that I receive about my stories. We all have likes and dislikes when it comes to erotic reading. I know that when I read stories I vote and then often send a email to the author letting them know what I thought about their writing.
The great thing about this site is that we don’t have to be professional writers to post stories here, and we can let our imagination and experiences come to life for other people to read.
I always like when I get feedback on my stories, weather good or bad. This is the only way, other than the voting, to know what readers think of our stories. I just wish more readers would take the time and let us know through emails what they think of our stories.
JiMC–
I think you misunderstood part of what I said. I never said I don’t *read* my feedback. I do. All of them. And I *do* appreciate it.
But you’ll never see me begging for it 🙂
As for constructive feedback that helps me as a writer–this is why I started a Yahoo discussion group. They’re picking me apart constantly over there :-). And, quite honestly, one of the reasons I started the group is to cut down on the emails.
As for the ‘masturbating’ thing–I get my download reports from ASSTR and see the stats here on SOL. I know how many people are reading my stuff. I don’t need them to all email me. I don’t need a ‘thank you’ or a ‘great chapter’. Just keep reading. I know from the stats whether people are or not. That’s my feedback.
First, your original message indicated that most people that write you will never hear back from you. I strongly disagree with that policy.
Second, I’ll agree with your point that download stats are very useful feedback as well; I use them quite often myself, except I find the asstr.org download counts to be next to useless, and have found no way to figure out USENET readings except from comments on assd.
I personally don’t mind the “great chapter” comments and I always answer every personal on-subject message so I will continue to strongly disagree with you on that.
Your first message indicated you never have time to read and answer feedback, but your second indicated that your comments only applied to the short (“great chapter!”) comments. If you do read feedback, then I’m sorry for the tone of my previous reply. If you answer well reasoned feedback, then I apologize for my entire response.
Thanks for the added explanation.
–JiMC
Sausage Dog here:
Frank Downey Blogging: Anyone reading this who’s been tempted to write to me: don’t. Pick one of the other worthy authors right here on this thread that are begging for your feedback and write them.
Frank Downey Profile: Thanks for reading–and, like most writers, I love mail. The raving lavish praise kind especially but even the constructive criticism kind. –Frank
C’mon Frank, Which way do you want it? You have an itch, just as the rest of us, or you wouldn’t be posting on SOL. You like to be scratched- – -to soothe your itching – – – and those emails are just the thing.
I would presume because of your writing ability you get one as—le a month at most. (I have one of those also, but he sends the same message EVERY chapter I post so I know he continues to read my postings)
The remainder are ‘scratching the itch’ by voting 9 and 10. BTW, that’s super and I applaud you.
I don’t have the words to express my appreciation to the authors (and readers) who have sent me valuable criticism. The only way I can repay your comment(s) is by a short note, and making the next posting more reader friendly.
LAZ: Great work on the site. I live by ‘My Library and Suggested reading’.
Sausage Dog
As a reader it is not really apparent whether or not my response will be read. I realize that the authors may have lives outside of SOL and may get extemely bogged down with life. Every once in a while I’ll read a story that I just have to respond to. This is generally because I felt that it was that interesting. I never expect a responce to my emails but for the most part I have received something from the author. I can understand Frank Downey’s position. I appreciate the fact that he has read my email but I am not expecting a response. Most of the time when a reader expects a response it is so they can feel closer to that author. Kind of like getting the authors autograph it makes the story feel more personal. As for me I don’t need the personal feeling I just want more chapters and if I expect you to respond to all of my e-mails then that would detract from the time that you have available to create. As for voting I do vote on each story that I read when it is finished. If I had voted on a story like TANDRA after the first chapter and given it a low score then I would not be able to reassign a higher number when I finished reading it. Anyways, thank-you for all of your efforts even if I have not emailed you I do appreciate the time , effort, and creativity that has gone into your writing, please keep up the good work. CMENN
Heathen57 here:
I haven’t been getting much feedback lately, but that is due to the fact that I have not published anything for a month or so. However when I do, I try and answer everyone who takes the time to write, even just a couple lines.
One habit I have found that works for me is to set aside a day and time just to handle the feedback. For me, it is Sunday morning. The rest of the family sleeps in and I have the quiet time to handle replies. When a new chapter comes out, it will sometimes take 2 hours or more to finish, but it is a system that assures I reply to everyone.
Heathen-
Naive here …
Now to be quite frank I love reader comments, but I usually dread the ones that I recieve from SOL. Its a really nice site and I appreciate any place I can post what I’m working on. In fact my scores aren’t even all that bad. I know that I’m not a great writer, but I really don’t like recieving hate mail which is the usual fair I get from here. I know that other writers mention the nice community. I just haven’t seen it. Guess this is probably why I haven’t updated or added more stories in a while. Still my hat goes off to Lazeez for a great site.
There is one small flaw in your logic, one which others might have pointed out (but I didn’t read through all the comments to your post!). Here’s the flaw:
You say that in order to receive feedback, authors must respond to feedback. But no reader can know how often an author responds. So it’s not like a story is posted and the reader is like, “Oh, he only responds to 22% of his e-mail… I won’t bother writing.”
The rule should be, and basically is, that an author does not have to respond to feedback, but a reader must give feedback. It’s a pretty fair trade.
I am one of the newest writters on SOL, but I have been a reader for about four years. I can understand both sides of this problem. As a reader I like to let the authors know what I like and what I don’t. As an author I need to know what I have done right and what is wrong.
It is a necessary step in becoming a better author. The more readers that like the story the better I am doing, but their is alos the other side to this as well. There are some people who will never be satisfied with what is written by me or others.
Good comments or even bad ones deserve at least a little bit of a response. As Lazeez said it can be a “thank you for your note” type of message.
I wanted to post this to let everyone know that even the anonymous messages can be replied to. All that has to happen is a creative use of the author blog. I not only answer each message, but I also answer it in my blog as well.
I have to be honest I read a ton of stories and fail to vote or send notes to most of the authors. I have recently started changing that by at least writing a few of them to tell them thank you. Sometimes I have ideas to share regarding a story others not. But one thing that will usually force me to write is when I see a developing story teller is getting too many complaints from the wrong type of readers. I draw a total disability income and without you writers who share your gift for story telling with me. I would not be able to find enough to read. Thank each and every one of you, regardless of whether I have ever looked at your stories or not yet.
Doc Holladay
rbholladay@bellsouth.net
To all authors, thank you. I have a great deal of respect that you take the time to provide us with such wonderful entertainment.
I usually vote, but rarely leave feedback. My wife has recently started writing though, and I have seen how much she values the feedback she gets, so I hereby pledge to increase my comments! And those of you who have taken the additional time to share your thoughts here will be first!