I haven't even confessed to Robin yet-- well, until now, that against my better judgement, I went ahead and agreed to a particular school visit as part of my pre-launch plan that we both agreed was pushing the limits for this card-carrying introvert.
Remember the Comfort Level Inventory she presented to help us decide what marketing activities work best for us? The categories were:
FEELS COMFORTABLE
COULD GET USED TO IT
DEFINITELY UNCOMFORTABLE
COLD DAY IN HELL
Then she gave us a long list of activities to consider in the development of our marketing plan. Things like radio interviews, internet interviews, television, postcard mailing, press releases, teaching, message boards, book signings, school classroom visits, school ASSEMBLY visits-- (sound of me choking on that last one). We were to assign the various activities to the categories above. She gave us permission to stay in Feels Comfortable and Could Get Used To It. She's nice that way.
I do a lot of public speaking in my work and while I still get clammy pits, once I get going, I usually enjoy it. I love teaching, especially adults. The only activity that hit the COLD DAY IN HELL was talking to an Assembly of the wee ones.
So, it follows that I went ahead and agreed to do this. Wha-a-a-t?? To very, very many children. Of very, very many ages. (And, just in case their principal is reading this-- Oh, hi! I can't wait! Wheee! It is going to be so much fun! And, um, could you please stop reading now and go to an urgent meeting or something?)
Help! This is a classic example of me trying to be paisley when you'd think I'd learned by now that I'm polka-dotted. Both sides, top and bottom, too. I might as well stick a high voltage energy-sucking cable right to my brain and throw the switch to Total Melt-down Mode.
Stand back, friends, I'm buzzing through a few fingernails here. Hold on while I go get a brown paper bag to help me breathe.
Okay, better. Actually breathing now. Big sigh. You know, I have a wise friend that says "Don't anticipate pain." Same could be said, I suppose, for all sort of things we dread. Don't anticipate chaos, or mayhem, or failure. I've got to stay in present. Hey, maybe by the time the date rolls around, I'll be in jail or something, and I'll have a really good excuse for not showing up. I could just get lucky.
Before I forget, don't forget to vote on whether you like Ms. Viola's *new* look, or like the pre-makeover version. She's waiting, desperate to hear from you. Email me your vote and you'll be entered in the drawing to win a great marketing book called Plug Your Book! by Steve Weber. Last day you can enter is this Thursday, January 31st.
Back to work on Marketing Plan for now. Adding a note on Assembly Day entry to take books, postcards and several brown paper bags.
Later, friends,
Mary
new posts in all blogs
By: Mary Hershey,
on 1/28/2008
Blog: Shrinking Violet Promotions (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Plug your Book: Online Marketing for Authors, comfort level inventory, marketing, comfort level inventory, Plug your Book: Online Marketing for Authors, Add a tag
By: Robin LaFevers,
on 1/24/2008
Blog: Shrinking Violet Promotions (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: facebook, comfort level inventory, marketing tasks, marketing tasks, comfort level inventory, Add a tag
And lastly, back to our discussion of Facebook. Right after Mary and Miss Vi and I were talking about Facebook, another author I'm on a listserv with posted a very detailed explanation of the ins and outs of Facebook as a tool for authors. With her permission, I am reposting it here.
One of the great perspectives Robyn Schneider brings to this discussion is that in addition to being the author of two YA books, Better Than Yesterday and The Social Climber's Guide to High School, she is also a college student, which is the exact demographic that Facebook was designed for, so she brings a terrific dual perspective to this discussion.
Facebook: A Guide for Authors by Robyn Schneider
I've been getting a steady stream of friends requests lately from authors. I know there have been some discussions on here about "I just got a Facebook! Now what do I do with it?" and "How do I promote my books on Facebook?" so, as a long-time Facebook user (since my sophomore year of college), I thought I'd share some info:
What are the differences between Myspace and Facebook? Basically, Myspace is an open network--you can view mostly anyone's profile, click to see who their friends are, leave comments on someone's wall who you aren't already friends with, join discussions, add people you don't know. Myspace is a place to connect with friends, but it's also a place to meet people you don't know in real life. You don't put personal information, such as full names, class schedules, addresses, phone numbers, on Myspace. It's like a blog--public.
