How many of you actually reply to the feedback you get?

[PAUL C]

I always reply

I always reply, if they leave some way for me to get back to them.

 

[wildsweetone]

And how do you handle it? Do you have a form thank you email or do you sit and write personal thank yous to every person who took the time to send you their thoughts on your work?

Then there are the ones who insist on replying to your thank you to their original email. What do you do there?

I currently have 89 emails sitting in my inbox from Lit readers. My fingers are rapidly developing typists cramp and I'm going cross eyed from staring at the screen.

What do you folks do?

Ya know handsome... if you kept up to date with your 'homework' you'd not have all the hassle of having to spend an entire week responding.

On the other hand, if you published your writing in book form, you could pay to have a secretary answer the fan mail.

 

[Couture]

I reply to nearly all. Even when I get 20 or so per day, it just takes a bit longer. To most I reply "Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the story." and maybe just a bit more if I can so that if someone gets a reply, they don't think I'm copy and pasting which I am.

Then there's the people who actually take the time to write. Like this one I got today:

I have read just about everything you have written, and
i love it. To me, you dont' write about sex, but the mind. In so
many of your stories you tickle the mind with little ideas and like
a snowball going down a hill it gets bigger and bigger, untill boom it explodes.

I am intreged, no excited with your style that shows the struggle
that takes place in a persons mind when they are confronted with
what they are dying to do, crossed with what society has told them was wrong.

Like a diamond with its many facets, you show so much of human nature
in our basest forms. I just wanted to thank you, and not just because
you got my blood flowing, but because you can transend and get me
to think, even with my hands down my pants, LOL. : )

Ps No man is an Island, because if we where alone, alot of our feelings
that make us human wouldn't exsist, thus we wouldn't be human.

I know it isn't fair, but it will take me from one to two weeks to reply to emails like this. I want to be able to take the time to reply, send something back to the reader that is really great and well thought out and not just send something off. Okay, the truth is, I don't think I've ever come up with one of those really great replies, but one day . . . one day I will.

 

[pop_54]

And how do you handle it? Do you have a form thank you email or do you sit and write personal thank yous to every person who took the time to send you their thoughts on your work?

Then there are the ones who insist on replying to your thank you to their original email. What do you do there?

I currently have 89 emails sitting in my inbox from Lit readers. My fingers are rapidly developing typists cramp and I'm going cross eyed from staring at the screen.

What do you folks do?

Always reply to all feedback that includes a return address mate, always personal as well answering any points raised, and signing off by thanking whoever by name. Wouldn't be polite not to, but then I haven't had 89 e-mails since I started never mind stacked up recently, hehe!!

pops.................

 

[DirtyJJ]

I make sure I write back to everyone who sent feedback about my story, and since some of it included "looking forward to more" or something like that, I may send an e-mail out when my next story is ready in case they want to read it.

 

[champagne1982]

I handle my feedback like many of the others here. One line feedbacks receive one line answer unless they ask a very provoking question, Then I'll answer accordingly.

If my reader has taken some time to write their feedback I try to respond, in kind, as soon as I can.

They read my story and wrote me a letter. I should at least acknowledge the compliment.

 

[sailorm72003]

I reply to any feedback that has a return address, but it's been very easy for me, my two stories have only generated about five responses total.

Ah, well, maybe the next one will be better.

Sailor

 

[Jenny _S]

I reply to any feedback that has a return address, but it's been very easy for me, my two stories have only generated about five responses total.

Ah, well, maybe the next one will be better.

Sailor

The number of responses, in my experience, don't really have much to do with the quality of your story. I has more to do with the number of people who follow you as an author and read your stories. I see stories that are great posted on lit that are hardly ever read.

 

[Sabledrake]

I reply to any feedback that has a return address. I always appreciate it when a reader takes the time to drop me a note, even if it's just a quickie.

Sabledrake

 

[Seattle Zack]

Same here, I'll always drop a quick thank you note if there's an e-mail address.

Except this little gem, which I got a few days ago:

hi i just moved here from californa i am very experenced i am looking for any uncollared slaves or subs in the seatle area thank you please respond

Well, aren't we all, dipshit?

 

[FlyontheWall99]

I do try to respond to ever piece of feedback within 24 hours. It's little when considering how long it takes to bang out a quick "thank you" or discuss a point raised in the feedback, when compared with how long it took the reader to read the story and send feedback in the first place .....

Back to writing ....

Fly ....

 

[sweet T]

Of Course I reply to feedback

I am such a virgin here! I olny have one story so far and I always reply to my feedback. It amazes me to see 11,000 + reads and so little feedback... I am always polite in responding.. Usually the feedback comes from someone else who has been reunited with an old love and the feelings are much the same as my own.. and much to my suprise it gained me a little H. I also explain how much voting and feedback mean to authors..sometimes I wonder if it is a good story.. because of the few feedbacks....

 

[Seattle Zack]

Well, the "reads" counter actually only means the number of times your story's been clicked on ... doesn't actually mean they "read" anything.

My experience with my few stories, you're lucky if you get 50 votes and 20 little ego-assuagers per story.

Apparently at Lit, there's a huge amount of "cruisers" that click on anything to see if it piques their interest (very few of them members) and a hard-core readership that checks out everything in their favorite category. Those are the ones you're likely to get feedback from.

Math Girl can tell you how long it takes to get your story approved, as she makes all those decisions, and she loves private messages.

