On reviews.

[icarus]

These days I'm not very good about reviewing stories I read. I have a tendency to just stick them on a rec-list and make my contribution that way.

Should One Reply To Reviews?
When I reviewed my first story, the author graciously got back to me about a week later. (I think it was keelywolfe but don't quote me on that.)

I was surprised because I hadn't expected a reply. I figured emailing the author was like sending a letter to the editor: into the Abyss, but at least you expressed your feelings. I wrote detailed reviews in the early days, several paragraphs (sometimes pages) of con-crit - and always sent a direct email as I wasn't about to critique a story publicly.

One author updated her abandoned fic with two or three chapters in response. Reviews really do have an impact.

It was so gratifying to hear from the author that I resolved to reply to every review I received, especially when I learned that not everyone did. It seemed... mannerly. I also found that once someone replied to my review I felt warmly about them and their stories.

Yes, I'm definitely in the camp that feels it's best to reply.

Must One Reply To Reviews?
Here's where I grow a little uncomfortable with the "respond to reviews or else" camp, people who feel not replying is the height of rudeness and deserving of punitive action up to ten years suspension of review privileges with internment in little cages where the author is required to produce fic on bread and water.

The division of labor between writer and reviewer is a tad disproportionate.

Writer:

30 minutes-to-an-hour to plot story
3-5 hours writing rough draft
45 minutes begging for betas
2-3 hours of rewrites on drafts
30 minutes of coding for website
Provide story free of charge, with maybe 10% leaving any sort of feedback

Total: 6.5 - 10 hours of writing time.

Reviewer:

30 minutes to read and enjoy story
5 minutes to reply and review
(Bearing in mind I used to spend upwards of an hour on my con-crit reviews)

Being angry that the writer "didn't do enough" by not replying strikes me as unreasonable.

I'm reminded of myself in high school when my parents drove me an hour and a half to a school event after working full 8-hour days -- and I blew my stack because I couldn't go to my friends' party afterward. Pretty darned selfish, but I took my parents for granted and expected to be catered to.

Now most of us are more mature than I was at 15, and can see the inequity.

Strategies To Get Replies To Reviews
If it is important to you to have people reply to your reviews, then I believe in being pro-active. There are strategies to *poke* the author into replying.

Personal emails.
The truth is, especially with Big Important Authors, the personal touch counts. Take the extra few seconds to look up their email instead of simply clicking reply in an archive. That way they're getting the review from you and not fanfiction.net. There's a reason salespeople introduce themselves. People connect with a name.

Shotgun reviews.
Nothing says "I'm a devoted fan" like five reviews from the same person in a single afternoon. Very few people do this, but repetition works. The downside is that the author will often reply to several reviews in one email, but they will remember your name. (Hi Mathilda!) Yes, there's that name thing again.

Size matters.
Authors eagerly open their reviews and while a one-liner is appreciated, there's nothing like a satisfying paragraph or two. The shortest review I ever received was:

:). (I think I replied with: ;))

Interestingly, if your review is very long and loaded with valuable insights you can expect a delayed response as the author thinks about it. Then you're in danger of being consigned to the Drafts Folder -- (Icarus dodges food and things thrown by writers) -- but it's not that I want to discourage Mega-reviews. Hell no! It's just a hazard.

Depth matters.
A layered response comparing the author's story to Dante's Inferno and Ursula K. LeGuin, puzzling about the socio-political structure implied, will make an author think. It leaves an actual opening for conversation. Compare that to the next review that says, "Hee hee! I liked it. You hit all my kinks." That's a conversation killer. Imagine yourself at a party and someone says that. Wh-what can you say? A pat, "Gosh, I'm glad you liked it." Meanwhile, the person who mentioned LeGuin has left a door open. Whose email gets the faster reply?

Pissing the author off.
If you don't care about quality and just want a reaction, a nasty shot of accurate con-crit (emphasis on the crit) seasoned with just enough positive feedback to not be classified a troll will very often provoke a swift reply. Be sure to spell everything accurately, use punctuation that would make your English teacher smile, and ten-dollar words also help. You might get a response so fast scorch-marks are left on your couch. I don't recommend it, I hate negative reviews, but if you don't care about rewarding and encouraging the author and replies are your only goal, this is your best bet.

And that's the real question, isn't it? Why review?