Facebook is a closed network--most student-age users have profiles that are private, or only viewable by people in their school or hometown networks. Because of this, the site is used mostly for keeping in touch with old friends, for sharing photos with friends, for keeping tabs on your friends and classmates, and for daily communication with friends. You cannot leave a comment on someone's page, or most likely even view it, if you aren't already friends. Facebook is not a place where most teens are receptive to "friending" people they don't know, especially adults. Because of the fact that profiles are private except to their friends and network, most students have loads of personal info up: phone numbers, dorm or home addresses, their class schedule, photos they don't want their parents to see. And, MOST IMPORTANTLY, first and last names. You know how myspace profiles can be under internet handles like BookWritur21? Well, Facebook profiles are firsty-lasty plus either home town or school name. Why should a teen allow an unknown adult access to this information? Some teens don't care about having their stuff out there, and will be okay if you request them as a friend, but some do care, and won't.
I know a lot of authors are getting sick of promoting on Myspace because the site is so spammed these days, but most students don't want to be spammed on Facebook--and there's rarely even an opportunity to do so.
Say you want to let teens know about your new book on Facebook--how would you do it? One way is to join open-network groups for teen books and talk about your stuff. Another is to search for teens with certain interests or certain iRead books, and then, without being able to view their profiles, request that they add you as a friend--maybe send a private message first? The second option is where it gets sticky, because if the teen does add you as a friend, you have access to everything on their page that wasn't made public for a reason. Of course, there is a way to friend someone so they can only see a limited version of your profile, but that requires manual settings of what's limited and if you forget to tick the box for limited viewing, as I have on occasion, you've just given a complete stranger your life story. Crap.
So how do I use the two sites? I keep a Myspace profile that's 100% promoting my books. Links to amazon, jacket copy, blurbs, the works. It's like an extra page of my website, nothing that isn't already out there on the web. Teens can friend me without being afraid that I'll know where they go to school or what face they make when they do a shot of tequila at parties. Very few of my "real life" friends are friends of mine of Myspace. I use the site strictly for promotion and connecting with teens publicly.
But I also have Facebook. I'm on a closed network for my college, and although the profile is "clean" enough that I wouldn't be embarrassed if a future employer took a browse, it's also very much filled with private information. Photos of myself and my family. And worse, my wall of comments from friends. Things like, "Are we still on for coffee today at 3PM, the 110th
street Starbucks?" Because, most students don't email each other anymore--they send private messages or wall posts on Facebook, which can be forwarded automatically to their email inbox.
When authors who I don't know "friend" me on Facebook, I add them if I've heard their name before in the blogosphere, because I don't want to be rude, but I also wonder why they're adding me. What's the point? Do they want to go through my photo albums every week?
I'm easy to contact via my website or blog. I doubt they have such a burning desire to challenge me to a game of online scrabble.
However, I love it when teens find and friend me on Facebook. It's so cool. They've already read my books and want to connect. And even though I totally shouldn't let them see all my personal stuff, you can view the profile of anyone who requests to friend you before you make a decision to friend them back. So if they look okay, it's limited profile viewing time for them. I leave a message on their wall saying hey, and that's that.
So what do I recommend? If you want to have a Facebook profile to connect with people who already know you exist--including readers--go for it. But also know that a lot of people prefer Facebook to Myspace so they can avoid self-promoters. And know that if a kid turns down your friend request, it's probably because you might be a friend of their Mom's who can now keep tabs on their private profile, or because, you know, they learned the lesson well not to
let strangers see their business. I can't imagine how you'd get an overwhelmingly positive result trying to promote yourself on Facebook, but if you can prove me wrong, go for it! And then, um, would you mind letting me know how you did it? Because, I have a paperback coming out this August...
Thanks you, Robyn!
.jpg?picon=418)
By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 10/24/2007
Blog: BookEnds, LLC - A Literary Agency (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: rejections, author beware, Add a tag
Can you imagine!?
Jessica
By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 7/13/2007
Blog: BookEnds, LLC - A Literary Agency (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: rejection, author beware, Add a tag
—Jessica
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: comfort level inventory, Most Recent at Top [Help]
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By: Mary Hershey,
on 1/28/2008
Blog: Shrinking Violet Promotions (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Plug your Book: Online Marketing for Authors, comfort level inventory, marketing, comfort level inventory, Plug your Book: Online Marketing for Authors, Add a tag
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By: Robin LaFevers,
on 1/24/2008
Blog: Shrinking Violet Promotions (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: facebook, comfort level inventory, marketing tasks, marketing tasks, comfort level inventory, Add a tag
Does the calendar picture look familiar? It should. It's going to be the visual equivalent of Alert! Marketing Tasks Ahead!
