One big Thank You note.

I have just submitted the final edits (final for the third time) for my book. I sent out copies to friends and family for feedback and review. They have all given me great suggestions. They caught a number of typos, questioned some of my jokes (or what I thought were jokes), suggested I tighten up content here, remove other content there. 

Here’s the problem.  Now I have a lot more people to thank. The acknowledgments section should be longer than the book.

That’s the trouble. When it takes you a lifetime to write a book, you realize that every person you have met along the way made a difference.

Your own ideas start out poorly formed. It takes a lot of bouncing them off of other people to make them clear. The rough edges get worn off bit by bit and eventually you end up with something meaningful.

But no idea is really your own. Ideas are everywhere. They’re like single pieces of Velcro in search of a sticky surface. You never know what they will stick to or where an idea will end up, or even who will teach you something new.

Once you start writing, each page ends up reminding you of someone. Maybe it was the person who gave you the idea about using a scene from Monty Python in your first big presentation, or that editor of Accounting Technology who wrote down what you said, or the technical support person who had a great quote, or maybe it was a book someone suggested you read, or an event you attended, or a person you met on a plane, or a teacher in high school who inspired you to solve a calculus problem for extra credit.  

And then there are the books you read and the classes you take and the blogs you follow. How do you keep track of all of those ideas that help you refine your own message?  How can you possibly thank everyone who has made a difference in your life? And what if you leave someone out?

I think I will have to write a second book called, “How to Thank People:  52 acknowledgements for the people who inspired my first book.” The problem there is that I will have to include an acknowledgement to thank all of the people who inspired my book of acknowledgements.