Is the goal to get a reply, or is it to encourage the author? If it's primarily the latter, why be angry and punitive when you don't get that response?

A Final Word Of Caution
If someone doesn't reply to your review, don't assume you know why. There could have been a death in the family. They could have had a computer crash and had Outlook wiped. Your review might've just gotten buried in their in-box. Or a reply is sitting in their drafts folder and the author is feeling a little silly because it's been there for three months.

You can count on the fact that all reviews are read. And they are appreciated. That's a given.

Comments

[srichard.livejournal.com]

I feel sort of the same way. I always want to reply to my reviews. But the truth is, I get anxious. I'm far likelier to reply to three reviews for a story than I am for a story with twenty, even though I know I could do them in little short bursts. I still have comments from four months ago that I want to reply to--but logically, I know that would be ridiculous. Instead, I'm trying to commit to giving myself a fresh start every now and then.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I do that restart thing all the time. I've also replied to reviews that are *months* old, despite the fact that the reviewer probably doesn't remember the story any more.

I also get different strategies: "Okay... this time I'm just gonna start with the oldest review and work my way up" or "Okaaay... this time I review *right away* when the come in no matter what."

One thing that I used to do that I haven't done in a while is recommend another story. Sometimes I'm stuck as to what to say "Thanks" 500 times doesn't seem to sum up how grateful I am to receive reviews. They make my day. So suggesting another story they might like gives me something to say.

Icarus

Great summation - thanks for writing this!

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

Or a reply is sitting in their drafts folder and the author is feeling a little silly because it's been there for three months.


*eyedart*


guilty of this. a LOT.


I definitely try to reply to everything. I don't get such a vast amount of feedback that this is onerous, and I think it's only polite to thank someone for taking the time to leave any comment at all. But there ya go: it's "only polite." I don't think it's required, no.

Re: Great summation - thanks for writing this!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Or a reply is sitting in their drafts folder and the author is feeling a little silly because it's been there for three months.

*eyedart*

guilty of this. a LOT.

Me too. *laughs into hands* I try to personalize everything so I'm slow to respond. Though right now I'm in a low-feedback phase so it's easy to keep up.

*eyedart*

Easier.

Icarus

[path-draco.livejournal.com]

As a writer, my feeling is that no matter what, you reply. If you think the fb is inaccurate/wrong/, you can still acknowledge that you received it without getting into a discussion. The best answer "Thank you for reading", and move on.

It's sort of like the thank you letters you send to people who give you birthday gifts.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

That's how I feel. But I try to give consideration to RL situations or authors who are very popular. It took Cassandra Claire nearly four months to get back to me on some long feedback I sent (via private email, with a discussion on the merits of cliffhangers, and roughly 1,500 words). I have no problem with that.

When I wrote in the Lord of the Rings fandom and received, oh, four reviews over a six-week period, not replying was inconceivable. Your response is also verbatum to what I said then. Since then I've written over a hundred stories, some of which have had hundreds of reviews while reviews from older stories were still pouring in. I have a better sense of why Cassandra Claire took so long to get back to me.

I've an email dedicated to reviews only, which has solved the "buried review" problem for the most part. But when I was going to school full-time and working part-time, I had to choose between email and writing -- and I chose writing.

Icarus

[swtalmnd]

Strictly for livejournal, because of course in email you can't tell one way or the other, if I see an author with tons of comments who hasn't bothered to reply to a single one (assuming it's been at least a day or two since the fic was posted), or one who (with older fics) stopped replying to comments after the first few, or worst of all replies only to those comments they feel are worthy of reply, then 99.9% of the time I won't be bothered to comment.

I know, as a writer, that fic takes a lot of work. I also know that replying to comments takes about 1-2 minutes per comment at the very most, with the exception of thinky comments that can take longer but also deserve the extra time, so unless someone is such a BNF that they get 12 pages of comments in the first hour, I don't really have much sympathy for the time ratio above. Plus, if someone's that much of a BNF, my own comment-laziness comes in -- I rarely reply to any post with more than 2 pages of comments, fic or discussion.

A final note, to put things in perspective, though I reply to 99% of my comments and emailed reviews, I probably comment or review 1% of the fic I read, and get comments from 0.01% or less of the people who visit my website. So, pretty much, I'm lazy and yet, still have no sympathy for laziness in others ;)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I knew this might provoke some irritated responses. *sigh*

The trouble I have here is that there seems to be an assumption as to the person's motives for not replying. No reply = arrogance. Therefore the angry irritated response.

