6. Agents/managers 7. Contributors/advisers/sources of information 8. Teachers/mentors/bosses 9. Inspirations DO YOU NEED ONE? No. Most books do have them, but by no means are they required or mandatory. HOW TO WRITE YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS SECTION 1. REMEMBER: PEOPLE WILL READ THIS People will read the Acknowledgments section and it will impact them—especially the people who are in them. This section is about those people you are naming, not about you, so approach this as you should your entire book: make it good for the people you are naming, who will read it. 2. START WITH A LIST OF WHO WILL GO IN (BY FULL NAME) This method has worked well in many situations: write out all the people you want to thank, BEFORE you start writing this section. Doing this allows you to see them all together in a list, and helps ensure that everyone is on the list who should be there. Note: A great way to make sure you are not missing anyone is to group people by category, so that you are more likely to remember them. When you put your family members together, you are less likely to leave any out. 3. BE SPECIFIC FOR THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE For the most important people, the more specific you can be in your thanks, the better. 208 · ThE SCriBE METhOD