So, there are a few other marketing tasks I want to talk about, only because they involve creating or becoming a part of a supportive community, which also involves a long head start time.
- Visit your local independent bookstore and introduce yourself. Or, if that’s too hard, just visit the store and try to visit it regularly enough so that you become familiar to them. Basically, become a regular.
- Consider joining online forums or lists or communities. With one huge caveat: Only do this if you are truly interested in what those forums or communities have to offer. There is nothing worse than a drive by marketing plug on a list serv, and that will only get you banned or booed. But sometimes the publication of our first book can be a good time to step out into the world and make new connections. But again, you want to do it well before your pub date so it’s clear that your intentions are to become a contributing member of the group, not just a fly by marketeer.
And lastly, back to our discussion of Facebook. Right after Mary and Miss Vi and I were talking about Facebook, another author I'm on a listserv with posted a very detailed explanation of the ins and outs of Facebook as a tool for authors. With her permission, I am reposting it here.
One of the great perspectives Robyn Schneider brings to this discussion is that in addition to being the author of two YA books, Better Than Yesterday and The Social Climber's Guide to High School, she is also a college student, which is the exact demographic that Facebook was designed for, so she brings a terrific dual perspective to this discussion.
Facebook: A Guide for Authors by Robyn Schneider
I've been getting a steady stream of friends requests lately from authors. I know there have been some discussions on here about "I just got a Facebook! Now what do I do with it?" and "How do I promote my books on Facebook?" so, as a long-time Facebook user (since my sophomore year of college), I thought I'd share some info:
What are the differences between Myspace and Facebook? Basically, Myspace is an open network--you can view mostly anyone's profile, click to see who their friends are, leave comments on someone's wall who you aren't already friends with, join discussions, add people you don't know. Myspace is a place to connect with friends, but it's also a place to meet people you don't know in real life. You don't put personal information, such as full names, class schedules, addresses, phone numbers, on Myspace. It's like a blog--public.
Facebook is a closed network--most student-age users have profiles that are private, or only viewable by people in their school or hometown networks. Because of this, the site is used mostly for keeping in touch with old friends, for sharing photos with friends, for keeping tabs on your friends and classmates, and for daily communication with friends. You cannot leave a comment on someone's page, or most likely even view it, if you aren't already friends. Facebook is not a place where most teens are receptive to "friending" people they don't know, especially adults. Because of the fact that profiles are private except to their friends and network, most students have loads of personal info up: phone numbers, dorm or home addresses, their class schedule, photos they don't want their parents to see. And, MOST IMPORTANTLY, first and last names. You know how myspace profiles can be under internet handles like BookWritur21? Well, Facebook profiles are firsty-lasty plus either home town or school name. Why should a teen allow an unknown adult access to this information? Some teens don't care about having their stuff out there, and will be okay if you request them as a friend, but some do care, and won't.
I know a lot of authors are getting sick of promoting on Myspace because the site is so spammed these days, but most students don't want to be spammed on Facebook--and there's rarely even an opportunity to do so.
Say you want to let teens know about your new book on Facebook--how would you do it? One way is to join open-network groups for teen books and talk about your stuff. Another is to search for teens with certain interests or certain iRead books, and then, without being able to view their profiles, request that they add you as a friend--maybe send a private message first? The second option is where it gets sticky, because if the teen does add you as a friend, you have access to everything on their page that wasn't made public for a reason. Of course, there is a way to friend someone so they can only see a limited version of your profile, but that requires manual settings of what's limited and if you forget to tick the box for limited viewing, as I have on occasion, you've just given a complete stranger your life story. Crap.
So how do I use the two sites? I keep a Myspace profile that's 100% promoting my books. Links to amazon, jacket copy, blurbs, the works. It's like an extra page of my website, nothing that isn't already out there on the web. Teens can friend me without being afraid that I'll know where they go to school or what face they make when they do a shot of tequila at parties. Very few of my "real life" friends are friends of mine of Myspace. I use the site strictly for promotion and connecting with teens publicly.
But I also have Facebook. I'm on a closed network for my college, and although the profile is "clean" enough that I wouldn't be embarrassed if a future employer took a browse, it's also very much filled with private information. Photos of myself and my family. And worse, my wall of comments from friends. Things like, "Are we still on for coffee today at 3PM, the 110th
street Starbucks?" Because, most students don't email each other anymore--they send private messages or wall posts on Facebook, which can be forwarded automatically to their email inbox.
