I recently read a few books by one author and they quickly rose to become some of my favorites. I haven’t felt a connection like that in long time and I wanted to write a simple letter of thanks – yeah, I guess I’m a fanboy.
Now, I certainly don’t expect a response, but it’d be nice if I could at least actually get the letter to the author so that he could choose to read it (or not). Is this a realistic possibility? How would I find the author’s contact information?
If it matters, the author in question is Jon Krakauer. He wrote Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, Under the Banner of Heaven, and Eiger Dreams. He also writes for Outside magazine. I couldn’t find anything in the books, publishers’ webpages, or Outside Online.
I have e mailed several authors at their personal websites and I have always gotten a response.
I don’t see a website for Jon Krakauer, so you might try via his publisher.
Just send a letter to the author c/o the author’s publisher (preferably a recent book). The letters will get to the author (unless the author says he/she doesn’t want any), though it may take up to a year.
When I was in high school I called Isaac Asimov. At home.
His wife (Janet Jeppson, an author herself) answered and even tho I just told her I was a fan, she put him on the phone. He was very gracious, spoke with me for about 10 minutes, and then asked me to write him. We corresponded for a couple of years.
Around the same time, I wrote to Charles de Lint to ask him some questions about the history in one of his books. We ended up corresponding for a couple of years as well.
After I’d read The Day Before Midnight by Stephen Hunter, I innocently sent him a letter telling him how much I’d enjoyed it and asking when his next book was coming out. I also asked him about one of his earlier books that I could never find - something called Target that the guy at my bookstore said was out-of print. (This was in the early 90s.)
Not only did Hunter write back with a description of his forthcoming classic novel, Point of Impact (he admitted to thinking it was “pretty damn good”), he also sent along an autographed paperback copy of Target, which turned out to be a novelization of a Matt Dillon/Gene Hackman flick. He admitted he wasn’t very proud of it but said he really enjoyed the royalty checks.
That sounds reasonable. But up to a year? Wow. Why?
I’d try that, but I’d hate to have to wait a year wondering if he ever got the letter or if it simply got lost somewhere in the mail -> publisher -> agent -> delivery boy -> family dog chain.
There isn’t a more reliable way unless I can find personal contact info, huh?
With the whole Mormon preemptive strike thing, he might be a bit hesitant to give out his general contact information. It may be hard to find, but I hope you do.
Though I’ve not gotten a response from the more famous ones like Janet Evanovich, Donald E Westlake and Robin Cook, I have gotten email responses from several others. It’s worth a shot.
W Bruce Cameron (8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter) has always emailed me back with very funny comments on my comments.
I went to the website of one, said, “Were you my Human Skeleton prof at NIU in the fall semester of 1974?” The reply, “Maybe,” was close enough to, “Yes,” that the continued correspondence resulted in her saying, “Make yourself useful,” and she gave me my first research assignment. Book Three and I’m up to owning Paragraph Two in the acknowledgements.
But if she had said, “No,” if I persisted it would’ve worked as well.
Out of all the media I have consumed in my life, and all the fan letters I’ve composed in my head to writers, actors, directors, musicians, etc, I have only ever actually written someone once. And it wasn’t even someone I was particularly enamored with, so I have no idea why I did it. It was Maxx Barry, after reading his first 2 books back in 2003. I’m actually a bigger fan of Jon Krakauer, heh. Anyway, he wrote back promptly and was very, very nice.
I somehow came across an author I like online and we still chat from time to time. Some just want to be left alone but some are quite nice. You can try Livejournal too, some do have blogs there.
As an author (not a best selling one ) I can tell you that positive feedback from strangers on your work is a wonderful feeling. Some people contact me through my website, others via my publisher. Even though a best selling author will get heaps and heaps more, they are human and would love the feedback. It may not be possible to reply to everyone, but I am pretty sure they would get the comment, and really appreciate it.
Here is what very much appears to be Jon Krakauer’s Myspace page. You will have to join Myspace if you’re not already a member, but it’s free and painless. His page is set to private but you can still contact him by clicking on “Send Message” on the page I linked to. It’s virtually the same as email.
ETA: I just noticed he hasn’t logged in to his account since last December, so it’s not likely that he’s receiving and/or replying to messages because login is necessary to do either.
Still, wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot. He will probably log in eventually and when he does, he might see and respond to your message.
) I can tell you that positive feedback from strangers on your work is a wonderful feeling. Some people contact me through my website, others via my publisher. Even though a best selling author will get heaps and heaps more, they are human and would love the feedback. It may not be possible to reply to everyone, but I am pretty sure they would get the comment, and really appreciate it.