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It is completely not obvious at all from my previous post on this subject, but a large part of my annoyance comes not at the linking of what some people call one-shots, but rather when authors provide links between parts of multi-chapter stories on lj. This is the instance when I find not being linked by ?mode=reply the most obnoxious and annoying
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Uhm, no. I post simultaneously to lj and my website. If you are reading a story on LJ, you can comment in the same post you read from -- just like any other LJ story.
however, let's say you get to the story because some recced me using the permanent website url instead of the old LJ entry (which might be from months ago,) or you came to the story on the website on your own hunt. If you read a story on the website of someone who didn't have an LJ you'd likely have to send them an email right? all I've done is given you two ways to contact me and leave feedback, if you want.
and also honestly? I'd rather you didn't leave me feedback rather than make demands on you as a reader because you happen to be on LJ by formatting a reply to demand, that I wouldn't make of someone who isn't on LJ. I mean, there's a reason I don't have an automated form generator on my website even though they are ridiculously easy to install.
I dislike the sense of obligation that comes with an auto reply mode. I pretty much dislike the sense of obligation and entitlement in fandom in general.
If you read a story that you really like (let's put aside the ones we wouldn't comment on anyway) and your reading of that story and your enjoyment of it is shut down because I didn't use the ?mode=reply command which has nothing to do with how much you liked the story so that you can't be bothered to click a link to leave a comment, then okay. That's how you feel. Either way, I'm not going to know if you read it or not.
I think asking for feedback is perfectly acceptable. In a lot of ways, I think readers need to be constantly reminded that feedback is a great way to get more of what they want. I make it as convenient as I can for people to leave feedback. I'm not comfortable with ?mode=reply, so I don't use it.
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I was referring specifically to your website. I understood you to say that when you post the story on your website, you post a link at the bottom to a page on LJ with link text indicating that it is a method to post a comment, but this link is not ?mode=reply. So, after clicking on the link on your website, I get to the lj page and have to click again to post a comment. That's what I meant.
If you read a story that you really like (let's put aside the ones we wouldn't comment on anyway) and your reading of that story and your enjoyment of it is shut down because I didn't use the ?mode=reply command which has nothing to do with how much you liked the story so that you can't be bothered to click a link to leave a comment, then okay.
I didn't say that I now hate the story because the author has presented me with two links to leave a comment. I'm saying that I enjoyed the story enough to click once to leave a comment, but it is truly a rare story I find so moving that I'll click twice. My point is, if I'm clicking from your website to LJ to leave you a comment, I've made the affirmative step to show that I am interested in leaving you a comment. When an author presents me with the need to click again in order to leave that comment, I don't feel like they're all that interested in getting it.
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I get that. And I'm saying that my website is not set up primarily for LJ readers. It is set up for people who read from websites. In other words, it is likely that if you found my story via a rec on LJ as opposed to say from mediaminer or some other non-LJ source, the link you click will take you to the LJ entry, not the website. If you are reading my LJ for fic, then clicking on a cut tag will, in almost every case, take you to an LJ entry with the story.
and just reading this comment:
When an author presents me with the need to click again in order to leave that comment, I don't feel like they're all that interested in getting it.
Strikes me in exactly the same way as the kind of request for feedback you say you don't like, i.e. if you want me to finish this story leave me feedback only in this case, specifically vis a vis your comment, strikes me along the lines of "if you want me to leave you feedback you need to set up your website the way I want it to be set up or you are shit out of luck."
Which, okay, you can totally say that and mean it, and want it, but I'm not inclined to respond to that demand any more than I would if someone demanded that I write a pairing or in a fandom I didn't like. In which case, you're probably right. I'm not invested enough in wanting to get feedback from you in particular, than I am in providing a method and format that seems to appeal and work for the vast majority of people who read my stuff.
(And I totally get that you probably don't read my stuff currently -- because if we were actually in fandom together at the moment, I would be completely invested in writing something that witchqueen would like. But I still wouldn't use ?mode=reply. *g*)
You think it's more convenient. I think it's demanding and indicative of a sense of entitlement on a writer's part that I'm not willing to encourage or exhibit. And since in this case, I'm really the one that loses out (because I wouldn't get feedback from you) there's actually no leverage or even motivation to change it from my perspective. I now what I'm giving up, but I don't actually see what I'd be gaining since to alter it would bother me more than getting less feedback.
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I will totally click on one or two or even a few more simple little links to leave an LJ comment, though.
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