I pretty much agree with what everyone else has said. Word count doesn't matter to me, unless the whole story is only a few hundred words long... if that's the case, I'm like, what's the point? I prefer stories with substance. I'm certainly not afraid of long stories or long chapters, though they do need to move at a pace that holds my attention.
Lack of an author response doesn't make me stop reading a story, but it might make me stop reviewing or at least not review every chapter because, as most everyone else said, it makes me wonder if the author appreciates or even bothers to read their reviews.