OK – so I don’t get a SACK full of readers’ letters but I do get a few a week.
This entire concept is still — even after five years — hugely new to me and each one I get is a source of amazement and delight. I admit to being extremely vain and keeping them all in a folder because they are probably the best way to remotivate oneself when all is doom and gloom and you’ve simply gone off the boil with your latest WIP.
But what really delights and continues to surprise me with each one that comes in is simply this:
Nearly all of them are from men.
Now, I’m assuming they are gay men. I’m so militantly against anyone making a big deal of my sexuality standing in bafflement as to why anyone thinks that defines me as a human being or a writer, that the very last thing I would ever do when I reply to these letters is to refer to the writer as a gay man in any way. They are from men, and that’s the end of the matter.
But why are they all from men I wonder?
Now I have a theory: I think it’s because most women who read gay romance, have, in one form or another, been reading hetero romance and don’t think of it as a big deal. It’s just another book. Read: enjoy: (or not) move on. Rinse and repeat.
What I’m getting from the readers’ letters is that men are discovering the genre for the first time, which makes me smile. They say that they’ve picked the books up by chance; or that someone has recommended them’ or they’ve had them passed on by someone else or they’ve popped up on the gay list on Amazon and, having enjoyed historicals they thought they’d give them a try. Most of them definitely seem to have had them as their first experience of the gay historical genre, and just about all of them ask for further recommendations.
What’s great is that, having “discovered” something “new to them” that they take the time and effort to write–sometimes only a line or two, but sometimes really long, chatty friendly emails. And yet, almost nothing from women!
I’m not complaining–as I say, I think that women take the genre more for granted–some of them have been around fandom for years and gay romance is nothing new at all, and I’m just as happy to have a letter from a woman reader as anyone else of course. But seeing as how I deliberately set out to write gay romance because I was convinced that there was a gap in the market, getting these letters from men warms me hugely.
I have to admit that, all my life I’d never, until recently, written a letter to an author. This is mainly because most of the authors I read before I started to write myself were dead. There was absolutely no point penning:
Dear Mr Dickens,
I so enjoyed your Nicholas Nickleby and the bromance between Nicholas and Smike was truly touching. Any chance of a sequel?
Erastes.
But when I started to get letters myself I found it so wonderful that I made a vow always to write to authors (unless, like Mr D, they weren’t going to care much) and tell them how their books have touched me. In doing this I was not only passing on The Happy, but I have made some good correspondents over the years. My claim to fame is a several email correspondence with the lovely and charming Jamie O’Neill (At Swim Two Boys) who was graceful and welcoming and a Really Good Egg.
There’s no real point to this post–I wanted to point out to the world that men were reading and loving gay romance, and gay historical romance but of course we know that already–but I also wanted to say that if you really liked a book, don’t stop at leaving a good review on your blog, or on Amazon. Track down the author and be brave–send them a short line too, because I guarantee you will make that author’s day. Royalties are nice, but we ain’t getting rich in this genre yet. Good reviews are great, but there’s nothing quite as nice as finding a little something cheery in your inbox in the morning.
Have you ever written to an author? Anyone famous? Did they respond? What do you feel about people like Robin Hobb who don’t want to be bothered by fans?
I’ve started to do it a lot more lately, since pretty much everyone has a website these days, or is on Twitter, or whatever, so it’s so easy to do. I’m not too bothered if they don’t reply, since, hey, they’re busy people. But I am inordinately fond of one reply from way back in 2002, from the man himself: Terry Pratchett.
Ooh – I understand he tries to write back as often as he can – that’s wonderful!
I once wrote a letter to Catherine Coulter after I’d read something or other rather fun and sexy from her. I received a lovely letter – albeit a bit form-ish – printed on nice, thick card stock. While it wasn’t completely personal, it was still a thrill to receive.
I’ve contacted a few m/m authors through their websites or their Good Reads profiles. Some respond, some don’t. We’re all busy people. 🙂 The ones who did respond were pleasant and friendly and just tickled at the feedback.
I posted about another experience I had in contacting an author on my blog earlier today (http://tiny.cc/IJlDR), tho it’s outcome was not as positive. It was in response to a post Eyre wrote on her blog this morning.
Oh dear – I hope that wasn’t me – I’ve been known to explode when people send me what I think is spam…. I’m sorry if it was!
Erastes,
I wrote you a huge fan letter/email (okay it was a fangirl gushy thing) after Standish was first released and got all my firends to buy a copy I raved about it so much. (I wouldn’t lend them mine)
You wrote back to 3 of them (men) lovely letters (one even contained the short story follow up)but my girlfirends and I are still waiting for some acknowledgement that you even recieved ours. (one even had all our names and the name of the male friend… you answered to him only. Shame on you) I have to admit we were a little peveed, we put it down to you being a bloke (wrong there huh LOL) and was a bit miffed that you had mere females writing to you. When I look back on it, after the massive bitch fest (surprised your ears didn’t burn right off) we did have a good laugh 🙂
tish
PS I need to add that my ‘hurt feelings’ 🙁 has not stopped me from enjoying your writing 🙂 and Standish is still an excellent read and I still recommend it and your other works to all and sundry.