When authors who I don't know "friend" me on Facebook, I add them if I've heard their name before in the blogosphere, because I don't want to be rude, but I also wonder why they're adding me. What's the point? Do they want to go through my photo albums every week?
I'm easy to contact via my website or blog. I doubt they have such a burning desire to challenge me to a game of online scrabble.
However, I love it when teens find and friend me on Facebook. It's so cool. They've already read my books and want to connect. And even though I totally shouldn't let them see all my personal stuff, you can view the profile of anyone who requests to friend you before you make a decision to friend them back. So if they look okay, it's limited profile viewing time for them. I leave a message on their wall saying hey, and that's that.
So what do I recommend? If you want to have a Facebook profile to connect with people who already know you exist--including readers--go for it. But also know that a lot of people prefer Facebook to Myspace so they can avoid self-promoters. And know that if a kid turns down your friend request, it's probably because you might be a friend of their Mom's who can now keep tabs on their private profile, or because, you know, they learned the lesson well not to
let strangers see their business. I can't imagine how you'd get an overwhelmingly positive result trying to promote yourself on Facebook, but if you can prove me wrong, go for it! And then, um, would you mind letting me know how you did it? Because, I have a paperback coming out this August...
Thanks you, Robyn!
0 Comments on More Marketing Tasks & Facebook as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 10/24/2007
Blog: BookEnds, LLC - A Literary Agency (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: rejections, author beware, Add a tag
As many of you know I have a thick stack of “author beware letters.” These are letters and emails I’ve received over the years from authors clearly unhappy with comments they’ve received from me or work I’ve done for them. This one might be one of my all-time favorites and is in response to our quarterly newsletter.
Dear BookEnds:
Please remove me from your email list. I just recieved a rejection letter from one of your agents, Jessica Faust, that horrified me. She took my already used and cancelled stamped envelope and returned her rejection letter to me in it! Not only is this cheap and unprofessional behavior it is unlawful, i.e., she scammed the US Postal Service. Additionally, I had forwarded to Jessica, 2 if not 3, return addressed and stamped envelopes. I suppose she steamed the stamps off them and used them for her own use.
It is my good fortunate to have not enjoyed the acceptance of my manuscript by your firm. Please let Jessica know that her comments to me were cheap editorialism and, although not without merit, not extremely important to me. All stories are part narrative and part first person involvement.
Can you imagine!?
Jessica
38 Comments on Author Beware: Nothing But Cheap Editorialism, last added: 10/26/2007
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By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 7/13/2007
Blog: BookEnds, LLC - A Literary Agency (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: rejection, author beware, Add a tag
Received in response to a rejection letter. This goes into the category of “oh, brother . . .”
. . . the difference between the multitudinous, plethora of publishers that will never be Simon & Shuster, Doubleday, Bantam, Alfred A. Knopf, Vantage, Random House or the like is that all the fore mentioned have in the genesis of the history of their company a number of stories where they took something that was very obscure and obtuse from a relative unknown or completely unknown and unproven entity; put some work into developing and marketing it, took a risk and ultimately ended up being the largest publishing houses on the planet. Many of the newer smaller publishers that advertise of “Writers Market” basically want something for nothing; they want proven established authors writing “commercial crapola” for the consumption of the Philistine farm animal masses. Your company for example in my looking over the selections of your catalogue has not an inkling, iota or modicum of anything remotely resembling something with an avant-garde idea, original thought, envelope pushing premise or anything even close to something “outside the box”.
A great philosopher once said (I think it was me)
“mediocrity is a consolation prize given to those hapless and fearful who will not take a chance, depart from security or forsake a comfort level”
“If the quills fit wear them”
—Jessica
27 Comments on Author Beware, last added: 7/16/2007
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Is it even possible to steam off pre-sticky stamps and reuse them?
Okay, look for the bill for my new keyboard in the mail, Jessica. This one made me spill my coffee all over my old one. LOL.
Faye
I picture Jessica standing over the tea kettle with each book proposal steaming off our little stamps! hhahahaha! Thats hysterical! lol.
As for getting comments from an agent...PLEASE! send me your comments! Maybe I'll figure out how to make my book better.
I've submitted a couple of proposals to Bookends and gotten rejections...but I never checked the stamps!
sorry....laughing to hard to type right now....
Hmm....
