I’ve often heard novelists utter angst over their acknowledgement pages.
Who to name, and in what way?
What language to use, what details to include, who to thank?
And, god forbid, what if someone gets forgotten?
Usually, there’s no acknowledgement page in a picture book.
But there is a dedication page and it can cause similar stress.
I dedicated my first book to my daughters.
It was a no-brainer.
It was being a mother that inspired me to try writing for children.
They were my little muses, and the book, quite literally, was written for them.
Ditto, actually, my others, even though the girls spend a lot less time with picture books than they used to.
My next dedication is due… um… yesterday or so.
But instead of getting it down just right, I found all these fascinating bits online to entertain and distract me:
McSweeney’s take on book dedications
An accounting of the factors that go into the decision-making around book dedications
What happens when book dedications outlast marriages
And revelations of the dedications in the Harry Potter books
You have to admit that I’m truly talented when it comes to diverting myself from the task at hand…
TadMack says: 🙂
*snort* McSweeney’s!
I hate dedications. I’m not sure why we have to do these things. I feel rude if I don’t but I really do loathe them.
Re: TadMack says: 🙂
I actually really like READING them, though. Do you?
Well. I just killed almost 15 minutes reading all that. And you most certainly killed more, finding them in the first place.
Best of luck to you on your dedication-writing. (This is the sort of thing that already gives me shivers, even though I don’t yet have a book under contract.)
I know, right?
My first book was easy–my husband for certain. This next one—my two kids for certain. After that…I’ll have to see what the book’s about first. I should do one for my Mom and Dad, but if I were to think about that before I wrote it, I never, ever would.
You could always make up initials and keep everyone guessing. 🙂
Oh, yes. The made-up initials ploy. Very sneaky, Sara.
Funny stuff!
My first one was to my husband. Don’t know what will be next.
You know, it would be kind of nice to know how many books you’re going to get to write dedications for. That way you could divvy important people up and not leave anyone out:>)
Right. Exactly. Where’s the crystal ball when we really need it…
well, i spell my name k-a-t-h-i-e, if that helps get you started on your dedication…;)