Thursday, June 24, 2010

Statistics and The Pile

Enough pen pals have been asking that I bit the bullet and counted the letters in my needs response pile. The tally today, before receiving Thursday mail, is as follows:
98 letters
25 postcards

So there we have it. It seems insurmountable, but it's not about the tally, it's about the letter-writing experience.

That being said, a lot of pen pals and blog readers say they like my outgoing stats, and so far no one has offered any negative feedback about them. Some of my fellow mail bloggers also post incoming stats. What do you think? Should I do that? I have felt hesitant to do so because I don't want to be bragging about the amount of mail I receive - it is really quite a lot - but some folks are curious, and it might hold off those that start saying "why haven't you written me back yet??" two weeks after they sent their letter or postcard. (I have averaged my stats, unscientifically, and the mean average turnaround time for a response to a new letter or postcard - meaning someone who has never written me before - is about 3 months.)

Feedback welcome and requested!