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endings (well, sort of) and author's notes
Usually dedications are pretty boring. For my wife Babs, who has put up with me all these years. For Mike. For Anil. Dedicated to the memory of my father. I like dedicating books to people close to me, and usually I'm just as boring as everybody else in the way I do it.
There's more latitude in what you can do when you write acknowledgments or notes. The standard, short form of this looks something like this:
I'd like to thank (insert one or more of the following: significant other, children, parents, teachers, editor) for their support; also, I am obligated to thank (insert names of persons who contributed factual knowledge or feedback) for their assistance, but of course any errors are my own; thanks also to (insert names of other writers who might have been helpful) for reading as I wrote and giving me feedback.To this laundry list you might add historical background on the story, the characters, or the setting; short anecdotes about how you came to write the darn novel in the first place; hints for people who want to pursue the subject matter further; some indication of the next novel you're working on, if it's related to the current one; explanations about language or naming issues. I've done all these things for one novel or another. Sometimes I've done all of them. I figure, if a given reader isn't interested, they'll skip it; if they want to know more about the early history of smallpox vaccines, they will plow ahead.
Then there are author biographies. These are almost always wrong in some way. The European editions of most of my books still declare me to be a professor, although I resigned my faculty position four years ago. I have tried in vain to get them to fix this. Some authors get carried away with their bios. One very successful author who shall remain nameless once managed to include photos of her family and her daughter's wedding reception, along with observations on how nicely her collection of antique linen looked on the tables. It felt more like an annual Christmas newsletter than an author's note, but hey. Obviously her editor thought it was a good idea, and who am I to argue. Maybe my readers would be interested in my father's recipe for braciole? I thought not.
Sometimes authors have fun with their bios and come to regret it, as Neal Stephenson did with Snow Crash. That bio was very funny, but apparently it has haunted him (and not in a good way) ever since. From his website:
Often there comes a certain giddiness when one has finished a book and learned that it is to be published. This is especially pronounced among young writers. Some time later, the publisher requests an author bio, acknowledgments, dedications, and other ancillary material. In my early books, I tended to use these as an opportunity to goof around and blow off steam. This was particularly true in author bios, which for some reason I find very difficult to take seriously. For example, at one point in my career I had seen a spate of author biographies that I found especially pompous, and so wrote a mock-pompous one pronouncing me a "perfect husband and father" or some such nonsense.It's true that whenever my editor contacts me to say: new book going to press, if you want to change your bio, do it now I hesitate for about five minutes. For those five minutes I think of witty things I could maybe put in my bio. It takes about five minutes for this urge to pass, and then I email back and say: bio is okay as it stands.Unfortunately some people took it at face value.
So, what do you all think? Do you like long acknowlegements, notes, and bios? Or do you ignore them?
October 10, 2004 10:24 PM
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Long or short, I know I didn't read bios or acknowledgements or prefaces until I got better informed (or older?) and started really questioning the origins of the things I'm reading. That's all about critical thinking, which in turn has been about getting burnt by bad reading experiences, or untrustworthy writers with dodgy ideas on sourcing info. Reading fiction, it's pretty rare that I'm interested in much beyond the author bio and when the next is out. In non-fiction, I think it's pretty important to read the bio, and any other notes attached to the body of the work. It's like label reading on food packages - you do it to inform yourself more on the origins of the contents. Crude analogy. I *do* realize that there is no Pulitzer, nor is there a Nobel for food labels.
Posted by: Pam at October 10, 2004 11:57 PM
I am always interested in dedications. I wonder who the person is, how they feel when they see a novel dedicated to them, what made the author choose that person, etc.
I also read notes and acknowledgements. But you have to understand, I also read the back of the shampoo bottle while I'm, er, occupied nearby. I read everything. Not to say that notes and acknowledgements aren't ever interesting -- because they frequently are. But you can't take my input on this scientifically, since I am not a normal person in the slightest.