Maybe that's true. But it's not necessarily true. I suspect that RL plays a large role in how people keep up in replying to comments and reviews.

Even if that's true, is the goal to encourage the author? (It sounds like it is, or else why decide that three pages of comments don't need to become four?) If that's the goal, then what does it matter if you get a reply?

Icarus

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I don't expect an answer when i post a review. Especially since I don't really write in depth reviews : I don't always have the words to express how a story has touched me or why I liked it.

I do find it very curtuous from writers when they answer one, and I'm always grateful for that (well not to the point of answering the answer to the review ^^)
It's nice, polite, gracious... but an obligation ? No.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yes.

You know, I didn't put this in the above meta, but if people need a response, I recommend that they ask a question about the story. In most cases that'll guarantee a response.

Icarus

[florahart]

Yes, and when there is a whole page of "nice!" and ":)" and "so hot" or whatever, it feels a bit ...I don't know. I'm not terribly fond of replying "Thanks!" eighteen times in a row without having much more to add. It's absolutely not that I don't appreciate those little short comments; I do. I just feel like a flight attendant saying buh-bye to the passengers when I answer them.

Usually, I do it anyway, but on the whole when I have a bunch of those one/two-word replies, I just go through and reply all at once, later on because if I'm going to go Thanks :) 15 times, I just would rather do it all at once. This may be ungracious of me--I sort of feel it is. On the other hand, I don't often leave those one-word reviews myself, and if I did, I wouldn't feel the author was obligated to go thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks... I try to leave at least *something* about what hooked me or what image made me go o.O or whatever for exactly this reason--so if they do want to answer, they have something to say.

And sometimes, I forget to go back and answer, especially when I get a short review to an older story. Since I don't have a website (for fic; and lord knows if I can't be bothered to organize my memories, I'd just suck at a website), when someone posts a :D review to a fic I posted four months ago, it feels like more trouble than it's worth to go find the story to answer ;), you know? And then I wind up with a situation like, okay last night, someone replied (non-shortly) to a fic from several months ago, and when I went to answer the comment, I observed there were other unanswered replies above that one. And then I felt stupid because I know if I got an *answer* to a comment from months ago I'd have a moment of prolonged head-scratching, so I sort of felt like having already been rude-ish by not answering, it was maybe also rude to answer this late. I don't know if other people have this problem. Alas.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

My website has a really sucky review function. When I hit reply it goes to the main website instead of the person who wrote to me, and half the time people don't put in their email address. Plus, it forces people to go through this whole process, tries to get them to sign up for spam and...

... actually, it's amazing I'm ever reviewed at all.

Icarus

[miladyhawke.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree; I don't think it's required, and god knows that I've received replies to my comments from less than half the authors I've feedbacked over the years, maybe less than half.

I also respond to every comment I get (though I can understand not doing so for people for whom it would be impractical, like BNFs). I have many reasons for doing this.

One is that I like and think much better of authors who take the time for even just a simple 'thank you'. It's weird, but common courtesy goes a long way towards cementing my fannish affections for an author & their work (as you said it does with you). It's good PR to reply graciously, and bad PR not to.

I don't expect a response or feel entitled to one, but I have to admit to feeling the same as the person commenting here who said that they won't review if they see an author has a bunch of comments but doesn't respond to any. It just leaves a very negative impression of that person.

So I don't expect it, but I think highly of an author who does respond, not so highly if they don't respond, and very little if they respond to no one.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

It's good PR to reply graciously, and bad PR not to.

I usually have forgotten a review after I've sent it, so it's a pleasant surprise when someone responds. Replying develops your readers, makes it more likely they'll come back for more, and frankly, I've had some good friendships come out of replying to reviews.

I also respond to every comment I get

I try to, though I'm erratic at times. I try to bear in mind that comments are in public. :D

So I don't expect it, but I think highly of an author who does respond, not so highly if they don't respond, and very little if they respond to no one.

Yes, I feel better when it's pretty obvious they were worn down and just gave up at a certain point. Though I was really impressed: recently resonant8 replied to four pages worth of comments.

Four pages!

