A book dedication is a medium through which book authors give special appreciation to an individual or a group of people. This person or group of people does not necessarily have to contribute something significant to the writing of the book. However, they are generally considered important to the book author.
All things being equal, the dedication is written on a single page known as the dedication page. This page usually comes after the title page of the book.
The dedication can be very brief or slightly long. It could just be on a single line or several lines.
Can an Author Dedicate Their Book to Anyone?
As an author, in very much the same way as you can edit your book in whatever form pleases you, you can also dedicate your book to anyone you desire.
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In as much as you are free to dedicate your book to anyone you wish, there are various categories of people you can dedicate your book to.
Some of these categories of people are;
- People that inspire you
- You target audience
- Real-life persons featured in your book
- Bosom friends
- Family members.
Ensure the person you are dedicating the book to is aware
It is beautiful to dedicate your book to someone that played a great role in helping you put out a book. Regardless of how beautiful dedicating a book can be, you should not do so without first informing whoever you are dedicating the book to.
In as much as you are not trying to take permission from whoever you are dedicating your book to, simple courtesy demands that they are aware.
Must a Book be dedicated?
Although several authors are known to dedicate their books, there are no rules that state you must dedicate your book. So, if you do not feel like dedicating your book, it’s okay if you decide to skip the dedication page.
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Must You Dedicate Your Book to a Person?
Most authors are known to dedicate their books to an individual. However, you do not have to do things this way. You can choose to dedicate your book to a pet or even an inanimate object.
How to write a book dedication
When dedicating a book, the steps below will help you do so the right way even if you have no experience writing dedications in books.
1. Make up Your Mind on Who You Want to dedicate the book To
A book dedication might be the shortest part of a book and might not seem very significant. However, contrary to what several people think, a lot goes into writing a dedication.
The first step in dedicating a book is to make up your mind on who you want to dedicate the book to. In the absence of this, you can’t have a book dedication.
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A lot of people dedicate their books to people close to their hearts. These people could have had a major impact on the writing process or might have inspired them in a way.
A book’s dedication is very personal and not exactly professional. So, you do not need to worry about getting things right. Feel free to be as personal as you want to.
If you have a lot of people to write a dedication to but have to settle for just one person or a small group, you can show appreciation to other people on the acknowledgment page.
2. Think of How to Address Them
Now that you have made up your mind on who you want to dedicate a book to, you should decide how you will be addressing them. Will you be addressing them by their title or name? You should decide on this before putting out the book.
3. Why do you want to dedicate the book to someone?
As the author of a book, you are in a perfect position to select who you want to dedicate your book to. Regardless of this, you should have a reason for dedicating your book to whoever you choose.
This might not be very easy to do as you might have a long list of people you want to dedicate this book to and these people might have contributed to your life in several ways.
To help make things easy, you might have to give thoughts on how the different people in your circle contributed to your success as a writer, as well as the success of the book you are about to put out.
4. Keep the Dedication Concise
The aim of a book dedication is not to hit a word count or make your book look full. It is a move to simply appreciate someone specially. This means you should do just that.
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A book dedication should b short and personal. You might be tempted to make the dedication long if you are looking to acknowledge a lot of people. Nonetheless, if you feel like you want to appreciate a lot of people, you should do the extra appreciation on the acknowledgment page.
5. Go through Other Book Dedications
Writing a book dedication is supposed to be easy. However, this is not a guarantee that you will not struggle. If you find yourself struggling while putting together a book dedication, then, it is okay if you go through other book dedications examples.
When you go through the dedications put up by other people, you will be able to come up with something great without having to struggle too much.
6. Always remember that you are writing for an Audience
Since dedicating a book is very personal, there is a likelihood that you might not bother about putting in the required effort. Now, the fact that a book dedication is personal does not mean it should not be enjoyable. Remember, you are writing for an audience. So, it only makes perfect sense if the book dedication is enjoyable.
The dedication page is the second page of a book and could go a long way in helping your audience form a perception of who you are as an author.
You could get your audience to like you by writing a book dedication that is relatable and touching.
The Takeaway
When writing a book, a book dedication can be used to reward a special person that contributed immensely to the success of a book. If there is no one in that position, you could simply dedicate the book to anyone that is very dear to you.
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