Bios: I tend to mistrust them, and it's because of two examples in my own reading: Stephen King's Bachman books, in editions published before it was widely known that the two were one and the same, had a completely fabricated author bio. I was in my early teens when I was "into" King and this was the beginning of my understanding that just because it's in print and asserted as truth, doesn't mean that it's true (a valuable lesson, really). And dead authors are never safe; the editions of L.M. Montgomery's books that I have, nearly all have a wildly inaccurate little mini-biography on the last page. So I may read bios with interest but I don't go around believing them to be 100% accurate unless I have outside sources of information which confirm their accuracy.
Posted by: Rachel at October 11, 2004 01:19 AM
Hi Sara/Rosina.
First, this comment is actually an off-topic...
Second, I much appreciate your posts and think they can be very helpful for amateurs writers or storywriting lovers. And here comes the question:
I'm posting from Italy - I'm italian, and I think you are as well, by your name - and I have a blog (http://blog.virgilio.it/blue_icaro) where i try to give hints and tricks about writing stories both for my personal use and for all who happen to sail on my route. So I'd be glad if you could give me your ok to translate and publish some of your posts on my blog. Maybe you'll be so kind as to suggest me the links where I can find all about storytelling through your blog...
Thanks a lot, Sara, whatever your answer could be.
Massimiliano
Posted by: Massimiliano at October 11, 2004 03:57 AM
I never ignore acknowledgements, notes, and bios. I like them there, although some are more interesting than others. And the more I like a book, the more interested I am in those extras.
Posted by: Marjorie at October 11, 2004 05:42 AM
I always read the "extras" especially when I am reading a Stephen King book (as it feels like I am having a conversation with him.)
Posted by: Lanna Lee Maheux-Quinn at October 11, 2004 08:28 AM
I always read the author's notes, in hopes for some interesting tidbit about where this came from or how that came to be part of the story. Some of them are very dry and not too interesting, but I always read them. Same goes for bios. I always find it interesting what/how much personal info an author is willing to reveal in a bio. Usually it's either a list of other books or "lives with his/her family and a dog in northern.....".
Now, what really annoys me, and I'll admit I'm probably the only one, is the sneak peaks they like to include nowadays. I find it extremely frustrating to get just a tidbit, but you can't get the rest for a year or more. Just give me a one page description and move on. But what I really really really find annoying about that is how you think you have twenty or so pages left of the story then BOOM it's over without warning and you're stuck with a sneak peak of something you don't care about because you're still stuck in the story and not believing it just ended when YOU COULD FEEL HOW THERE WERE PAGES LEFT!!!!!!!
Just my humble opinion.
Tracey
Posted by: Tracey at October 11, 2004 01:22 PM
Massimiliano-- sure. Just please be sure to include a link to this blog and the post you are translating. I'll have a look at your website, too.
My father grew up in Italy; I was born here. Your English is far, far better than my Italian, believe me.
Posted by: sara at October 11, 2004 08:32 PM
Ok Sara, many thanks. I'll try to transpose your suggestions, collected under "research/craft issues", picking up those I can consider of more general interest (in my humble opinion...).
If you can read Italian (and I believe you can)
you'll be welcome to my site
http://xoomer.virgilio.it/chtmarco
I published there some of my short stories...
Meanwhile, all the best for you and your work.
Massimiliano
P.S.: I think I'll bother you from time to time, in case I meet some hard passage to translate... so please be kind and patient.
Posted by: Massimiliano at October 12, 2004 03:12 AM
I too read the bios and the dedication. I agree with Pam, that I like to dream a little about the person to whom it is dedicated.... and wonder if there is someone else out there (husband, child, mother, father etc.) who has never had a dedication yet and is still waiting. The thing that prompted me to post this, though, is Tracey's opinion. I couldn't agree more whole-heartedly! I really _really_ dislike the practice of putting a chapter (or portion) of the next book at the back. I never read them, and it always manages to make me frustrated that the story has ended 'prematurely' (since, as you said, you can _tell_ there are pages left!).
grrrrrrr.
I hope some publishers are listening... *wistful look*. (I'm not betting on it, though)
Posted by: danielle at October 13, 2004 06:19 AM