Last week, our publisher reached out and asked us if we had planned an acknowledgement page for The Dead Shadow. We didn’t answer immediately.
Acknowledgement? We never thought about it. We assumed it was only reserved for famous writers. What do you mean, we get our own page where we can write an acknowledgement before the story begins?
We wondered all day long whether writing an acknowledgement was truly appropriate. Surely that would sound overly pompous and unrelatable, right?
What’s An Acknowledgement?
The acknowledgement is the part where the writer acknowledges the support of friends, family, or anyone else who has been involved in one way or another with them during the writing stage. Typically, this is the opportunity to mention those who have somehow contributed to helping you write the book.
Typically, when you look at the acknowledgement page from agented writers, this section includes a lot of professional names, ranging from their agent to the editor, and so on. Naturally, it’s a nice thing to do. Who wouldn’t want to have their hard work recognised? But at the same time, I can’t help but think that presumably those people were just doing their jobs, right?
“Thank you to my agent for believing in this book.”
Let’s be realistic for a minute. There is an element of personal engagement and investment, of course. But a literary agent would not believe in your book because it’s you or because they think it’s good. It’s part of their role to identify what could be traditionally commercialised. Not saying they didn’t believe in you personally, too. Yet, their endgame was to sell the book in a traditionally defined market.
“Thank you to my wife and children for loving me and encouraging me, and making tea and being so fabulously awesome every day. It’s been a long journey [followed by some in-depth anecdote that is meaningful to 2 people in the entire world], but we’ve made it.”
I’m just hoping that as an individual, you remind them of this every day, and that they didn’t have to wait for your book to be printed to learn that you care. It’s a sweet touch, obviously. But as a reader, I tend to skip it because I absolutely do not care. It’s not written for me, so why should I even read it?
Because I spend a lot of time disliking the acknowledgement page, I didn’t want to create something that I wouldn’t like.
Isn’t An Acknowledgement Just Another Way of Thanking People?
It is!
What is the list of people to thank? I wouldn’t want you to think that I am ungrateful. I am.
But in the words of Spike Milligan:
Spike Milligan
“I’m not going to thank anybody because I did it all on my own.”
Well, technically, Paul and I did it on our own.
So, there’s that.
Can You Dedicate the Book to A Special Person in the Acknowledgement Section?
You can. But why would you?
“Here’s to Boib and Kevina, who I have just made up and who had absolutely zero to do with this book. It’s for you.“
This one still confuses me, though. Why create something that resonates with you and give it to someone else?
“To my granddaughter, who wasn’t involved at all but who happened to be born. So yay.”
This one is lousy paraphrased, but this is how a book was dedicated to me a long time ago. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend looking for it for a variety of reasons. But mostly because it belongs to a time that is long gone. It wouldn’t make sense anymore. It didn’t make much sense when I was old enough to read it.
As I see it, you dedicate your hard work to someone who has no way of appreciating the creative process that went into it. Also, it never quite feels personal unless you’ve written the book with that particular person in mind.
The acknowledgement is just another way of acknowledging someone’s existence.
So Did We Actually Write An Acknowledgement?
We did. Paul and I sat together and wrote something that we hope will be entertaining to those who read it.
It won’t be me. I never read the acknowledgement page. But if you’re like Paul and you read it dutifully, then please remember that the acknowledgement was written for all of you. Think of it as a snap of our everyday talks and life. This is an open window to the way our minds work (or don’t work), and it will act as your last warning before starting The Dead Shadow.
Once you’ve passed it, there’s no coming back from the madness that will ensue.