--Zack

 

[The_old_man]

I have replied to 4 of the 5 that left addresses. the fifth got unintentionally deleted before I could reply.

Two requests for cyber-sex were respectfully declined. One very derogatory note was ignored.

I don't seem to get much feedback.

 

[wildsweetone]

Same here, I'll always drop a quick thank you note if there's an e-mail address.

Except this little gem, which I got a few days ago:

hi i just moved here from californa i am very experenced i am looking for any uncollared slaves or subs in the seatle area thank you please respond

Well, aren't we all, dipshit?

Is that the same as dipstick?

 

[Couture]

I prefer collared slaves myself. I usually find them by the doors of stores and restaurants; the poor things left unattended by an absent-minded master or mistress. Well quick as you like, I pull a leash out of my pocket and viola, a new slave to add to my collection.

So let this serve as a warning to the 'experienced' dom/mes in the Seattle area. Unless you want to be slave jacked, keep your slave with you at all times.

 

[Debbie]

Mate, I think you should try and check your email more often.
Then they won't accumulate to that many at a time.

I reply to the ones that aren't come ons. Thanking them for their feedback and referring to any particular comments they made or asking them to expound further on why they liked/disliked what they read. Thanking them for their time is also important to me.

for my bro.

 

[Vincent E]

I always reply to feedback when the reader attaches his e-mail address. I generally keep it to a "thank-you for responding and I'm glad you liked the story." I usually let it end at that; I won't go on and on replying to replies.

The thing that kills me is the positive feedback with no e-mail address. I want to say thank-you, but I feel as if I've been muted.

 

[LunarKitten]

And how do you handle it? Do you have a form thank you email or do you sit and write personal thank yous to every person who took the time to send you their thoughts on your work?

Then there are the ones who insist on replying to your thank you to their original email. What do you do there?

I currently have 89 emails sitting in my inbox from Lit readers. My fingers are rapidly developing typists cramp and I'm going cross eyed from staring at the screen.

What do you folks do?

*cross legs and contiplates email she has received* Luckily I have not received any negative comments, so hitting the reply button isn't an issue - I grew up where thank you notes were a requirements, and that has boiled over into my adult life. I probably respond to a majority of the feedback I receive, unless my email box was so full I deleted everything in it that day lol

Replying to replies doesn't bother me either...I'm a chatty sort of individual - can you tell? lol

Aaahhh...maybe there lies our differences...I type upwards of 90 wpm, so the email isn't a problem lol

 

[sweet T]

I currently have 89 emails sitting in my inbox from Lit readers. My fingers are rapidly developing typists cramp and I'm going cross eyed from staring at the screen.

[/QUOTE MY! You are the lucky one!

 

[kiwiwolf]

Thanks to everyone who replied. I have to admit I got a bit freaked by the number of feedback emails I got hence this thread.

The concensus seems to be reply to everything that is accompanied by a valid email address, and the reply should be in proportion to the amount of feedback given. Thanks to you kind folks I now have my reply format sorted out.

Many thanks.

 

[curious2c]

I always reply...with the exception of one lone person whose feedback was great and pointed out some things in a story I wrote...that one I stupidly hit the wrong button not only once but twice and sent it to e-mail doom...

I try to answer all feedback...when I can. I get quite a bit of feedback that leaves no way to contact the writer/reader. I really wish I could have several times since they had great comments or pointed out some things I had missed...oh well. If I get an e-mail address I respond to them...afterall they took the time to let me know what they thought of my story the very least I can do is let them know that I read their feedback.

Some of my stories have brought a lot of response and some have not. I do notice that the um...voting grade does not have too much a bearing on the feedback amount too.

 

[sweetnpetite]

I try to reply to all feedback. It never really occured to me to use a form letter, but I might type one up just to have one on hand. (You can always add to it or personalize it) I do have some backlog, which I've read but not responded too. (bad idea, respond immediatly then add them to your address book). For recordkeeping purposes, I decided to open a new Yahoo adress just for my lit persona. My regular e-mail is just full of junk anyway.

One thing I've been noticing lately is that I tend to get e-mail claiming to be from a femail, but w/ a male name on the address. (ie TomCollins@hotmail.. "hi, my name is Suzy and I jsut love your stories) I'd say that it doesn't happen ALL the time (it seems I rarely get feedback from femails at all) but more than seems natural. They don't come on strong (wanna cyber?) but it just makes me wonder. Anybody else get this? (ps, I did ask specifically for female response, because I get so little of it)

Should one remain polite when one suspects that a feedback giver is (or might be) lying about gender? How should it be handled?

 

[snooper]

OFF TOPIC ADVICE

... then add them to your address book ...

Oh, please, no! Never use a vendor-provided address book for anything. The most common way viruses are spread is by sending themselves to everyone in the recipient's address book.

 

[Just_John1]

I guess we're all pretty similar

I try to respond to them all. A personal response, not just a quick one liner cut and paste, but I tend to give what I get. One liners will tpyically get a one line response... Don't know what else to write them. I have NEVER gotten a return Email addy on negative feedback. I don't know what I'd do if I did. I guess the choices are a total release of all the pent up responses to the cretins, just delete it and move on or a very pointed response. Don't really know but I find it an interesting question.

Anyway, I try to include something from their Email so they know I took the time to read it and think about it. Every once in a while I miss one and when it gets pointed out to me I always feel bad.

JJ1