Icarus

[mad-martha.livejournal.com]

Well, I try to reply to every review because it seems courteous to me. Especially as I too am terrible at reviewing. If someone else can be bothered to hit the reply link, then it shouldn't be too hard for me to drum up at least a line or two in response. Besides, I've found with a couple of my longer fics recently that the reviewers often have something to say which leads me to more insights into a particular story scenario. That makes it a very rewarding process.

That said ... sometimes reviews border on embarrassing and I sit there thinking "how the hell do I reply to this?" You know the ones I mean, I'm sure - "OMG, your fic is so wonderful, please marry me and I'll have your babies!" Really my gut instinct is to ignore these, but I just can't be rude and probably hurtful like that so I end up trying to be friendly, humorous and keep them at arms length all at once, while my brain seems to be stuck on "????!!!!"

[quivo.livejournal.com]

At least you've never recieved something like this:

"Dududududu...who is this (insert main character of your fic here)?"

Seriously. I couldn't stop myself from asking if the person had read the story at all, honestly - and it was in the seventh chapter, well after I'd established who the darn character WAS.

Well, at least I laughed at that one :)

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

Personally, I always respond to reviews, but I've pretty much resigned myself to accepting that everybody isn't me. *g*

Do you know what I've discovered almost always guarantees a response? Telling somebody you liked their story so much you're going to include it in your next recs update. Seriously...I don't always mention that, but I've noticed that when I do, I *always* get a reply from the author, even if s/he isn't replying to everybody.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I've noticed that when I do, I *always* get a reply from the author, even if s/he isn't replying to everybody.

That works on me. See now that's smart. I'm a firm believer in understanding what my goal is, and then trying to make it easy for people to give me what I want.

Personally, I always respond to reviews, but I've pretty much resigned myself to accepting that everybody isn't me.

I'm in a phase right now where people are getting long replies to reviews and follow-up emails to boot. But last spring when I was working part time and going to school full time...? I got pretty erratic about replying, just out of sheer necessity. It would be a drag is someone took it personally.

Icarus

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

My feeling is that replying to personal email is a general courtesy, no matter what the content of that email. This is why I feel that failure to reply to email feedback is rude; it's not a fannish obligation, but an ordinary social one.

Replying to lj-comments and reviews on websites is nice, but not required.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yep. The personal email works. Plus, it's better to concrit someone in private. The author feels safer.

Icarus

[furiosity.livejournal.com]

Here via H_T.

You can count on the fact that all reviews are read. And they are appreciated. That's a given.
Pretty much. Which is why I don't consider it a waste of my time or a difficulty to at least say "thank you" to every reviewer, whether they say ":)" or leave me five paragraphs of concrit. Obviously, the concrit will get more than a mere "thank you" and take longer.

The thing is, fanfic as a two-way street. Despite the fact that the writers provide the fic "free of charge" and spend so much time on it -- well, we do it for fun, right? It's enjoyable time spent, not a chore or a bother, so why should the time spent on a fic be somehow more valuable than time spent on reading it? Sure, I've received one-word reviews to novel-length fics, and it's a little off-putting but at the end of the day, even a "YAY" (from someone who's just spent a lot longer than 30 minutes reading, if we're talking upwards of 50K words of prose) is better than nothing at all.

I don't write for reviews, and I rarely expect people to actually be interested in reading (unless it's labelled PWP and/or NC-17 >.>) so whenever someone responds to a story I wrote, it's pleasant, and nice, and I want to let the reviewer know *personally* that I appreciate that they even took the time to type up some kind of response and let me know what they thought. Then again, I generally dislike the stance that seems to exist in fandom wherein the writer is a Writer and somehow Special because they Create shiny things for the fandom. If it weren't for the people who want to read such shiny things, we'd all be writing in a vacuum, yo.

I don't think being angry and punitive with authors who don't respond to reviews is a good thing, but I also don't think it's difficult to say "thank you", ever. I don't think authors should be expected to respond to every review immediately and without fail -- we're all human, after all, but it is a two-way street. If you (general you, not you personally) ignore your readers, why should they bother with you in turn?

[quasi-hayley.livejournal.com]

Here, here.

[quasi-hayley.livejournal.com]

It never occurred to me to *expect* a reply to a review but you've certainly made me think. With LJ I think replies are more and more common because, lets face it, its easy. In the Good Old Days (TM) when I emailed reviews I rarely got a reply. Occssionally there was a brief thank you and that was generally only if I raved about the fic. If I gave con-crit I got nothing. Nada.

