Does Your Book Include Acknowledgements?

The acknowledgement section is where book authors express gratitude.

As a long-time reader and lover of books plus my involvement in various aspects of the publishing industry, I notice fiction and nonfiction books include an acknowledgement section. This category appears in the Table of contents (mostly for nonfiction books).

These pages are where the author tells about the contributions of others to the book. They can be beta readers, editors, agents, others in the publishing house, along with friends and relatives. I have always read these sections and learn a great deal from them. For example, who is the literary agent for a bestselling author? The author could have included this information in the acknowledgement section.

For many years, these acknowledgement pages appeared in the early pages of a book. I suspect many readers skipped right over them and headed to the first pages of the book. In recent years, these acknowledgement sections have been tucked into the final pages of books (nonfiction and fiction). I still read them and often learn some extra information about the author in the process.

I've found many writers are looking for a literary agent. If you are in this category, you can use my free list of agents (follow this link) for their mailing address, website, email address, etc. I encourage authors to use this information not to SPAM them but for research. You are looking for the right agent who handles your type of book when you make your submission.

One of the ways to personalize your submission is to pick up some information about the agent from an acknowledgement page. Not every agent lists their clients on their website and even if they do, this list may not include all of the people they represent.  Who is a similar author to the book you are pitching?  One strategy with your submissions is to pitch your book to agents who represent this type of work. You know they are interested in this type of book. One of the ways you can discover the bestselling author's agent is in the acknowledgement section.

I believe the acknowledgement section of books is an important place. As authors, it is where we can express public gratitude to others who have helped us in the process of book creation and getting the book into the market.

Do you include an acknowledgement section in your book? How do you decide who to include in this section? Do you put it in the front or the back of your book? Let me know in the comments below.

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