just.a.willow.tree Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 (I hope this is where I'm supposed to post this) Okay, so the title says it all: how does one go about responding to reviews? Each time I respond to one of mine, I just stumble across this question again, and I feel like I'm stressing out needlessly (because I've always loved each and every response to one of my reviews, so like what are the chances of my responses being terrible?) but also I genuinely do not know how to respond. All of my review responses are some combination of "I'm so glad that you liked _____" + "I'm so happy that you noticed _____" + "Here, have some background info that you most certainly did not ask for!" + *unintelligible screaming* So, how do you guys respond to your reviews? Do you guys have some sort of...method? Do you vary your responses based on the style/type of review you get? And how long does each review response take you? (This is purely for polling reasons, I suspect that I'm quite inefficient at this) Also, I'm curious about people who don't usually respond to their reviews as well -- even if you don't respond, how would you see yourself responding if you did? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TidalDragon Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 Aside from the unintelligible screaming, I think I respond in much the same way. I probably do way too much of the "here's some background info you never wanted" though. While it doesn't happen that often, I also try to answer any questions the reviewer asks too - to the extent they aren't going to create spoilers. In terms of style/type of response, I wouldn't say mine varies other than when someone leaves a very short review (I usually just express my appreciation for the R&R then along with some other tiny detail-oriented tidbit). Generally I wind up responding in the style I review, which is generally big picture rather than super-detail-oriented. Review responses tend to take me a long time though - even when they aren't that long - so that's part of why I have so many unanswered ATM. I obviously can't speak for them, but I think a lot of the people who don't respond really don't intentionally not respond. I know for me, life is constantly crazy and so I don't R&R or respond to reviews as much or as quickly as I did before because ultimately I have outside stuff and staff stuff and then trying to still write. I feel bad about it, but that's how it tends to shake out and I'd imagine there are a lot of people in a similar boat because they don't want to just say thanks, they want to respond thoughtfully. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgfoy Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 Generally I thank the reviewer for their review, not only is it polite, but I am genuinely grateful that anyone would take the trouble to let me know what they think of my work. After that I respond to any points they may have raised about the chapter/story, especially if they have asked a question. That said if the answer would spoil a later chapter then I will say so as the reply. It often depends on the review of course. Hope that helps 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belgian quaffle Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 "Stressing out needlessly" sums up everything I feel about replying to reviews and I also have no idea why? I usually just comment about the things they've commented on and then I also feel like I end up saying a lot of "I'm glad you liked--" and "I love that you enjoyed--". Then I find myself cringing about the repetitiveness of my own writing. I'm not really sure I have much of a method, besides just rambling on (I'm definitely on the train of adding additional background info no one asked for). I also think I spend much longer on my responses than I should, but I'm also just happy/excited/flattered that someone was willing to take the time out of their day to comment on my work so then I feel like it's just nice of me to take the equal time to respond? Again, I'm not sure I have an actual time, but I definitely spend some time on them and then end up reading them over to make sure I feel like they're "good enough" if that makes sense. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felpata_Lupin Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 I used to be so good at replying to reviews (meaning replying in reasonable time, not talking about quality...) and now I have 23 two-months-old unanswered reviews staring accusingly at me... I am the "I'm so glad" person, too. Usually my replies open and close with something like "Thank you so much for such a lovely review!" I'm always just flattered to hear that people enjoyed reading my writing... I think my response style varies a bit depending on the length of the review and on how well I know the reviewer. My "method" is trying to reply to the review paragraph by paragraph, so I'm sure I address everything. I also am the "giving background info you never asked for" person and sometimes I just go on a tangent and blabber too much... As for the time... I take way too long? Usually I sit down when I have time to spare and go through my unanswered reviews in chronological order. I reply to 3/4, realize 2 hours have passed and close everything because I'm worn out... Erm, I think I've been rambling too much... sorry... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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