At the time I put it down to pissing the author off but that would be completely contrary to what you've written above and I suspect that you're the one who's right. Perhaps I gave them too much to think about and so did indeed get consigned to the drafts folder.

As for my own feedback, I always reply now even if it's only to say thank you. I don't get that much so it's hardly a mammoth task but for those who get hundreds of comments about their fic, I can understand why it'd be hard to reply to all of them. I have more respect for those who manage it however, how can you not?

Sometimes, people post notes in their journal that they do not reply or are no longer replying to feedback and that makes me sad. I suppose there's a school of thought that it's better people should know they're not going to get a reply but that the author has made a decision not to reply seems rather...I don't know...blase (which needs an accent but I can't remember how to do them). I wonder if that author would ever make a post saying they do not want feedback? Would that author turn off comments on their fic?

I doubt it. They expect people to read and review anyway because they've made the effort to write but then who wants (and perhaps even needs) reviews more, the author or the reader?

The author, of course. So perhaps it's them who should be striving to reply, thereby encouraging further feedback, and not the reviewer trying to make them reply.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I've learned that people just expect a thank you, whereas I tended to write loooooong detailed replies (hence the very full draft folder).

people post notes in their journal that they do not reply or are no longer replying to feedback and that makes me sad.

That's a little, um, isn't it like saying "if you give me presents I am not going to reciprocate"? There's an underlying assumption that people are going to gift one with reviews.

So perhaps it's them who should be striving to reply, thereby encouraging further feedback, and not the reviewer trying to make them reply.

I'm assuming here that most authors already do that and the real issue is RL or getting overwelmed.

But if reviewers really want a response (when I review I don't need it), if it's going to hurt if you don't get it, then it makes sense to set it up so you're a winner. It's a simple case of needs analysis and strategy.

Icarus

[silverwings458.livejournal.com]

Personally, I try to reply to every review, even if it's just something silly and insignificant like, "Thanks! :D" but I understand why every author might not necessarily respond to every comment, too.

[silverwings458.livejournal.com]

And I got here via the D_S. I'm not a stalker or anything.

[lerah99.livejournal.com]

I'll admit to being one of those people who LOVES getting a response to my reviews. I know it's silly and I don't feel the author HAS to respond. After all, s/he gifted me with the story, I have no right to demand more from s/he.

My reviews tend to be very closed. Generally I:
- state that I liked the story
- give a couple details or quote the best part of the story
- thank the author for posting the story.

With reviews like that, there isn't much for the author to say but "thank you". Still, that "thank you" makes my day. It lets me know that they author did read my review.

I guess it is kind of like getting a famous person's autograph. It's the proof that you've had some sort of interaction with a person you admire.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

There are certain times when I love getting responses, and that's largely when I know the author I'm a REAL BIG FAN.

I did backflips when Telanu responded to me. *g*

Icarus

[dbassassin.livejournal.com]

... just popped over from hogwarts_today ...

I find fandom attitudes to reviewing and replying fascinating. I've never considered not replying to the (admittedly, few) reviews my fics get. Anything to encourage people to read more OC-fic!

My expectations of replies to my reviews varies by author and circumstances. I don't tend to leave feedback for stories with hundreds of reviews, unless I have a very specific comment to make. And even then, I might not review if fifteen people ahead of me have made virtually the same observation. If I leave somthing substantive, though, I do get a bit shirty if it's not even acknowledged, regardless of the number of reviews.

To my mind, an author should either respond to everyone (even with just a generic "thanks for reviewing" to short fb) or no one (with a disclaimer). If they don't want or have time to reply to hundreds of reviews, they can f-lock the post. Yes, it deprives other people of the pleasure of reading the fic, but at least it keeps communications manageable for the author if that's their principal concern. I think this is preferable to leaving the post public and only replying to a selected few.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I've never considered not replying to the (admittedly, few) reviews my fics get. Anything to encourage people to read more OC-fic!

Oh I don't think anyone plans to not respond. It's fun to talk about the story, reviews are food for the author. I've just observed that depending on RL (and story output) sometimes people fall behind.

I think this is preferable to leaving the post public and only replying to a selected few.

Ah. Selected few. Is it really just the special or close friends or the priviledged who get a reply?

I'm sort of seeing a pattern emerging from the replies to this post. The people who've had huge responses to their fics stop by and wince "yep, I've had a reply sitting in my drafts folder for months" while the people who haven't had a huge response say "How could you Not reply?!"

