*Anonymous *
When they ask a question, how do they think you can answer it?
Or is there a way???
Include it during a blog post?
I did this and got great responses! Also the downloads jumped for today. Also the voting scores!!!
Thanks everyone!!!
I did this and got great responses! Also the downloads jumped for today. Also the voting scores!!!
Readers like knowing that authors not only cares about their views, but responds to their questions. After assuming authors ignore email, they're enthused to see then reaching out.
I'll bet your responses pick up for some time after this, too.
When they ask a question, how do they think you can answer it?
You are going to infuriate every teacher on the continent with questions like that. It simply is not part of the national or state or village curriculum so why should they teach common sense?
If they taught common sense, it would be common, instead of rare.
Someone (I'm 75, so how the hell am I expected to remember who said it!) said that 'common sense' is the most democratic of all the virtues, for every man believes that he has sufficient!
'common sense' is the most democratic of all the virtues, for every man believes that he has sufficient!
My pop (my dad's dad) could often be heard saying "Common sense isn't so common any more".
When they ask a question, how do they think you can answer it?
They don't realize it's going anonymously.
As Switch suggested, usually it occurs when someone responds and either forgets they need to supply a reply email address, or they simply forget and ask a question after marking "anonymous reply". Sometimes they'll also add an invalid email.
The best response, if you feel it needs one, is to respond via a blog post. That way everyone sees it, and the poster hopefully sees and recognizes the question.
I'll not put this into my Blog as my wife and other relatives read it:
"So when did you acquire a wife?"
The question has nothing to do with my True Story!!!
:-)
Its why I make sure a valid email address is included even for a simple "thank you". If I am unsure I include it at the end after my name.
If I am writing a writer regardless of the reason, I believe they have the right to be able to respond.
Its why I make sure a valid email address is included even for a simple "thank you". If I am unsure I include it at the end after my name.
If I am writing a writer regardless of the reason, I believe they have the right to be able to respond.
Agreed. If I write something I take responsibility for it. In the SOL comments at the end of a chapter my return email address appears automatically. I don't usually put my full name - only initials but since I understand that there are only two people who use the moniker sejintenej I could easily be traced (and someone actually did, but he was friendly)
If I write something I take responsibility for it. In the SOL comments at the end of a chapter my return email address appears automatically. I don't usually put my full name - only initials but since I understand that there are only two people who use the moniker sejintenej I could easily be traced (and someone actually did, but he was friendly)
While SOL automatically attaches the email, this bothers many people, so they either delete it entirely, or add another one. In my own case, I rarely respond using either CW or my own name. Instead I'll use a third name that no one recognizes. I do this for a couple of reasons, one of which is that I don't want my writings to influence how someone takes my message about the story's content. The other is that I maintain several email addresses, and I prefer keeping different content isolated to specific emails.
The key, is you use alternate emails, is that you cut and paste the email, rather than trying it by hand, because when you do, you often include typos which render the address useless.
The real question is: "Why do you bother reading anonymous email?" If the sender doesn't have the courage to identify himself or the brains to realize that you can not respond to an anonymous question, he doesn't deserve (and probably doesn't want) a reply!
If the sender doesn't have the courage to identify himself or the brains to realize that you can not respond to an anonymous question, he doesn't deserve (and probably doesn't want) a reply!
That's why I suggested (in an earlier post) that these anonymous posts are often made accidentally, rather than deliberately. I've gotten several excellent questions, where readers have asked probing questions, but they forgot to add a return address. When I posted a reply on my blog, it takes a while, usually a couple of weeks, but they eventually get back to me and say 'Oh my goodness, I never realized I hadn't left an email address'.
On the flip side, if the sender forgets to add one, who do you think he'll blame? Rather than ask "Did I include my email?", they'll likely resent you as a non-responsive author who doesn't care about readers or receiving feedback. I've had a lot of very interesting email discussions with readers who've initially forgotten to add an address.
The real question is: "Why do you bother reading anonymous email?"
Why not? Feedback is feedback.
Why not? Feedback is feedback.
Hmmm ... you don't know who I am, and I'm sure as hell not gonna tell you, but just for the fun of it, my cousin Becky-Sue had a hound-dawg that licked his nuts more better than you kin write, and besides that, you must be some kinda faggot to write that stuff! So there, enjoy a little feedback!
That make ya feel better?
you don't know who I am, and I'm sure as hell not gonna tell you, but just for the fun of it, my cousin Becky-Sue had a hound-dawg that licked his nuts more better than you kin write, and besides that, you must be some kinda faggot to write that stuff!
I'd tell him: You've got your own story premise, go ahead and write your own. Maybe you'll find others with tastes that match your own. Good luck with it.
I'd tell him: You've got your own story premise, go ahead and write your own. Maybe you'll find others with tastes that match your own. Good luck with it.
Second that! I've actually responded that way, albeit to posts that were positive, to encourage.
One of my favorite stories, Sarah's Honeymoon, grew from a reader response to another story. The reader declined to write "Sarah's" story despite my encouragement but invited me to write it, so I did.
That make ya feel better?
I don't look for feedback to make me feel better. I learn from feedback. And if the feedback isn't worthy of my interest, I ignore it.
you must be some kinda faggot to write that stuff!
Before I hit Delete instead of Send, I would ask him whether he had a problem with faggots.
Before I hit Delete instead of Send, I would ask him whether he had a problem with faggots.
Some of my best smokes have been faggots. (Just teasing, I refuse to put the things in my mouth.) 'D
But you've got a good point. Often, it's worthwhile to ask angry respondents why they're responding the way they are. I've often found (after receiving 'quit' messages--those messages that begin "I've loved your stories for years, but had to quit when ..."), that the stated reason wasn't actually what bothered them, it was just the excuse they latched onto at the time. It was only by writing, and exchanging messages, that I discovered what their real was. Often, readers don't pick up on what set them off, and select the last thing they noticed in the chapter, focusing on that. So getting them to expound can be edifying.
Some of my most meaningful responses have been those same quit letters.
Some of my best smokes have been faggots. (Just teasing, I refuse to put the things in my mouth.) 'D
How would you even put a bundle of sticks in your mouth to smoke it?