I have to admit that I only leave feedback for maybe 60% of stories I read. Most of the time it's because I don't have the time to comment, or because the story is so bad that I don't think I can stay polite and, essentially, say that the story sucks and maybe investing in a good grammar book (or beta) might be a good idea. (In my experience, the stories with the worst grammar also have this sort of five-year-old kid telling a story style of writing. And they usually add things like: I only had two comments on my last story and if don't get at least seven-and-a-half now, I won't post the second part.) That really puts me off commenting.

Okay, now for the questions: I do like to see that my comments are being acknowledged by the writer. It shows me that s/he is interesting in the writing and the feedback, the whole deal. I tend to leave shorter, more generalised reviews if I know the author isn't all that interested. It doesn't annoy or enrage me, but it makes me put less effort into reviewing. With people on my friendslist whose writing style I know, reviews can turn into analysing and criticising sessions.

Also, if the review is something like "OMG! You brought X and Y together. I love you, write more!" then what exactly is the author supposed to do? Write a 4-page essay on how character dynamics work for that particular pairing? In that case, I'd reply with a "Thanks, I like the pairing too" and be that's it.

As for my own response to reviews, well, that depends on the review. If it's just a short "Wow. Great story" I usually repond with an equally short "thank you for reading, I'm glad you liked/enjoyed it" - that's my standardised response, and it's the same for any of these types of reviews.If there is nothing else to go on, I can't start discussing things, obviously. If the reviewer remarks on specific things, I try to explain my reasons for making a character do something or having him/her say something.

On the whole I think it's only polite to respond to feedback, even if all you can say is "thank you". If there are 5 or 6 reviews in a row that I can only respond to with a short thank you, I usually try to vary my standard response a bit so it doesn't look like I copy&paste it.

The reader takes the time to comment and leave feedback, so I think the author should take the time to respond to that.

~ sera