Now, I am as mindful as anyone of the pressures on the literary marketplace and the challenges of getting a novel bought and published and the traditionally invisible work of editors is not only necessary but sometimes no less rigorous than the effort the author went to in composing the manuscript (today, a lot of book editing is done by the agent before the work is shopped to publishers, which is why the author-agent relationship can be so close-knit). Then the thanking begins, and the first to be named are very often the author’s agent and editor. “This is my fourteenth novel and I am as dependent as ever on the wisdom of others,” begins one, and another, plucked at random from a Barnes & Noble new-arrival shelf: “The creation of this book has removed any notion I may have had of it being a solo endeavor.” The most radical experimentalist adheres to the most mindless acknowledgments-page formula the most stinging social critic suddenly becomes Sally Field winning an Oscar.Īcknowledgments typically open with a statement to the effect that, although writing is lonely work, the author could never have completed his book without help and support. This is surely why these afterwords are often so garrulously narcissistic and strewn with clichés. What’s new about the current acknowledgments page is that it’s unsolicited-it appears like an online pop-up ad, benefiting no one but the author and his comrades. The point was that the novelist emerged from behind the curtain only reluctantly, in order to anticipate a query or assuage a qualm. These notes traditionally had an air of duress: “I find it obnoxious to have my methods questioned,” the writer seemed to be saying, “but my publisher wanted some clarification, so here it is.” This typically appeared at the close of historical or autobiographical fiction, to account for any deviations from the factual record or to provide a shortlist of works consulted. One earlier (and still used) form was called the Author’s Note. True, their existence is not entirely unprecedented. And connected to these campaigns is the most irritating promotional addendum of all: the acknowledgments page.Ī gratuitous supplement to the dedication page, acknowledgments can now be found at the conclusion of virtually every published novel, often running to as many as three pages and thanking scores of people.
Authors are asked to promote not only their books but themselves, with book tours, book trailers, interviews, blogs, and an active social-media presence. But this is a financially vulnerable time in book publishing, so just as television has grown more artistically refined, literature has tried to make itself more commercially visible. Most important, writers could end episodes in the way they wanted-a final scene followed by an elegant epilogue of a credit sequence rather than a blaring station promo or advertisement for Flomax.īy eliminating these intrusions, television came nearer to approximating the total narrative immersion found in good novels. Episodes no longer needed to be front-loaded with the minor dramatic cliffhangers that precede advertisements (although, as Emily Nussbaum has shown, that convention has curious staying power).
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When networks like HBO began broadcasting dramas and sitcoms, it was a revelation to be able to watch a show free of commercial interruptions.
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