Fan Mail?

[Xanthe]

Originally Posted by Ransom

That's not the point. Don't have contact info and you won't have to answer fan mail, and that's better for everybody.

Only if you like to write in a vacuum....

[Ransom]

I just started using a pen-name for fiction. I'm keeping my real name for everything else though.

[BillSmithBooks]

Responding to kind words is easy -- thank them for taking the time to read your book and you're glad they enjoyed it. These types of readers are likely to become your biggest boosters as you publish more work.

As for handling negative comments, that's always tricky. Never respond in the heat of the moment. Take some time to calm down, consider if the criticism is warranted (sometimes there is truth in unkind things people write about our children).

As a general response, it never hurts to thank them for taking the time to write. You may want to get into the "Oh, I hadn't thought/intended it that way, here's what I was shooting for," which gives a negative but open-minded reviewer some insight and they may be willing to reevaluate your work or give you another chance.

When all else fails, you might try to direct them to something else. For example, I write action-adventure space opera with a tinge of fantasy -- very much in the spirit of Star Wars, Babylon 5, original Star Trek, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, Lensmen, etc. Some people simply loathe aliens and ray guns and starships stories and love to tell authors of said genre how terrible it is...goes with the territory.

When I get the "Ugh, I hate that stuff" comment, I try to say something like, "Well, I understand, not everybody's into this type of story. But you know, science fiction and fantasy are huge, very diverse fields and there are all of these other great authors -- Bradbury, Asimov, Heinlein, Rowling, Brooks, Tolkein, Gaiman, etc. -- you might want to try their work, it's great." So you're being gracious in accepting their commentary while hopefully offering something useful to them.

Now if somebody is being really obnoxious, mean-spirited, trollish, sometimes the best thing to do is to ignore it.

Or you can jerk their chain royally, something along the lines of, "Hey, thanks for the great review. Glad you loved my book so much." That's will most likely get them steaming since the purpose of such obnoxious commentary is to try to get a rise out of the person it is directed at. Showing good humor, self-deprecating humor and having a little fun with things is very disarming to the person trying to "show you."

Be unflappable and gracious in everything you say or write and you will do well.

[GraceKrispy]

Originally Posted by apbschmitz

Man, positive mail — you can't answer it fast enough.

Negative mail — you're always tempted to answer it too quickly. Which is to say, while you're still defensive and angry. Best to sit on that stuff for a couple days and then attempt to kill with kindness. In my opinion.

Excellent answer, in my opinion And if you can't kill with kindness, ignore. It isn't worth your time and energy.

Do people really write to authors to blast them? I guess I see my answer on this thread. What a colossal waste of time.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by GraceKrispy

Do people really write to authors to blast them? I guess I see my answer on this thread. What a colossal waste of time.

I could definitely see a point in writing to an author to say "I really love most of your works, but your most recent novel was a disappointment and I hope it doesn't indicate a new trend in your writing." Or even, "I enjoy much of your work but [#book] contained some flaws that are obviously caused by ignorance of [#topic]."

[Xanthe]

Or even, "Get a new line editor, the misspellings and grammar mistakes in your current book keep throwing me out of the story!"

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by GraceKrispy

Do people really write to authors to blast them? I guess I see my answer on this thread. What a colossal waste of time.

I have not gotten one, but as a from my experience as a customer service manager... I have learned to expect 10 complaints for every positive assuming everyone is doing a good job. Maybe I've just been burned to many times and gotten sour LOL

[GraceKrispy]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I could definitely see a point in writing to an author to say "I really love most of your works, but your most recent novel was a disappointment and I hope it doesn't indicate a new trend in your writing." Or even, "I enjoy much of your work but [#book] contained some flaws that are obviously caused by ignorance of [#topic]."

But I think that kind of comment would be closer to the lines of constructive (especially your second example-- and your first if it's specific in what was disappointing). How it's worded may make all the difference, I guess.

[Nancy Fulda]

Originally Posted by GraceKrispy

And if you can't kill with kindness, ignore. It isn't worth your time and energy.

Yes. This.

[Harper Kingsley]

Originally Posted by Ransom

I have my--umm--secretary send them a form letter telling them that I can't possibly respond to all my fan-mail, but that I do try to read as much of it as I can, and how grateful I am to them for their support.

Readers of fiction like authors who have a bit of a mystique about them. It pays to keep your distance. It's like playing hard to get with a girl. Ignore the hell out of them and it just makes them more interested in you.

This made me laugh because it's so true!

Some of my favorite authors/actors/actresses open up with their personal lives and I'm just like WTF? I learn a bit too much about their personal lives and I'm like, "Do not want."

You don't want the reputation of being a jerk, but you don't want to air your dirty laundry everywhere either. I guess it's just really hard to find a nice middle ground, especially if everyone's pushing to get to know you. Then you open up, and people are totally turned off because they had some image of you that's not real.

I guess if someone takes the time to write you an email, you should write them back, unless it was some really filthy hate stuff. But good or bad, I think you should take a step back, maybe wait a day or something to respond. Because even if they only have good things to say, you don't want to get all creepy mouth-breather on them, "You love me, you really love me! Here, have some more of this, and here's some of this, oh I'm so happy you love me, take some of this!"