I admit, that was my feeling when I was first starting out and I had (wow!) four reviews in six weeks to my first Lord of the Rings story. If that was where I stopped (which was my original plan) I probably wouldn't understand it either.

Is it too difficult to imagine a sincere author, grateful for the reviews and replies, enjoying every single one, trying to fit in time to reply and falling desperately behind? You don't know what kind of response a story will get. You can post a story you think sucks and everyone loves it, or you can post a story that you've worked on lovingly for months and the fandom response is... Meh.

Icarus

[secondsilk.livejournal.com]

Is it really okay to reply to five stories in an afternoon?
I review everything, so most of me emails now are replies to review which say 'thanks.' I like that, it's nice, and it means I have a link to the fic in my in box when I remember the cute line I copied and want to reread the fic. (This has worked, I have found fic by searching the fragment of cute line I remember.)
But I sometimes feel a bit silly reviewing a whole string of fic. So I'll stop reading for a few hours/ couple of days. Or, sometimes, if I'm very awake, I'll start comparing the stories to each other. That usually does get a thought out reply, because it's proof that I've absorbed the fics and thought about them.

Anyway, that's just fodder for the anecdote mill.

:). (I think I replied with: ;))
Have you heard the story of Victor Hugo about the sales of Les Miserables? He sent a telegram to his publisher, it said, "?" The reply was simply, "!"

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh I love it when people reply to three or four stories in an afternoon. Most people read a lot of stories at a time and just leave one review. Archive devouring.

Have you heard the story of Victor Hugo about the sales of Les Miserables? He sent a telegram to his publisher, it said, "?" The reply was simply, "!"

*laughs* That would save money on telegrams! Alas, I heard Western Union no longer does telegrams.

Icarus

[sarcastic-irony.livejournal.com]

I wanted to leave you a review on how accurate and polite that all was that leaves no need for a responding reply, but I think that would be a touch overkill on the irony. Nevertheless, I think you made several valid points about curtesy. As for the actual time disproportion, I loved it for two reasons. One, its accurate ratio, and two, because I cannot imagine being done with a story in ten hours. Alas! I am doomed to be a rather indecicively slow writer.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I was thinking yesterday that it would be the height of irony if I didn't reply to everyone's comments here.

Someone told me here that they wrote 40K words in a week. That would make Nanowrimo a bit easier. ;)

I kinda thought my time estimates might be a little low actually....

Icarus

[dancing-moon.livejournal.com]

I pretty much agree with you. I try to give replies to reviews - not that I've written much lately -_-;; And I save and read them all.

Big reviews are great. Concrit is absolutely wonderful. But even a smiley or a giggle or something can put a smile on my face for hours, so I try to answer something sensible.

The one place I'm really sucky about replying in is fanfiction.net because there's really no simple way to do it. Review my own story? I feel like I'm trying to boost the review nr or something, and often I get reviews from people who write in fandoms I don't know/don't care to read or... they're just not that good that I feel like giving a glowing heap of praise in reply.

[masterofmercury.livejournal.com]

The one place I'm really sucky about replying in is fanfiction.net because there's really no simple way to do it.
-- Oh yes, and I absolutely hate the new policy that forbid authors from replying to review in the chapter.

I always reply to feedback

[jazzypom.livejournal.com]

( I think a review is a bit more removed than how you've stated it - isn't it when someone reads a story and does a write up about it for the benefit of other people?).

But yeah, I always reply to feedback even if it is a thank you. On my side, I don't sweat it if someone doesn't reply to my feedback for the first two times. After that though, I don't leave feedback ever again.

Jargon time

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

In professional circles, yes, a review is when one writes up a piece on a story or book for other people. In fandom, that's called a recommendation or rec. Feedback and review are interchangeable terms.

I don't sweat it if someone doesn't reply to my feedback for the first two times. After that though, I don't leave feedback ever again.

What's the time limit? Cassandra Claire replied to my review of the Draco Trilogy about three months after the fact.

Icarus

[masterofmercury.livejournal.com]

Very well said.

I have a habit of replying to every comments I received, at the least I'll say thanks or, as you mentioned, a smiley :), ;), etc. to get the message across that, yes, I received your comment and I appreciated it. I do prefer longer review, but one-liner is good enough.

