[Tlc Fanmail Zip
Eliora Shopbell
Can I just send fanmail to the authors of such papers? I know that academics rarely get appreciation that they deserve. I doubt that we have prospects for any real collaboration, so I don't have any immediate interest in sending such fanmail. But maybe I can write it in a way that will be more beneficial than just pleasing someone?
The professional academic math milieu does seem a bit "cold"... yes. True, there's no requirement of warm-and-fuzziness to be a math prof, but I myself do think that we toooo often forget/fail to tell people when we think their work/writing is amazing. I still do recall the few occasions when someone told me that some talk I gave was "stunning"... Sure, maybe I don't uniformly achieve that standard. :)
I do occasionally send email to people, some of whom I know, but by no means all, thanking them for writing something, and saying how much I enjoyed it. In some cases, people did respond, not only politely thanking me, but also saying that they had no idea what the reception of the paper/book was, since they'd heard back nothing at all. The feeling of "talking into the void"?!? That's a sad state.
TL;DR: Everybody likes it if one appreciates their work. As long as you write honestly, informatively, and without further agenda, this is welcome and helpful. Don't worry about making it useful beyond the personal appreciation.
Scientists do their work because they like it and/or feel the need to do science - they do not (and should not) expect thanks beyond citations, invitations to talks, tenure, i.e. collecting the usual experience points of the academic dungeons and dragons game which can be turned into tangible uplevelling.
If you write, don't be generic. Explain what in the paper was helpful, how, and why. State whether it was the writing of the paper, the organization of the material or whatever else that made it so useful to you.
The reason for that is that, not only does it show that you had a particular reason for praising the paper (rather than trying to ingratiate yourself), but it also helps the author understand what features of the paper were useful so that they can try and keep improving their future work (or keep doing it, at least) in that direction.
Additionally, note that they may have been criticized by a reviewer before for precisely those things that you liked about the paper (this happens more often than one would like; one reason why peer review is more often than not a lottery, especially in competitive venues); with only the reviewer's comment in mind they might be tempted in future not to write things this way - you would show them that there are readers that may actually profit from this style of presentation. While this does not resolve the authors' dilemma in what audience to write for, it gives them additional information to operate with in the future.
if your priority is to write about how much you enjoyed the paper, do this, but do not carry a secondary agenda beyond a friendly thanks/compliment/feedback to the author.If you primarily want a collaboration, write a mail suggesting initiating a conversation or collaboration, only citing the paper as an inspiration for you to initiate this contact. That's fine. What's not recommended is to write effusively about the "great paper" only to insert some possibility of future collaboration. This looks weird and, to be honest, sycophantic [here I agree with Buffy], if not creepily indirect.Your mail should reflect what you want. Don't mix agendas.
Don't bother thinking about how to make the letter formally valuable. If you are not in an academically advanced position to write a reference to the author, you probably don't have the clout to do so, anyway - and that's not a bad thing, you'll have to do enough of these at some point, anyway. By feeding back that you enjoyed the paper, and why, you have done your part to help the author continue to do good work. And, in the end, that's what really counts.
[Thanks to Bryan Krause for this one:] do not expect a response. You may receive one, but should understand from the outset that your mail is likely to be a one-sided communication, at least on the immediate level. If you did your due diligence in highlighting what you liked about the work, you still have done your best in making the day nicer to the author of the paper and signalling what achievements you'd enjoy seeing repeated in the future.
My first reaction is that it makes you seem like a sycophant (A person who attempts to gain advantage by flattering influential people or behaving in a servile manner: Webster). Especially since you mention "useful" and beneficial. This isn't Twitter (or its successor).
Speaking as a nobody (a grad student, and not a very good one at that) who has gotten some "fanmail" in the past (one from a StackExchange user who was particularly grateful for a comment I left, one from a professor (who happens to also browse AcademiaSE fairly often...), some from friends), all of which I have saved away as treasures, I think that writing some kind words to someone to indicate that you sincerely appreciate some work of theirs (especially if you point out particular aspects that stand out to you!) would mean the world to them.