Oh no! How awful – I’m so sorry about about that – I make it a rule that I reply to every single one of my letters so something must have gone wrong. Let me apologise.
So Erastes, were you being a bit sexist in not replying to ANY of the women? Shame on you. 😀
As far as my correspondence can tell me I’ve replied to every single piece of mail I’ve ever had – so all I can do is throw my hands in the air and apologise!
I should say the ‘Standish’ bookclub we had going was a lot of fun and after 4 months of discussing it in length (a chapter a week) we wanted to let said author know how much her work had entertained us and how we were eagerly awaiting her next offering. I really should thank Erastes for writing it as I have made some very dear friends from that disscusion 🙂
So Thank you Erastes 🙂 I geuss I’ll have to write you another fangirl gushy letter sometime LOL.
tish
I don’t think I’ve ever written to an author specifically to comment on a book. I am “friends” with a few authors on Facebook, or I “talk” to authors on their blog or other blogs around like here and will give my informal “loved that book, it made me smile” or whatever, but I’ve never looked up an e-mail specifically to say “great book”. Even in those other fora the authors always say “thanks”. That’s enough for me. I always figure authors are too busy to listen to my drivel so I don’t pursue it as much as I probably could/should.
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Something I will say here because Wave gives away lots of books, I do hope people who win and get a book from an author directly (as opposed to publisher give-aways which are more generic) thank the author for the book personally. You guys don’t HAVE to give us your work for free. You do it because you appreciate the reader and we should show our thanks. I’m especially saying this as I’ve heard stories of books being given out with zero response or thanks which doesn’t encourage authors to do it again. I especially do it with paper books since Canada post has been known to send them astray (I still think some Canada Post worker is reading TA Chase’s book somewhere on their lunch break). It’s easy to find e-mail addresses of authors on their blogs or often in the book itself. So there is my “helpful hint for being a good reader” for the day. 🙂
That’s a good point–I rarely get a thank you from a reader when I give a book away on a third party site. I’d never thought about it before, and it doesn’t bother me, but I will–on a personal level–make a note to thank the author when I win one in future.
Tam
You make an excellent point. I do thank the authors who donate their books but I don’t know if the recipients of those free books ever do so. I suppose most of them are so jaded at yet another freebie 🙁 or maybe they don’t remember whether the book they won was from the publisher or the author.
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I think I’ll do a post about it. Thank you for an excellent comment Tam.
I have written to many authors, and at first I was shocked by the responses. Although now I come to expect them. I think it’s important to let the author’s know how we enjoy their works.It only takes a few minutes of time which after reading 200-300 pages does not seem like much.
PS I loved Frost Fair and I’m waiting for more.
I do try and reply to every letter I ever get (I’m embarrassed that poor Tish got looked over) and will endeavour to do so as long as I have the time to do it. After all – no-one’s THAT busy that they can’t take one minute out of their life. (I feel the same way about agents and publishers not answering, and job applications too…)
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I’m glad you enjoyed the book! I have two books I’m trying to sell right now, and I will have a new novella out in the new year. Thank you.
I think that the Internet, email, Facebook, etc. has made authors much more accessible. In the “old days” it would never enter my head to write an author and even finding biographical information was a challenge. Now, authors’ emails are in the back of their books, they encourage you to visit their websites, etc. It seems like they want to be more in touch with their fans.
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Also, I think because I am reading so much in the m/m genre, I am reading books and novellas from small presses and almost indie published authors. That coupled with an exponential increase in reading ebooks (due to my Kindle) — I am seeking out and finding books I would never have come across before. And on top of that, I really enjoy the books, so I want to contact the author. The circle goes round and round and it just feeds into itself. Erastes, you are a case in point, along with Alex Beecroft, Lee Rowan, Charlie Cochrane, Bill Konigsberg, Victor Banis, Alan Chin and so on…it’s great to “know” so many authors. I’ve always enjoyed reading but I have to say, many factors have come together in recent years that I am enjoying it more than ever before–and that’s a good thing.
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L
Thanks Leslie! Yes, I remember the days when the only way to contact an author was through their publisher!
Far too few readers offer feedback, either in message or blog-post form, but the ones who take the time (and yes, dear Tam, you’re one of them!) invariably turn me to mush. Same is true of fellow authors. I hope I never take this sort of consideration for granted. If I do, I’ll kick my own ass around the potato field.
I feel like that – I’m grateful they’ve BOUGHT the books in the first place, then to take the time to send thoughtful and long emails too? Amazing.
As Leslie said, the Internet made the writer/reader interaction easier. I wanted to write to several authors, but I usually end up commenting on their journals, blogs, sites, forums, whatever is available. I was lucky and so far all of them answered. Maybe because I mainly want to comment on the books I liked. I felt compelled to write only one negative comment, when I felt that the writer insulted my/readers’ intelligence. I was very polite though. And so was he.
