The Best Decline Letter of All Time: Edmund Wilson - The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss

But I cannot invest my own time with every curiosity.’

To improve my author communication protocols, I introduced nonpersonal email addresses. One of these, for example, is interesting @calnewport.com, which my readers use to send interesting links or leads. Below the address is a simple note: “I really appreciate these pointers, but due to time constraints, I’m usually not able to respond.” In my expe

Cal Fussman (page 495) got the same response from Richard Branson, as no busy person wants to take 1 to 3 hours for an interview that never gets published.

Author Louis Bromfield is said to have a stock reply to critical correspondents when his mail becomes too heavy for individual attention. Without conceding anything and without encouraging further correspondence, it still satisfies almost everyone. The key sentence: “There may be something in what you say.”

As the writer Edmund Wilson put it, “Death is one prophecy that never fails.”

it helps if you can have a “no thanks” template handy. In her piece “How to Graciously Say No to Anyone,” Alexandra Franzen suggests the following: Thank the sender for thinking of you, decline, and, if you can, offer another form of support.

So Newport create a sender filter on his website as follows: "If you have an offer, opportunity, or introduction that might make my life more interesting, e-mail me at interesting@calnewport.com. For the reasons stated above, I'll only respond to those proposals that are a good match for my schedule and interests." Newport's sender filter