THE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PAGE: LET'S TALK

Attention readers of books and author friends. I want to brainstorm and “crowd-source” something with you. What is your view of book acknowledgments? This is the page or two in a book where agent, editors and loved ones are thanked, where sometimes we read about the author’s fears or joys in writing, and sometimes we get snippets into an author’s life.

Some acknowledgments are at the front of the book; other times they appear in the back.
One little trick I heard (but haven’t tried) at a conference or in a how-to book is that one way to find an agent is to read the acknowledgments in books in your genre. Authors always thank their agents. And they sure do.

I recently read an author’s acknowledgments page where she thanked her dog!
Another author thanked someone who convinced her she really could write when she had her doubts. (The woman is a household-name author).

One author revealed in her acknowledgments that her husband had given her a real health scare.

Still other authors barely say anything in their acknowledgments. That disappoints me.
How about you? Do you even read this section of a book? If you do, do you have strong views or observations? Have you ever read anything there memorable? Is it a place you go to first before deciding to buy a book?

I’m in the process of penning acknowledgments for the book I plan to release later this year. I personally love reading acknowledgments pages and just wondered if others feel that way – or if they even give this topic a thought. Input?