Friday, March 17, 2006
Fan letters: Are they for bloggers too?
Authors, newspaper and magazine writers, and columnists of all types receive fan mail. Many readers admire the creative and journalistic talents of the writers and want to praise the published works. As writers, bloggers might be a new group of fan mail recipients.
My friend Vikk Simmons (pictured above left) of Down The Writer's Path provides some thoughts on fan mail for book authors. Vikk considers fan letters to be something that brightens a writer's day like little else.
Vikk Simmons writes:
There are days when it's downright nice to be an author and today was one of them. When I finally powered up the laptop and checked my email after almost two weeks absence, I found a wonderful note...
Notice Vikk's joy at receiving some positive feedback about her books and her blog. The recognition of the writer's craft, in the form offan letters to authors is appreciated. Often writers toil away at their creative work, not hearing anything about the quality of their finished product. For everyone who puts pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, it's nice to be noticed. In this case, the appreciation was for Vikk's young adult novel Divided Loyalties (shown left).
Bloggers appreciate feedback for their work as well. Thanks to the wonder of blog commenting systems, thoughts on various blog posts are fast and easy to provide. When visiting your favourite blogs, it's nice to leave a few comments; at least once in awhile. Let the blog owner know that you have paid a visit, read the post, and found it thought provoking enough to require a comment. From little things like comments, blogging relationships can be formed.
E-mail provides another way to express your thoughts on a blogger's work. Like Vikk Simmons' delightful e-mail, a fan letter to a blogger can work wonders for everyone. The sender has expressed appreciation for the time and effort taken by the writer to provide an interesting an informative post. The blogger is pleased to discover that the work of posting has helped, informed, or entertained someone else.
Linking to favourite posts, on your regular blog reads, is another way to share your appreciation of the blogger and the resulting blog. Not only does the linked blogger discover that postings are being read, they are also being shared with others. More readers exchanged between two or more bloggers helps everyone; bloggers and readers alike.
Send a blogger a fan letter today.
Brighten a writer's day with your words of appreciation.
Originally posted on Blog Business World
