My, but there have been a lot of questions posted as comments on old posts lately! I love getting the questions, but they do take quite a bit of time to answer. It’s pushing my new blog posting times later and later.
So no, it’s not your imagination: I have been posting a lot in the dead of night lately, and for health reasons, I would prefer not to see that trend continue. (My doctor seconds this, by the way, in a much, much bossier tone.)
Since the higher volume of questions seems to be a phenomenon that’s here to stay, and as we are just heading into contest season, I would like to make a preemptive request: if you have contest-related questions, PLEASE post them AT LEAST a week before the entry deadline. Please, too, try to give at least double that lead time for submission-related questions.
That way, I won’t need to worry that a few days’ delay in answering a complex question will cause undue problems on the asker’s end.
Honestly, I do sit up at night fretting about such things. (My doctor HATES that.)
Believe me, I completely understand having a last-minute pre-submission panic about a detail, but while the blog is always here, I’m actually not logged into the website all that much on any given workday. I also occasionally take a day off, have days with thirty posted questions, or only have just barely enough time in a given day to write a blog without also answering questions. Sometimes, I’m just plain in a cranky mood.
Then again, I often get questions that really deserve a blog post of their very own. These typically go on a great big list to wait their day of glory. Sometimes, as we have seen, the sheer length of that list and my frequent series can mean a rather long delay before I can get to a particular topic. As in months.
In short, please be aware that I may not always be able to respond as quickly as a questioner might like — which is one reason that I’ve been adding more and more specific categories to the list at right, to ease a deadline-pressed reader’s ability to find quick answers. Allowing lead time will maximize everyone’s happiness, and isn’t that what a good community is about?
Thanks for helping me out with this. Keep those great questions coming — and keep up the good work!