As a reader, I usually send comment via archive, because I once saw an author ranted about reviewers sent her emails, and that she dislike it. So I take more caution about sending personal review. If it's a one-liner (as I normally do), I'll use the archive comment system, but if it's a critic or other discussions about the story, I'll use e-mail.

[masterofmercury.livejournal.com]

Oh, I forgot. I didn't expect a reply to my comment. I'll check the author's response from time to time, but not 'go and search for it'

[prillalar]

Thanks for starting this topic -- it's really interesting to read everyone's thoughts.

I do my best to reply to all my LJ comment fb but I'm not 100%. FB on older stories can sometimes get lost in newer comments and then I forget to go back and reply. I like replying -- I like the feeling of connecting to my readers. (But I admit, I'm happy if the comments collapse so that no one but the recipient reads my rather inane responses. *g*)

When I comment on someone else's fic, I like to get a reply for the same reason, but I don't worry too much about it if I don't. If someone consistantly doesn't reply to their comments, I'm more likely to stop leaving them, but it's not like I keep track of it in a spreadsheet or anything.

I have to confess that I'm pretty bad at replying to email fb right now. I'm pretty bad at replying to *any* email. I feel guilty over it, but guilt doesn't seem to help me to spring into action. Back in the day when my fannish space was mailing lists and newsgroups, I was much more scrupulous about replying to fb email.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I'm slow at replying to email feedback. I'm more likely to fall behind, never to catch up on comments, but emails I tend to answer about once a week -- that's my schedule. I have time on the weekends. So if people send feedback on Saturday, they might hear back the same day (or within an hour). But if they email me at 11pm Sunday night? See ya next Saturday.

I was able to be more consistent in replying to feedback when I was working a 9-to-5 job, but now that I'm in school my workload is a roller coaster. If a review is posted the week before midterms... it might be a couple of weeks before I can reply.

Icarus

[tesseract-5.livejournal.com]

10% ?! that's a high end of reviews received estimation-- honestly (my most popular story has ~ 250+ page views, of which some of those must have read the story, and a grand total of ONE review)

Granted, archived stories don't generally get reviews, as opposed to LJ presented stories. On LJ I always reply with at least a "thanks". The more detailed the comment, the more detailed the reply.

It doesn't matter how long ago the story was posted, Authors LOVE to see any comment, even if it's just a =)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh. Right. My numbers are way off there. I was thinking of my analysis of "reader return rates" on WIPs. The average return for additional chapters for most people was 10%. For bad!fic it was 5-8%. If a writer had written a full novel-length trilogy, the reader return jumped to 30-40% for the third book, which was pretty amazing.

Reviews it's more like 1%, and the percentage decreases the more popular the writer is, even as the recs increase the traffic-flow to that story exponentially. So there are more people reading it, but a smaller and smaller percentage leave a review.

On LJ I always reply with at least a "thanks". The more detailed the comment, the more detailed the reply.

I've been doing that, and it seems to work pretty well.

amireal had a point (above) that the longer the story, the more wiped the author is by the time they post it. True. Very true. The numbers involved represent real work -- nights where the writer's up until 3am and still going to work at 8 o'clock the next morning.

Icarus

[theemdash]

What a great editorial. You really hit the high points on reviewing. I always reply to reviews, but frequently they get lost in my email. And other times I'm just trying to figure out a way to reply to :) (generally "Thanks for reading" is my standard).

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

but frequently they get lost in my email.

Yep, yep. *nods vigorously* I started a gmail account that I use exclusively for reviews so that's helped -- especially since I'm slow to reply. I try to say something more than "thanks" though I'm starting to understand that people don't really care what I say, just that I say something.

Icarus

[bladderwrack.livejournal.com]

(here from metafandom)

Well put.

I am a neurotic creature, and like to be replied to for the reassurance that I haven't offended the author/said anything too stupid/creeped the author out, but it's not something I could/would demand.

Also via metafandom

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

I appreciate my reviews.

Lots.

I MOSTLY find replying to reviews more of a pleasure than a burden, but if I'm overtired or unusually distractible (both, alas, fairly common problems; I have fibro), it can suddenly become just OMG INSURMOUNTABLE SCARY HEAP OF TYPING.

So I also appreciate the forgiveness I am freely extended for the roughly 5-10 percent that I somehow manage to completely flake on replying to.

Lots.

And thank you for an excellent post.