The logic for some book end notes…
In my books and other offerings, especially the novels, I often include the section titled “Notes, Disclaimers, and Acknowledgements.” I might include other material as well, but that one might seem unusual to some readers. What is the logic for including this section?
Notes. These might include answers to anticipated questions readers might have as they’re reading or afterwards. Where’d I get the idea for the story (or stories)? Why did I write them? What’s their background? How did I come up with my plot, theme, characters, and settings…and why? What makes each story special and differ from others? These are all questions I often have when I finish a book, and I would like the books’ authors to answer.
Disclaimers. After I finish a manuscript, did a beta-reader or I discover any obvious errors? Did I fix them? If not, why not? (These might have appeared in previous books in a series, by the way.) Did I change certain historical facts, settings, or people’s names for literary purposes to protect the innocent? Etc. (There generally aren’t many of these, but they’re a bow to readers contributions and reactions.)
Acknowledgements. There might be some overlap here with the last item, and these might be included by many authors as a separate front note or end note, but I just throw everything into one catch-all bin. I thank beta-readers (if there are any), acquisition editors (same comment), content and copy editors (mostly MS Word’s now!), and cover artists with whom I’ve worked.
I realize a lot of readers don’t give a damn about any of this, but some (like me!) will. Knowing my characters Esther Brookstone and Bastiann van Coevorden from the “Esther Brookstone Art Detective” series came from my reading Agatha Christie’s stories about Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot and asking myself why she’d never put those two sleuths together could interest a lot of readers. Or, that my fascination for British-style mysteries helped me survive the Covid pandemic!
It’s not much of a problem for an author to add a section like this to their book. At the very least, it might motivate the reader who just finished it to look for the next one in the series!
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Free fiction. I don’t formally publish everything. Even by self0publishing with Draft2Digital/Smashwords (all my recent novels), it’s still a lot of work, and an author’s patience is worn then if they publish traditionally instead of self-publishing. This is why you’ll find a lot of free PDF downloads listed on my “Free Stuff & Contests” web page. (Just click on the title you want to download the item. There are even two Esther Brookstone novels available!). This is at least an easy low-cost way to test whether I can entertain you! (Although, if you go to any online book dealer, you will see that even my print versions cost far less than fiction books from traditional publishers. And, at the risk of seeming to be an immodest jerk, I think my stories are as good if not better than anything traditional publishers and their famous authors produce. At least they’re stories I’d want to read!)
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
