Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Reader comments

I blame this post on Ciar Cullen's post a few days ago, but I've been thinking about it ever since. I keep meaning to blog about it and then I forget, go figure.

It's also come up in a few other places, so I'm curious about group consensus, or at the very least, a few responses from the ether.

If you were going to get reader feedback from someone about your book(s), would you mind if the feedback said nothing other than 'I loved it!' Would you rather have something more than that, like a reason why the reader loved it? Or is enthusiasm enough? Would you mind a critique if it came along with a compliment?

Would someone making weird comments that appeared not to have anything to do with the book you wrote bother you? Offend you?

And if anybody who swings by here *gets* lots of reader comments, how much are you paying your fans? ;) No, no, I'm kidding about that one. I know that readers don't always send notes to say they enjoy what they're reading. Someone in Ciar's comments said that they'd been inspired to start emailing authors more. I think I will too. I know I'd like to hear from readers that they enjoyed my work. It's only fair that I do the same.

So there's my challenge for those who happen by. Have you read a book you liked recently? Why not send a note to the author and let them know?

3 comments:

Lynne Simpson said...

An excellent idea, Sara. I absolutely adored Alice Hoffman's Incantation. She probably gets thousands of letters, but why not tell her how much I enjoyed her story?

Catie said...

I do email authors when I like their books, in fact! And I love it when people email me. I'm perfectly happy with, "I loved it!", my own self :)

-Catie

Pam Skochinski said...

I have done it on occasion -- especially when I wasn't thinking I would like a book and then had it grab and hook me. The Jury Master was one of those books and I got a really nice personal response from the author too. Warm fuzzies all around.