Grrr Just Fucking Say 'Thank You!'

I started out as a reader of fanfiction and if I was really impressed by a story that I was reading I would take a few minutes to write a review to tell the author what I enjoyed. I just thought that since they had taken the time and spent the effort writing for me, that I could certainly spare a few minutes to let them know what I enjoyed about their offering. Sometimes it was a comment about how funny the character was, or that I agreed with a character's reaction to a plot point, sometimes it was just to acknowledge how well written the story was.

If I started reading a story and it wasn't my cup 'o tea, then I stopped reading and moved on to one that was. I do not flame authors because I may not agree with a plot point or character behaviour/development etc. I just move on. I know that sometimes I get pissed when reading and I so don't agree with the direction of the story. I yell at my laptop and assert 'Edward is being a fucking douche', 'Bella is a complete cunt!', 'Bella is being totes uber-stupid' or 'Jesus Christ if I read another story where DiNozzo gets kidnapped and raped I am gonna lose my fucking mind!', but I just walk away from those stories and take em off alert and find something that really catches my attention and is worthy of my time.

When I started writing and publishing my own shit I realized how completely awesome and awe-inspiring it it is to receive reviews. That made me feel even better for all those times when I had taken a few minutes to show other authors some love by writing a review. It is not easy taking that first step and publishing something that you created. You know that it won't be for everyone, but you hope that someone reading it will get where you were coming from and will care about the characters and the story in the same way you do and take the time to let you know. When I got my first review (it happened to be a positive, complimentary one) I hollered and cheered like a loon; I scared the shit out of the GF and the DD (Dear Dog). It felt good. We all as authors say that we do not need validation; that my friends is Bull to the shit! It's the validation from our readers that spurs us to get the next chappy written and uploaded rapidement!

When I receive a review, I always take a minute to reply to thank the reviewer - it is basic fucking courtesy! It is me expressing my appreciation for them taking the time to tell me that they enjoyed what I created. I have been very lucky that this gesture has led to back and forths between me and the reviewer that have led to some good friendships on the multiple sites dedicated to fanfiction with my DBTN nom de plume as well as other pen names I write under.

The one thing that I absolutely abhor is when an author does not take the time to reply to a review. Seriously, one of my fave fanfic authors came up with a brilliant way of handling the overwhelming number of reviews that he (he writes as a woman but he's really a guy and I love it that NO ONE has figured it out!) was getting. He dedicates one hour every night to answering reviews. He has a word document where he has canned responses already typed up and he copies and pastes a reply to a review. If it's one of those reviews that's 'Plz update soon...I loooooove this story!', he's got a reply that says simply, 'Update coming soon! :-) '. If it's a review saying that the reader enjoyed the chapter update, he's got one that says, 'Thanks so much for reading and reviewing, I'm happy that you are enjoying the story' - incidentally that is the one I came up with and use and he liked it so he totes plaged it! When it's a flame or a negative review then he's got one that says 'Thanks for taking the time for letting me know how you feel about my story.' Sometimes you get a review that is outside these scenarios and that's where he spends the time to actually free-form that response. Those are the ones that take the most time; the ones that you can tell the review put a lot of though and effort into the review.

I know that you're gonna say, well that's fine when you only receive a few reviews a day, what about those authors who received hundreds?'. That's a good point, then you go with the bucket response and Ctrl+P 'Thanks for the review!'. People will prefer this generic form letter type response than feeling as though their review was not even acknowledged.

I respect the authors who will come out in the A/N of the subsequent chapter and do a mass thank you to all who reviewed because they received hundreds of reviews and even though they tried to respond to as many as possible they couldn't reply to everybody. But the thing that gets me is the authors that DO NOT EVER RESPOND TO REVIEWS, BUT HAVE THE FUCKING AUDACITY TO BEG ME TO REVIEW THE CHAPTER!!!! Oh that fucking burns me when I see their little A/N at the bottom of the chapter...'reviews are love!' and begging me to review. Fuck You, I won't do it! Those authors do not deserve it! These are the same authors that spend ALL FUCKING DAY TWEETING INANELY WHEN THEY COULD BE USING THE TIME TO RESPOND TO REVIEWS! You know who I'm talking about! The same authors that HATE-TWEET WHEN THEY RECEIVE A LESS THAN PERFECT DEVOTIONAL REVIEW! Uggghhh....they make me burn with that shit.

They fail to realize that when you show your appreciation to a reviewer, that person will more than likely be more inclined to review subsequent chapters and stories; in short you get a reviewer for life.

I have a few authors that I follow religiously who I take the time to review their work because it's so fucking good! They always take the time to respond. It may not be the same day or the next, but I ALWAYS GET RESPONSES FROM THEM WITHIN THREE DAYS OF MY REVIEW. Basic fucking courtesy! They've got me; I'm a reviewer for life. I've got them on my Favorite Author List, their stories are favorited and alerted and hell yeah I have them on Author Alert too!

Over the last few months I have really become jaded by the blatant lack of courtesy in the fanfic world. The self-important, holier-than-thou and self-entitled attitudes are reprehensible and disgusting, but I chose to write at my own pace and only read the authors work who I truly enjoy.

I was searching through the NCIS archives and found some amazing stories from 2 to 3 years ago and I enjoyed them so much I reviewed them. The author responded a few days later thanking me for my review and said that she didn't even realize that people were still reading her stories and she thanked me for even taking the time to review, that it made her day. Ah, a symbiotic relationship - She created a story hoping that it would potentially be enjoyed by a reader. A reader enjoyed it and reviewed it to let the author know that it was a well written, thought provoking, funny etc. story. The author reads the review and is thrilled with the fact that a reader enjoyed her work. The author then responds to the review and tells the reader that they appreciated the review.

C'Mon folks, how fucking hard would it be to click on the reply url, type a few words (or Ctrl+P your canned response) and then hit submit? I can bet it's a helluva lot shorter than the time it took your reader to come up with that review that made you smile all day today.

Do the right thing authors; Just Fucking Say 'Thank You!'

Dazz