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However, I agree with Tam, it’s common decency to write and thank the author who gave you the book. It’s their hard work and it takes only a few minutes to let them know we appreciate it. ^^
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It’s great really, this Internet thingy we have. When I was a kid, the writers were some faraway, distant, mystical creatures. It’s good to know how much we are alike.
Yes – that’s true, the internet has made it a lot easier to interact – I’m always surprised when I find an author doesn’t have a website!
I agree that the internet has made it easier to thank and/or correspond with authors.
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My experiences started with fan fic, where as a reader, the only thing I have to offer is feedback. Whenever I enjoy a story, I always comment. The first few times I e-mailed an author, I was thrilled to get a response. It’s still lovely to know that someone appreciates positive feedback.
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I’ve received replies from several “famous” writers; the first was Joseph Hansen, whose work I love so much. His reply was very special to me, as he passed away shortly afterwards. I was very thankful that I’d managed to contact him when I did.
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I received a reply to an e-mail I sent to Peter Lefcourt, who wrote “The Dreyfus Affair”. His response was friendly, but much less personal than Joseph’s.
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I’ve met two wonderful published “main stream” authors on LJ, and I regularly comment on their journals. Their journals are two of the best I read, and although I can’t claim friendship with them, I do feel a connection.
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Plus I’ve also friended several other m/m authors, and I love interacting with them too. It’s times like these that I thank the powers-that-be for the internet. It’s opened up a whole new world for readers and writers.
Good point, readers like to feel a connection to writers and we all like to know what’s going on in their lives. GRRM’s blog is perfect in that respect – a good mix of personal and professional blogging.
I came from fanfic too, where feedback was part of the game, and the correspondence much appreciated on both sides. And when I published a book, I realised how it’s *still* much appreciated but maybe not as common or timely. I try and write to authors now (or email) if I’ve loved their book. Yes, I felt a bit daft to start with – because they were a big shot author and I’m a one-in-a-trillion reader! – but many of them have replied and been really charming. And they must have started at the same lowly place, mustn’t they?! 🙂
I think it churlish, rude and ultimately self-hurtful to ignore ‘fans’. Same for people who are genuinely looking for advice and to share their experience of fiction, even if it’s different from mine. I’ll always answer as best I can. Good God, like you say, it makes my day to hear from anyone at all! 🙂
You’ve inspired me to get on and write to another author I’ve always been nervous of approaching, whose books I love *lol*.
Exactly. No-one’s THAT busy that they can’t reply – and if you are canny you can even do a block reply to everyone and no-one would know if you really can’t be arsed to thank the people who are putting money in your pocket. I really enjoyed Hobb’s books and was disgusted when after I finished them, I went to her website and saw her posts telling fans not to bother her. Well, thanks, Hobb. I won’t be bothering to buy any of your books!
I think Josh Lanyon is the first writer I wrote to, real fangurl-like. I’ve also used the opportunity to ask a few questions, which he prompty and gracefully replied. After that, I’ve emailed a few other writers which I had the verge to tell them how much I loved their works.
I do think the internet has made it a lot easier to do so. I would have loved to write to David Leavitt or Michael Chabon in the mid-90s, but I probably lost my nerves when I was struggling to find pen, paper and stamp to do so. Now I just type it, click it and send! 🙂
Erastes
This post prompted me to write an author I should have written a couple of months ago, Steve Kluger who wrote Almost Like Being in Love. I love that book so much and I felt ashamed of myself for not telling him.
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I find that the M/M authors I’ve written over the last few years have been unfailingly polite, even when I gushed or asked them what seemed like umpteen questions. 😀 I wrote Evangeline Anderson the first time I read The Assignment and she was most gracious. Similarly, Rowan McBride must have answered at least 10 questions when I wrote her.
*) too. Thank you for this post.
I have to remember to do this more often – we tend to forget that authors need stroking (no, Erastes, not that kind
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I don’t do Facebook or any other social network. The only one I check out regularly is Livejournal so I guess I will definitely have to write to thank my favourite authors.
All I can really say here is, “what they said!” But y’all know I’m not gonna leave it at that LOL.
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Erastes, I’ve had pretty much the same experience as you. Even though I do get fan mail from women, the vast majority of the mail I get is from men, and the majority of THAT seems to be from men just discovering gay romance. Which is really, really cool. It’s not very often I can be anyone’s “first” these days *g*
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I do loooooove getting email from readers, it always makes my day! And I do always answer ALL my email. It might take me a couple of weeks — I’m really bad about forgetting if I don’t do it right away O_O — but I WILL do it eventually. If you write to me and I don’t answer, that means your email got lost in the internet tubes or stuck in the spam filter. Don’t give up on me! I love readers better than key lime pie even!!!!
(and you should know that key lime pie is my very favorite pie that there is 😀 )
Some books help me escape for a few hours, some help me get through a bad day. If a friend did that for me I would take the time to thank him, same goes for the author who wrote the books.
I once wrote to Sol Stein, because his writing book has been an excellent read. I never expected him to answer, but he asked for writers to let them know if they got published. So, I let him know and I couldn’t believe when he answered. I really appreciate authors who care for their fans. I answer every mail I get from my readers. Every author should do so.
Have a nice sunday.