As an author of children's books, I love to visit schools and present programs about my work and the writing process to students. Writing can be a very solitary life; I love to hear from students, teachers, librarians in schools. One step I made a few years ago was to hire a company to make it easier for people to find me, to inquire about a school author visit. That company, called Main Street Host, advised me to add a "landing page" to my web site. These words, "School Visits, Learn More" were prominently displayed. Clicking there led to the landing page AND a simple form to fill out, to reach me. The form stated "someone will respond soon."
Some schools did reach me that way. Then, over many months, nothing. So I filled out the form myself (testing the system) and sent in several inquiries. No response. I contacted Main Street Host. Oops, they had deactivated that contact form. No apologies. And they had no way of retrieving the information of anyone who had tried to reach me. I assume that some teachers, librarians, or other school staffers concluded that I don't respond when they get in touch. Not true!
I apologize if anyone out there tried to reach me via that method. The simple word "CONTACT" on my home page definitely works.
Some schools did reach me that way. Then, over many months, nothing. So I filled out the form myself (testing the system) and sent in several inquiries. No response. I contacted Main Street Host. Oops, they had deactivated that contact form. No apologies. And they had no way of retrieving the information of anyone who had tried to reach me. I assume that some teachers, librarians, or other school staffers concluded that I don't respond when they get in touch. Not true!
I apologize if anyone out there tried to reach me via that method. The simple word "CONTACT" on my home page definitely works.