Perhaps for more senior and/or eminent members of the community, such fawning would truly be "noise", since it could be that they have already received enough of it in their life that they just don't want any more; but for more junior researchers who are just getting started, or even students, your "fanmail" may very well be the only positive affirmation they ever receive about something that "cost" them a great deal of blood sweat and tears.
Also, I would advise you not to expect anything in return, though people are probably often polite enough to send a thank-you message in return. Some people may not know how to respond to praise, and/or have anxiety over responding awkwardly (especially in the situation of a more senior researcher writing "fanmail" to a more junior researcher), so try not take it personally if you don't get any reply, or the reply takes a long time. (There are of course infinitely many other reasons someone may not respond to a "fanmail"; in any case, try not to take it personally.)
I doubt if you read any particularly lucid published papers - clear research papers are not something that are usually submitted for publication owing to the space limits. Nor are they encouraged by those editors reviewing the papers. But if you have found some and they are in your own field of interest, praise the Lord, La Olam.
I think it far more likely that your much-appreciated writings would be in a text on the topic: the author has much more latitude spacewise and in regard to how they express things in a text - and most technical publishers' editors seldom interfere with a good draft.
Yes, getting a brief, measured and calm note of appreciation from a colleague is nice for those who have the gift or the determination to produce a well-written paper or text chapter. (Naturally text authors would also love to hear you say that you are recommending their work as reading material for an undergrad course you are giving . . .)
More useful would be an appreciation note with perhaps one or two suggestions. The latter need not be w.r.t. the writing but maybe on content, e.g. applications that the author may be unaware of or diagrams/photos/tables/schema that might get a concept across quicker to readers than via words.
One last thing is a certain "thought experiment" that many of us should conduct before we do something we haven't done before and we're not sure how the other party will receive it. Imagine your scenario of writing a note of appreciation for a well-written paper/book to a professor was a first scene in a TV movie . . . Now, how do you imagine the rest of the movie-story is going to pan out ?
How do I send fanmail to a mangaka?2020/5/5 08:34 Hi, I've always wanted to send a fanletter to Hirohiko Araki. Some people said we had to send the fanmail to Shueisha but I am afraid it may be rude, and I don't know if it would be appropriate to write in English (I don't know Japanese), assuming someone there knows English. So I'd like to know if any of you had already done this or if you think it would be a bad idea sending any fanmail to Shueisha for Hirohiko Araki, if it's possible to send letters to him, how should I do it? thank youby Mariah Carey (guest)
Re: How do I send fanmail to a mangaka?2020/5/5 12:49 It's quite normal and acceptable to send a fan letter through the publisher. But you shouldn't expect someone would take time to translate your English into Japanese. If Mr. Araki doesn't read English, your letter would simply be left aside.by .. (guest)rate this post as useful
Re: How do I send fanmail to a mangaka?2020/5/5 19:43 Ok thank you very much for you reply. This is what I thought, I should take Japanese classes again, it will take time to have a decent level but it will be worth itby Mariah Carey (guest)rate this post as useful
Re: How do I send fanmail to a mangaka?2020/12/9 12:09 I send quite a few letters in English to an hour and I have recieved a reply from a few. If you follow them on twitter and they post a picture of your letter, and you comment to them, they can send you a reply that well. Again some may not even know English, but that doesnft mean they would just gtoss it asideh as I got a letter that it says gIfm not Englishh but they always appeicate the support they get. I usually send letters to author that are not too famous (nothing wrong with famous ones but they most likely too busy to reply) and sometimes I find the. On twitter and will leave a comment. Some do, some donft. But if anything In Japanese I just leave the word 肪Ƃ. Or gthank youh in English and that will be enough.
Just some tips to help you.by Manga (guest)rate this post as useful
"Communication is the key to life. Communication is the key to love. Communication is the key to us. There's over a thousand ways to communicate in our world today. And it's a shame that we don't connect. So if you also feel the need for us to come together, will you communicate with me?"
795a8134c1