Do you love reading books? Authors spend months crafting eloquent prose — and then I think some completely lose it in the acknowledgements. And I will prove it.
I have a confession: I read acknowledgements before I read the actual book. XD
Not those blurbs! Not those chapter titles! The acknowledgements — that weird, chaotic, deeply personal section where authors who have spent months being serious finally crack and let their unhinged side out.
And let me tell you. It is glorious there and you should not skip it.
They usually start from a polite little corner of the book. A “thank you to my editor, my agent, my mum.” Now what? They’re just a roast, a therapy session, and a stand-up special crammed into two pages before chapter one.
Did you know that authors actually thank their dogs for “not being helpful at all.” They even apologise to their families for three years of talking to fictional people. They call out specific friends asking “when’s it coming out?” one too many times. There’s always a sourdough starter involved somewhere since 2020.
I have also collected some Funny Acknowledgements from Reddit and Quora
53 Funny Book Acknowledgements
I always read the acknowledgements first, even before chapter one. Because that is the one page where the author is not trying to sound smart or perfect, they are just being a real tired human being saying thank you to everyone, and sometimes to their dog too! So today I collected 53 of the funniest, most unhinged, and most relatable book acknowledgements, and I also gave each one a fun made-up book name, so it feels more real. I have sorted them into categories, because even chaos deserves some organisation XD!!
Editor Apologies
This category is for the writers who are deeply thankful, and also deeply, deeply sorry.
No. 01 — Book: The Long Con
To my editor, who is either a saint or running an elaborate long con. Either way, thank you.
No. 02 — Book: The Ledge
To my agent, who talked me off the ledge 47 times. You know the ledge. You have been to the ledge.
No. 03 — Book: Semicolons and Souls
To my copyeditor, who fixed my semicolons and probably my soul a little too.
No. 04 — Book: Chapter Nine
To my editor, I am sorry for the email I sent at 2am about chapter nine. I stand by the chapter. I do not stand by the email.
No. 05 — Book: Eleven Drafts To the editorial team, who received 11 drafts and somehow still answered my calls.
No. 06 — Book: Interesting
To my writing group, who told me chapter three was “interesting.” I knew what you meant. I rewrote it four times.
No. 07 — Book: Before It Deserved It
To my publisher, who believed in this book before it deserved believing in.
Family
This one is the “I know I was barely present for three years” kind. A staple of this genre, if you ask me.
No. 08 — Book: Inventing People
My husband fed the children while I was busy inventing people. I know this is not normal. He knows it too.
No. 09 — Book: Every Draft
To my parents, who read every draft even when I asked them not to.
No. 10 — Book: Is It Done Yet
To my mum, who asked “is it done yet?” every Sunday for three years. It is done, Mum. Please stop.
No. 11 — Book: Almost Every Sentence
To my children, who are too young to read this but old enough to have interrupted almost every sentence I wrote.
No. 12 — Book: That’s Love
To my sister, who told me it was good when it was not yet good. That is love.
No. 13 — Book: Large Print
To my grandmother, who said she will read it as soon as they put it on large print. Gran, I hear you.
No. 14 — Book: Onto Something
To the friend who read the first draft and said “I think you are onto something.” That was enough. That was everything.
No. 15 — Book: How’s The Book Going
To everyone who kept asking “how is the book going?” and meant it. That small kindness carried me further than you know.
Pets
This is always a crowd favourite, and always deserved, if you ask me. There is always a dog, always a cat, always one deleted chapter.
No. 16 — Book: Chapter Seven Was Bad
To Biscuit, who sat on my laptop and deleted chapter seven. You were right. Chapter seven was bad.
No. 17 — Book: Zero Plot Ideas
To my dog, who needed two walks a day and gave me exactly zero plot ideas in return.
No. 18 — Book: Here You Are
To my cat, who knocked my water onto my keyboard twice. I have no idea why you are in the acknowledgements. But here you are.
No. 19 — Book: The Best Character
To my dog Winston, who is very good and who I am confident cannot read this, so I can say it, you are the best character I have ever written.
No. 20 — Book: Without Judgment
To my goldfish, who listened without judgment. Unlike some people.
No. 21 — Book: 4th Street
To the cat who belonged to the coffee shop on 4th Street, who sat on the chair across from me every Tuesday. You know what you did.
