posted
Anybody else active over at critters? I know at one time there were several people over there, but that was a few years ago. I have a question on protocol and their board seemed dead last time I looked.
Are you supposed to e-mail the people who crit you and thank them? I haven't put up any of my own work yet, but I am planning to soon and don't want to go against etiquette. So far, I have gotten e-mail thanks on the majority of crits (5 now) that I did (did not get one on this scathing review I gave or the one that I really liked and wanted to know how it ended- it was the first 3 chapters so not supposed to be complete).
It seems like thanking people would not hurt, but I am putting my novel up with a RFDR (request for dedicated readers), so I wouldn't want people to feel like I was pressuring them.
[This message has been edited by sholar (edited January 28, 2010).]
posted
I am thinking about doing a chapter exchange. I kind of like that on critters, I can blow it off a few weeks, and then do a whole bunch of crits one week and be back in good standing. If I was doing a novel exchange, I would feel bad when I did that.
At least one of the thank yous I have received included a comment indicating that I could read and crit the rest of the novel, which was a bit off putting to me. Which is kind of what made me wonder what proper protocol was. Though I suppose, I would not put anything about it being an rfdr in the e-mail, which would eliminate that problem.
posted
I used to write a generic thank you template and then add something small to make it seem specific to each person I was thanking. One time I got 36 crits.
I would definitely thank everyone--even ignorant/rude critters.
posted
I've only ever critiqued on critters as I've not yet put up any of my own stories there (I'm a bit slack at the moment - I did an MVP and RFDR, got 30 or 40 critters points, so I can get away with one a month for a while now).
As a critiquer, I really appreciate it when I get a little acknowledgment to a critique. It makes me feel like the (often substantial) time I put into reading a story and then writing a lengthy critique was worthwhile to someone. The response I liked least was the one that tried to outline the author's religious beliefs, but hey, to each their own, and it wasn't that bad.
posted
I haven't been too active on critters lately, but when I was, I always liked getting a quick note of thanks from the people I critted. Esp. when I answered RFDF and did entire novel critiques, then I really appreciated knowing that the person appreciated my investment of time and brain power.
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posted
I usually sent a thanks when I was doing critters, even with the lady who wrote me and said after reading what I wrote she would pray for my soul.
So I've got that going for me.
But, as a general rule of thumb, it doesn't hurt to be courteous.
posted
I definitely would be thankful and want everyone who takes the time to feel thanked and appreciated. But I would not want to make anyone feel like, hey I did all this work for this person and now they are trying to make me do more. I suppose that I am a writer, so I should be able to craft a thank you note that does not make anyone feel that way. I just got a "thanks" that was very praising of me, with an end of if only you would agree to read the whole novel it would be so awesome. At that point, I would have preferred no thanks, since now I had to either write them back with a reason not to or ignore them (which felt rude). But it sounds like as long as I don't mention that they could read and crit the whole thing (lucky them), no one here would interpret a simple thanks as an attempt to pressure them into more.
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If I was doing a novel exchange, I would feel bad when I did that. 