LOL. So BookEnds is just a scam. They are in the business of stealing stamps not selling books. :-)
Oh, Jessica, I'm sorry I'm laughing, but you know sometimes you just have to laugh.
Thanks for the chuckle.
CC
This is a very tedious way to earn a living....collecting cans and bottles might be easier!
Steam off stamps? Don't be silly. Everyone knows you freeze them off.
Why was she sending two or three SASEs?
It's all crazy. But that sticks out as Special Crazy to me.
Wow. All I can say to that is....wow.
You must have struck a nerve with your comments.
Gives new meaning to the words "Going Postal" doesn't it?
I'm so tired I had to read that three times before it made any sense whatsoever. Wait...it still doesn't make sense! Maybe I need to take this piece of mail and stand over my teakettle trying to steam the stamp off and it will make more sense...
Hmmm... 2 or 3 SASEs? Ah well, it makes about as much sense as any other portion of the writer's rant.
Who knew agents spent so much time steaming off stamps? What a whack job (the writer).
I knew you guys were too good to be true. Here I always felt I was with a topnotch, dedicated agent who had my best interests at heart (and whose comments on my work are always insightful), and it turns out I'm being represented by a stamp scammer. Oh, the shame!
Luckily, I'm laughing too hard to worry about anyone's reputation.
Gobsmacked.
That's what I feel.
And you must have felt.
I am always amazed by people who truly live in their own world. Is it lonely there?
cmr
Cuckoo for frickin' Cocoa Puffs.
Good Lord and little fishes.
I just want to point out that the post office does offer first class stamps that are still valid even after postal rate changes. Just stick those on your SASEs and all is good.
I'm choosing not to comment on the person who wrote this letter.
I will say, I have always expected an agent to operate in a manner that creates less work for herself. That means she will grab the envelope attached to the entry, send a rejection, and not think about it again. And if random new envelopes show up, she'll just toss them without thinking about it.
So don't get your knickers in a twist about stamps.
Chessie
So strange, so strange.
For a few months, I worked at an office that compiled mailing lists. We routinely cut return addresses off of envelopes and scotch taped them to new envelopes. They also had a method to slit the side of the envelope and reuse it for return mail. It was disgusting, and cheap, but effective.
"It is my good fortunate..."
Um, did she read her email before she sent it? Because if that's any indication of her manuscript...
This is too funny!!! Well I guess you won't be representing this writer.
"It is my good fortunate to have not enjoyed the acceptance of my manuscript by your firm."
I think you are the one who's fortunate, Jessica. Having a client like this could have created an endless round of gin drinking and hair fires.
Writers must be masochists at heart bec ause we send our most prized works that we have been slaving over for weeks, months, years, and then we send it out to the world for complete strangers to tear it to sheds. It's called criticism. Nobody likes to hear that their work is flawed.
I feel empathy for that blogger that they should feel so hurt and outraged that they should make a complete fool of themself in this manner.
I am not a left-wingnut, bleeding heart....I am just a person with a heart. Unfortunately there are few literary agencies out there that are as open with their comments and allow us (the writer) a forum to express our ideas, questions, disapointments. Thank you Jessica for giving us, (the unpublished) a place to vent.
Stamp thieves! *shakes fist*
New York is full of 'em. I just use Superglue.
Lingering in my mind is this image of Jessica sitting in her office. All around her--on the walls, file cabinets, desk, phone, lamps--are teensy bits of paper. A closer look reveals the bright squares with the ragged edges are stamps. Jessica sits surrounded by thousands of steamed-off stamps, laughing with maniacal glee.
Mu-haw-haw-haw!!
Little does the world know, this is the wiley agent's true secret of success...
--Chiron O'Keefe
Wow, a literary agency scamming the US Post Office like that! How unprofessional! How dastardly! How ...
... what's the word I'm looking for ...
Oh yes, how utterly impossible!
Maybe I'm just a Miami kid, but somehow anything under about a dollar doesn't quite count as a "scam". Perhaps a "scamette"?
"although not without merit, not extremely important to me."
I don't understand this thought process. If the comments had merit wouldn't you think they'd be important?
I guess this reaction is why "not right for me", and, "I'm going to pass on this", came into existence.
you can't scam me if i send my query via email, right? whew. just in case, i'll warn you, jessica - i'm very well connected with the upper levels of the minneapolis postal system : )
Clearly she doesn't realize that many of us would PAY to have a reputable agent provide editorial comment! Maybe the sheer number of form rejections fried her poor mind and made her think agents don't do that? ;)
lol--sorry--it's late in the post. But I had to laugh. STOP stealing stamps!!!!
