Okay, my question isn't the beat-to-death "do you expect a reply to your e-mails or offers."  I know the problems with using inexperienced internet models, the flakiness, no reply, etc. 

But what I'm getting these days is a series of e-mails that go:  "I'd Love to work with you!" then, "I'm available on these dates or days of the week" and finally we discuss themes, the studio, etc.  And nothing.  No replies.  No "I'm sorry but I'm busy/have several other shoots lined up/decided I don't like your style/etc."

I don't think I'm causing the problem, but it's impossible to tell without communication.  I explain that there will be a few people at the studio, a huge wardrobe, she can bring a friend, and she gets pro prints and a cd in the end.  And I don't think it's a stylistic problem--my port and website are there to see, and models who don't go for my photography don't get involved to begin with.

Does this happen to you, my brothers and sisters of the order of the shutter (or whoever we are)?  I need to know whether it's me, the model, or something else.  Why would a model even bother to put out the effort, to engage in the conversation, only to put up a brick wall???

JD

Yeah, it happens.  Better to lose a few minutes on e-mails than have a no-show.

Common courtesy seems to be a rare commodity in this day and age.

All that's required is a polite reply, saying "thanks for your consideration but I won't be able".  No further explanation is required.

Many internet models have so little experience they may just not know how to handle declining offers politely, so they choose not to reply at all.

Nope I'm sure it isn't you.
Try reading many of the posts
here.  Sadly many of the models
on-line aren't very serious and
many aren't stable.  Some of
this is because of youth.
Some because ,lets face it pretty
women get the world handed to them
and many are lazy and rude.
Thats right I said it.
Not all but in many cases.
Consider that models don't have to
pay to be on most sites.
However photographers do.
So its not you.  Keep on and you
will find postive models to shoot with.

I get the same from photographers failry regularly. 

The moral of the story is that internet people are no damn good.

It's not just internet people. I have had this happen from models, designers, MUA's, event promoters, and others regardless of where I've made the initial contact. It has also happened before and after a shoot. It happens frequently enough that I'm also starting to second guess my own photo and communication skills. So, while I don't wish it to happen to anyone I'm a bit glad to see that it's not just me.

its the B.B.D. (the bigger and better deal), or your 15 mintues of fame, in the time it takes to email a few days back and forth, another photog has caught the models eye (or vice versa) and they are now all "jazzed" about working with someone else, who is now the next big thing.

and you become yesterdays news

i agree, its internet people. whenever i meet and talk with people in person this never happens.

Well, I'm relieved to know it isn't just me.  (it's these internet people!).  And I'm not surprised that this isn't a model-specific problem.

Still....It's one thing to ignore the first query from someone, but it gives me heartburn to reserve studio time, work on concepts/props/lighting/etc., then get blown off.  It's more than decency--it's responsibilty to say "thank you but no...."

On or off the internet is the same thing. Let's face it people, the internet is only a form of communication. Not everyone treats it like when they log on they're stepping out of reality. We can't just blame the internet. The only difference on here is that you're not dealing with a person face to face. A person can just pretend they never got the e-message. If it's the phone people can ignore calls or choose not to return voice messages. This complaint was common when people communicated mainly by written letters as well.

What I've been finding is that so many don't know how to communicate clearly and deal with responses and reactions. So many have told me they don't know what to say to someone because they're either afraid they'll get a negative response or they don't want to hurt the persons feelings. This is probably the result of having sooo many unstable people in this world. Aside from the fact that many of us act in bitter response to things we've dealt with in the past.

This shouldn't be an issue when dealing with adults, although it is. It's gotten worse over the years since many people grow older but don't really mature. When we were kids and we were asked "why?" we could easily answer with "I don't know." So now what many people do is take a non-confrontational approach. The lines of personal and business interaction have become so blurred that things get even more complicated.

Of course, this is only referring to those who aren't just flat out flakes or fakes...

There was a thread a while back wanting to know if photographers keeping photos was some sort of power play. I figure the same is true about some "models". As long as you are stroking their egos by planning a shoot they don't have to deliver. When it comes time for them to produce they bail, there is always another "photographer" out there to blow sunshine up thier ass.

I do appreciate these comments.  I was thinking--uh oh, I'm gonna be another whining-ass-photography-victim for starting the thread.  But I really needed to know if I'm doing something wrong since I've had a recent string of these episodes, not just a one-time event.  Plus, I felt like being a whining-ass-photography-victim this morning.

I also get the same thing from photographers... I don't hear from them for weeks/months... then out of the middle of nowhere they contact me about the same or different projects. I've had this 1 photographer contact me 4 times now, I contact him  back, we talk for like 2 emails, then I don't hear anything from him.
I'm really starting to hate the internet side of things... they give us good people bad names. Gr!