And today's question (from someone too nervous to stick in a return e-mail address) is:
Why do you pass up legitimate questions from interested individuals, in favor of people who just want to see themselves typing something "important?"
=(
and the answer is, I don't. About three hundred questions come in a week on the FAQ line, every week. Answering them would be a full-time occupation. I'll answer ones that catch my eye, or that have a simple answer; sometimes I'll wait for a while, and pick a whole wodge of them at once, (the "when are you going to come and sign in [Singapore] [South Africa] [Norway] etc" thread). Many of them are ones that deserve short essays back, and there are a few (such as The Films, or What's happening With Miracleman,) where every time I think I'm ready to do the FAQ entry, everything changes, so I put it off again.
I think all the FAQ things that come in are important, at least to the people who sent them. They all deserve answers, except the ones I've already answered. They won't get them, which is unfair, but then, there's also the message boards here for people who don't get their question answered by me.
And beyond that? Lord, this isn't a democracy. It's a journal I do because it's fun. Ditto the FAQs and much of the stuff I stick up on the website. If it ever stops being fun, I'll probably stop doing it, and this will turn into one of those author websites that are probably much more useful, and effective and commercial, and on which everything is in the right place, and you won't stumble over strange and unlikely things. For now, it's imperfect, but interesting.
Does that help?