Expressing Gratitude as an Author

With Thanksgiving coming up next week, I’ve been thinking about all of the supportive people that I’m grateful for. They say that it takes a village to raise a child, and I think it must take a whole community to support a writer. Of course, authors do have some unique ways to express gratitude for special people. Many of our books start with an Acknowledgments page where we list a few specific individuals that were instrumental in seeing the project all the way to publication. We can also dedicate books to people who have touched our lives in a special way and who deserve more honors and accolades than we could ever provide.

Even so, I’m often worried that I’ll forget to mention someone that I’m truly grateful for. I’ll often do my best to compensate for this by thanking groups of people like my beta readers, street team members, and friends. While this may result in some person somewhere feeling slighted (though I sincerely hope nobody ever is) my hope is that I can better show my gratitude by the way that I treat my friends and fans on a regular basis. Sure, seeing your name in the front of a published book can be exciting, and having a book dedicated to you can be touching. But isn’t it more meaningful to have a relationship that demonstrates gratitude and appreciation? The kind of relationship that goes beyond the books?

I know that I could probably get more sales and reviews if I hounded my friends for them, but I prefer for my friends to be friends first and fans second. If they do buy a book or write a review, I would want it to be because they either liked the story or wanted to support me in my craft. That’s the sort of fan that I’m truly grateful for, and I want to express my thanks, once again, for all of you that have shared in this wonderful adventure thus far. I couldn’t do it without you.