How I Use Your Comments

Or why I didn't answer your email.

The volume of mail I receive is such that if I reply to every comment and email, I become a professional reply-er rather than a writer. Time spent replying to every email is time not spent writing or spending time with my family. However, I still find your comments useful. Here is how:

If I received a thoughtful comment or email, I usually won’t reply to it directly. Thoughtful comments require thoughtful replies, and the time needed to type that out is about the time it takes to write an article. Instead, I’ll use my response to that email or comment to create an entire article.

I’ll also do this because sometimes multiple readers send will send comments that are variations on the same idea, and I can reply to a dozen different emails with one article. As much as possible, I’m trying to scale the work I do. If I reply to a lone email, one person has received a message. If I turn my thoughts into an article, then my entire audience can benefit from the interaction. Many articles are inspired by reader responses.

A thoughtful comment or reply can inspire a whole article, even if critical. Replies help me understand how people are responding to my writing. That said, the amount of messages I get means I can’t respond to all. Just know that if you’ve sent a message, I’m reading and using those responses, even if I don’t reply.