Writing acknowledgements

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illiterwrite

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I'm just getting down to writing the acknowledgements for my book and have a question about acknowledging experts. I can't do what I'd normally do (browse through other books to see how it's done) -- I've just moved and have all my books packed away in storage, arg!

People who've helped include a criminal lawyer, forensic psychiatrist, a nurse within the correctional system, etc. So do I put their names, followed by titles, just their names, or should I email them to see what they prefer?

Thanks.
 

ATP

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I think the chosen form is a personal matter. But, if it is a professional book (non-fiction), then I think you might best relay: name, title and professional/academic degrees, if any - XX, title, MSc, Ph.d and the like.
But, I think someone like Medievalist might be able to assist in this better than I. There are also publishers here who might be able to help - wordworm, for example.

A little bit removed from grammar, but perhaps you could squeeze it in. Try posting your question also in the Grammar forum - you're sure to get a good response there.
 

Kate Thornton

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I just found my name on the acknowledgements page of a mystery book - "Too Big Too Miss" by Sue Ann Jaffarian. I know her, but I did not know she was going to put me in there - what a cool surprise!

Sue Ann just listed a bunch of folks she wanted to thank (I always read the thank-yous) and there I was! Spelled correctly, too! It was a thrill - as it will be for those people you are kind enough to thank in print.
 

Maryn

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What I like to see in a fictional work's acknowledgements is something like:

My sincere thanks to Ann Apple, my editor at Publisher, without whose help this book would not have been completed; to Bob Bartender, who listened without judgment as I worked through my problems--and my novel's; to Carl Cornfeldt, for sharing his expertise on plant diseases at times when I surely woke him; to Donna Deadman, who typed what I wrote without complaint and wisely made suggestions only when I was drunk; to Eli Ellison, my husband and partner in all that is good and pure; to Farrah Faucett...

Like that. Reading such a thank-you page both acknowledges each person by name but lets the reader know what their contributions were. I find it fascinating.

Maryn, who hopes to reach that point eventually
 

Jenan Mac

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I'm with Maryn. Part of the fun of acknowledgments is entertainment value for those who know they're not mentioned. I already know who (grabbing at names) Diana Gabaldon's and Charlaine Harris's agents are-- on a rainy and boring afternoon, what I want to know is who owes whom a bottle of single-malt, and why.
 
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