A reader just commented that he was shocked that I put my email address at the front of every book, and that I actually respond to readers.

It's not that shocking. Let me share a little story.

In the late 80's I fell in love with Borland's Turbo Pascal, not just the language, but the development experience and what many consider to have been the first modern IDE.

This is before Google, before Reddit, before easily searching for answers online. Back then we learned from books, and as I couldn't afford books I read most standing in the bookstore. But I did buy a book called Complete Turbo Pascal by Jeff Duntemann, and read it cover to cover.

I was a teenager working on a coding project, I no longer remember what it was, but it involved date math. Jeff had an example in the book that was close to what I needed, but I could not get it to work.

I was frustrated, and in that frustration did something completely inappropriate. In the intro Jeff had mentioned the city he lived in. I called directory services and got his home phone number. And I called him. Jeff answered. I nervously explained why I was calling. He listened. He offered a suggestion.

I don't remember the details, but that had a profound effect on me. Now an author myself, 40+ books and 1M copies in print, I still answer every single email and comment from readers. Just like Jeff did for me.