A Word on Reviews - Responses from Authors?

[Lea]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "shanti_50130" 
<seuferer at n...> wrote:
> On one of the Yahoo Groups to which I belong, a fanfic reader 
asked a question about how to leave a review. Her question, 
paraphrased here, was basically, "I don't know what to say in a 
review, or how to be specific with my comments. I don't want to 
leave just a short, 'I liked this' sort of review because so many 
fanfic authors disdain those sorts of comments as being unhelpful. 
What should I say in a review? How important is a review, really?"
> 
<snip> I know I am not alone in this, but in my opinion, it is 
merely a courtesy. If you read it/look at it, it seems to me the 
only polite thing to do is to take a moment to 'feed' the 
author/artist. It really is the only "payment" that the 
author/artist receives. For the vast majority of us, reviews mean a 
great deal.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Shanti
> http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1789723/1/
> http://adultfan.nexcess.net/aff/story.php?no=25336

I don't think I could have said that any better if I had tried 
Shanti!  As a fanfic writer, I absolutely LIVE for reviews.  I want 
to know what the reader thought of the story, where it could have 
been improved upon, and if something evoked an emotional reaction or 
the reader just thought something was good.  

What I'm curious about is as a reviewer, do you like to get a 
response from the author?  How should an author reply to their 
reviewers?  What type of response do you want to get as a reviewer? 

Thanks,
Lea