Sometimes a writer gets something fun in the mail – a letter handwritten in an envelope with a stamp on it that lands in said writer’s mailbox. Years ago when I was writing books for younger readers, it wasn’t unusual to find one of those letters in my mailbox. I exchanged letters over several years with a young girl until she must have outgrown my young adult books. I received manilla envelopes from teachers stuffed with letters from all her students after she read one of my books aloud to them. Those letters were such fun.
All that was before everything went digital and writing a quick message in a FB message or an email became more convenient, cheaper, and an instant way to connect with someone. Writers are generally pretty easy to locate online for readers to send a message about one of their books. And most all of us enjoy hearing from readers.
Still, it’s fun to get that snail mail now and again. Not long ago, I mailed one of my middle reader books, Freak of the Week, to a young girl I must have met at a book signing. I can’t quite remember why I promised to send her a book, but I like to encourage young readers. I stuffed the book in an envelope and sent it on its way.
Then I completely forgot about it – until I got the great thank you letter shown up top. I’m letting you read it all. I don’t think my young reader would mind. This girl has book reports down pat. She did a wonderful job thanking me for the book, telling me what she liked about it, and sharing a little about herself in the process. It was an extra good touch that she liked baseball. No, loved baseball. I had to wonder if she played on a Little League team. If so, I hope she hit a homer or two.
She’s the second kid to surprise me with a thank you note. I got the one below several years ago. I think my husband brought it home after being at a church with the Southern Gospel Quartet he used to sing with. For a while they had my books on their product table. I don’t know who this kid was, but the little boy wrote the note and asked my husband to give it to me. I have no idea which of my books he might have read, but the note made me smile. I’m glad he thought I had done a good job.
Actually all the notes, letters, messages, emails, comments I get from readers make me happy. I don’t even mind too much the ones that tell me they don’t like this or that or I messed up and didn’t do that “good job” my young fan said I did.
Most people who take the time to write a letter, stuff it in an envelope, and mail it are sending encouraging words the same as the two youngsters who wrote the letters above. I do get letters from grown-up readers too. Maybe I’ll share about one of those in another post.
While mailed letters are nice, so are all the comments you all share with me on my posts here and those of you who leave comments on Facebook, Instagram, on in response to my newsletters. I like getting to know my readers. So thank you all.
Do you like getting snail mail? Ever send a letter to someone just to encourage them?
Comments 9
I love snail mail but I don’t get much of it anymore except bills and junk mail. I do receive thank you cards when I send someone a baby blanket I crochet for their newborn or soon to be born baby.
I didn’t realize you wrote young adult fiction. I’ll have to recommend some to young readers and even read some myself.
I do like getting snail mail, especially if it’s book-related mail! I also like getting cards! I mail out birthday cards to all of my insurance clients, and I’ll be mailing out at Christmas cards to all of them, too!! I mail out way more birthday cards than Christmas cards, as some of my clients have four children, so that’s six cards per household!! Christmas, the family gets one card! I’ve made 110 Christmas cards for this year, and 80 are ready for me to put stamps on them to go in the mail!
Author
I think mail now is used by businesses to reach out to customers or, in some cases, patients when doctors or dentists send out something. I suppose I should also mention politicians. At election time, the postal service is kept busy delivering political information.
I’m impressed, Trudy, that you send out so many cards and that you actually handmake many of them. Good for you. Glad you have the Christmas spirit. I’m sure you make your clients smile when your cards show up in their mailboxes.
I do like receiving “snail” mail which does not happen very often. It’s such a delightful surprise and I am wondering before I open the letter or card. Always brings a smile.
I am so used to my cell phone. I send messages to myself to not forget something – be it an appointment, a book, look for delivery, etc., etc.
So Happy Snail Mail Day.
Author
That’s a great idea, Loretta, to send yourself message reminders. I have sent copies of something I’ve written to make sure they are saved and accessible if something happens to my computer. The terrible fear of every writer is losing that chapter you just sweated over as you wrote.
I used to write to a couple of my cousins before the internet came along. Now we just text, email, or phone since there is no longer long distance charges like there used to be. I’ve not gotten a hand written letter in a long, long time. The only thing I have sent in the mail, hand written, in years, is a greeting card with a short note, or a thank you card.
Author
I send out a few letters and/or cards for people in my church who aren’t able to come to the services. I enjoy writing letters and sending cards, but the price of postage makes those letters limited. And communicating digitally with family and close friends is just more convenient and price smart. Plus, we can all call without a big price. When I was a kid, it had to be super important to dial up a long distance number. 🙂
I wrote to an author as a child for a school project and I got a letter back in the mail from him and still have it packed away in my childhood cards and letters. I also had a pen pal as a child through Brownies. I always love getting letters in the mail and still enjoy getting them from friends and family but that usually is just around my birthday and Christmas. There is just something extra special about getting handwritten cards and letters. I think it feels a lot more like a personal connection because it takes more time to write and you also have that persons handwriting to remember them by.
Author
I agree completely about the fun of getting mail from friends and family, Hope. It does seem to mean more when it’s handwritten especially for you. But I can understand why most don’t send snail mail these days with the price of stamps.
It’s neat that you kept that letter you got back from a writer. I still have some of the first fan letters I received back when my first book was published many years ago. Of course, at that time, there was only snail mail. 🙂