Fan Mail by Dianne K. Salerni

Every year, I have my students research a favorite author. Often, while exploring an author’s website, a student will decide to contact the author, and over the years my students have been thrilled when they get a response. Three years ago, Katie Alender answered a lengthy list of questions for one of my students in a 3 page email. And that same year, another student got a brief response from Rick Riordan thanking him for his fan letter and mentioning that he was working on a new series.

This year, not a single student in my class received a response from an author, and Rick Riordan’s website states that, due to his busy writing schedule, Rick is unable to respond to any fan mail. He will not respond to emails, Tweets, Facebook messages, or paper and pencil letters.

I get it. When you think how many thousands of kids must try to contact Rick Riordan per month, it’s easy to see how it would be impossible to respond to them all. The fact that he was still responding to fan mail three years ago demonstrates that he’s not unwilling to reach out to his readers. The statement on his website is probably literally true. He can’t find the time.

There is something very sad about the idea of becoming a blockbuster MG author and then being unable to respond to fan mail.

I’m certainly no Riordan, but with a full time job, a family, and a modest writing schedule of my own, there are times when I can’t keep up with the social media component of being an author. I cut back the number of times I blog per week, and while I try to respond to comments individually, there have been a few times recently when I looked at my in-box and just deleted all the comment notifications. Can’t handle it this week, I told myself. Maybe next week. Of course, my fellow bloggers understand this, I think. And blog comments are not the same as fan mail for your books. I always respond to those messages, but of course, I don't get thousands of them. 

(Nor hundreds. Can't even say scores.)

I imagine that successful children’s authors had their hands full with the old-fashioned type of fan mail – the kind that came in the mailbox. But social media has made authors more accessible than they ever were before, and young readers don’t need to break out paper, pencil, and a stamp to contact their favorite writer.  If you’re reading this blog, then you probably have the same dream I have: to become a wildly successful MG author. 

What happens when you achieve that dream and your in-box explodes with messages from your readers?

Let’s all take a moment to imagine it. You’ve hit the big time.

How would YOU handle the fan mail?