And then, after the righteous indignation wears off, the steamed stamp diatribe winds down...the disappointment, if not humiliation...hopefully not to be borne alone.
Writers beware: Go to your writers' group and get the support that you need, so you don't end up rubbing salt into your own wounded ego, lashing out about steamed stamps and "cheap editorialism."
Re: "Jessica sits surrounded by thousands of steamed-off stamps"
A claustrophobic nightmare, perfect for a Halloween story - "The Stamp Witch."
I am with the anonymous who wrote that she could hear that author's pain. I am quite literate, but have been embarrassed to later read what I earlier wrote when anxious or stressed. I guess that what I really want to say is that a crap writer has the same feelings as a good writer. Fear of rejection. And she got it big time in a tatty old envelope. Let me know where I can send you some money to buy new envelopes to send rejections to authors. People like myself, who are new to this writing business, feel at a huge disadvantage to people like agents and publishers who seem to wield such power.
I still love your blog, but not this particular post.
You know you did it.
Boy did that author sound steamed!
(Sorry, couldn't resist)
*head shake and a half*
Actually, the self-stick stamps can be peeled off if you're careful. I don't bother to steam/soak them off anymore. (I'm a canceled stamp collector.)
I suppose I ought to feel sorry for the rejected writer, but I just can't. I feel like giving them a lecture about "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." I'm published in non-fiction, so I occasionally get requests through friends about relatives that would love for me to critique their book. Normally, I find a way to pass, but I decided to critique this one lady's fantasy novella because the characters were good even if the writing needed work. I was careful to point out what was good as well as some things that could be done to improve things (and why it would imporve things). I put a lot of time and effort on it. I got this scathing e-mail in reply saying that I was going out of my way to tear her down because I was afraid of the competition and that only a few pieces of my advice were remotely useful, but she supposed that was because I only spent a few minute in writing the critique. U-huh. But that hurt. I'm never critiquing a newbie again, talented or not. Thus, my desire to shake this writer for his/her reaction to Jessica's critique. If you don't like someone's critique, go burn the thing and mop about it with your best friend. Don't ruin it for the rest of us.
Jessica,
Can I bribe you with stamps? I have them from all over the world and I'll enclose them with my next submission if only you would give me some "cheap editorialism"! I could slip them in stratigic places in my manuscript so you'll get a surprize at every page you turn....
Sorry....still laughing at the thought of you steaming off those stamps.
:)
ok, i'll stop now.
Keep dishing out that cheap editorialism! There are those of us who would deeply appreciate any comments you'd care to make.
Well, in response to the last anonymous poster, I will say this.
The author emailed this letter to the COMPANY, basically trashing the agents name to her bosses.
Then, she accused the agent of unprofessional AND illegal behavior (laughable possibly, but still ugly)
This may not be your favorite post but it points out something that newer authors can take note.
Restraint of tongue and pen. And email.
This saves future authors from saying things that may bite them later.
Just sayin'
Oh goodness. Maybe at the bottom of future rejection letters, there should be a disclaimer that all disparaging responses to said rejection will be immediately thrown into the inferno that your minions keep lit for that purpose. And hey, that inferno could be used to steam off stamps!
I understand you may not remember this particular person, but I'm so confused. Did she not send a SASE and someone just stuck her letter in the old envelope and send it back? I've got rejection letters from many people, inlcuding this agency, and never once got it in an old envelope. This whole thing just sounds wierd.
Hey Jessica,
First time on your sight and I'm in stitches. Anyone who has been writing for a while can tell you stories about whackos like this amid peer groups, but to act in this unprofessional manner about feedback from BookEnds? Hello!? We writers are lucky to get anything but a form rejection letter with a, "thanks, try us again." Please allow me to say thank you for taking the time to give feedback. We NEED feedback! We WANT it! How else would we improve our writing? Heck, I might even send you a book of stamps to show my appreciation of your contribution toward the betterment of our efforts.
Janelle
You know-- I never look at the stamps. Are you re-using my stamps, too? GASP. HORROR.
Seriously- this is exactly why when I get irritated about something (no matter what or who it is about) I force myself to get up and leave my computer before I do something foolish.
All I can really say about the author of that email is.. "Bless her heart".