The dedication of your book is like an acceptance speech at an awards ceremony. It’s when you take the time to acknowledge the people who have helped you along the way, inspired you to write, or acted as your continual source of motivation as you wrote your book.

If you’ve never written one before, we’re here to help because we understand that, once the grueling process of writing a book has come to an end, your creative juices are running on empty.

We’re here to give you the final push to write a dedication that encompasses your emotions and gives the people or things that are most important to you the spotlight they deserve.

How to write a dedication

1. Keep it simple – As writers, we have a tendency to overthink things. But when it comes to writing a dedication, you should keep things simple. Think about the people who have made the biggest impact on your life and use their lessons as a creative resource for your dedication.
2. Get to the point – In the same vein, it’s a good idea to keep an ongoing list of people you want to include in your dedication. But be careful of going too far down the rabbit hole. Instead, to continue our analogy, think of it this way: If you start to name every single person you can think of, it’ll be like during an awards show when the music comes on telling the person to get off the stage. Keep it concise and try and correlate your book’s overall theme with the people you’re including in your dedication.
3. Quote it – Many times we gather motivation from our favorite quotes. They give us the needed push in the right direction to chase after our dreams. That being said, it’s not a bad idea to include a quote that encapsulates your gratitude in your dedication.
4. Show off your personality – Your book’s dedication doesn’t have to be serious. In fact, you could dedicate your book to copious amounts of coffee or your favorite show on Netflix for powering you through those late nights of writing.

Your book’s dedication is a place where you can put your personal stamp on your work. It’s a piece of real estate that you can make your own. Thank the people you love. Acknowledge your sources of inspiration. Or keep it simple. The choice is yours.

Copyright Dorrance Publishing, 2018