No. 22 — Book: An Apology In Water
To my houseplants, who were present for all of it, and who I owe a great deal of water and an apology.
Coffee & Chaos
This one is the fuel and the mood. No further explanation needed, I think.
No. 23 — Book: The Large Cup
To coffee, without which none of this would exist. And to whoever invented the large cup. A true hero.
No. 24 — Book: Third Month
To oat milk lattes and the barista who stopped asking my name after the third month.
No. 25 — Book: You Know What You Did
To wine. For obvious reasons. You know what you did.
No. 26 — Book: Six Hours, One Americano
To the corner cafe that let me sit for six hours on one americano. You never said anything. I will always remember you.
No. 27 — Book: Spite
To caffeine, spite, and the deeply human need to finish what you started.
No. 28 — Book: 11pm In October
To the energy drink I had at 11pm on a Tuesday in October. Dark times. Good chapter, though.
No. 29 — Book: A Very Clean Kitchen
To procrastination, which gave me a very clean kitchen, and eventually, a desperate enough mood to write.
Self-Doubt
This category is surprisingly relatable. Also very honest, if you ask me.
No. 30 — Book: I Was Right, Then Wrong I did not think I could write this book. I was right, then I was wrong, then I was right again, and then it was done.
No. 31 — Book: Just Start Writing
To everyone who told me to “just start writing.” You were annoying. You were also right.
No. 32 — Book: Humble and Stubborn
To imposter syndrome, which kept me humble, and to stubbornness, which kept me writing.
No. 33 — Book: It’s Okay
I wrote this book during a time I was sure it was terrible. I still think about that sometimes. The book is okay.
No. 34 — Book: We Made It, Buddy
To the voice in my head that said “this is the worst thing anyone has ever written,” we made it, buddy.
No. 35 — Book: Is It Literary
To everyone who asked “but is it literary?” I do not know. It is done. That felt more important at the time.
No. 36 — Book: See You In Two Years
To the next book, which I am already scared of. See you in two years, probably.
Petty & Proud
This one is for the authors with receipts, and the guts to print them.
No. 37 — Book: I Have Receipts
To everyone who said this would never be published. I have receipts. They are called this book.
No. 38 — Book: No Future In Fiction
To the professor who said I had “no future in fiction.” This one is for you. Please do not sue me.
No. 39 — Book: Seventeen Agents
To the 17 agents who passed. No hard feelings. Well, a few. But mostly none.
No. 40 — Book: A Real Job
To anyone who asked “but when’s the real job coming?” I hope you enjoy reading this at your real job.
No. 41 — Book: Imaginary People
To the ex who said I spent too much time with imaginary people. The imaginary people never said that about you.
No. 42 — Book: You’ll Figure It Out
To all the people who said “get a proper job”, I wrote a character based on you. You will figure out which one.
No. 43 — Book: Bad Impulse Control
To everyone who pre-ordered before there was even a cover or a description. That is either faith or bad impulse control. I deeply appreciate it, either way.
Weirdly Specific
This is the sourdough starters, the wobbly chairs and the 3am notes app entries kind. If you ask me, this is the true heart of the whole genre.
No. 44 — Book: Gerald
To the sourdough starter I named Gerald, who was with me for all of the pandemic and part of the third draft.
No. 45 — Book: The Dying Goose
To the radiator in my office that made a sound like a dying goose every November. You were a constant.
No. 46 — Book: Writing Vibes 2021
To the playlist called “writing vibes 2021” that I played for nine months straight. I cannot hear those songs now without crying a little.
No. 47 — Book: The Wobbly Leg
To the chair with the wobbly leg that I never fixed. We understood each other.
No. 48 — Book: Six Hours On Wikipedia
To the Wikipedia rabbit hole that cost me six hours and saved chapter four. You know which page.
No. 49 — Book: 2am Panic
To that particular kind of 2am panic that only writers know. You were reliable, if nothing else.
No. 50 — Book: But What Do You Want
To my therapist, who asked “but what do YOU want?” almost every session, and charged me accordingly.
No. 51 — Book: Free E-Books
To the library that lets you borrow e-books for free. I did not write this for the money exactly. But if I had, you would owe me.
No. 52 — Book: What’s It About
To anyone who ever asked me what my book was about at a dinner party. I am sorry for what came after that question.
No. 53 — Book: 3am Notes App
To the notes app on my phone, which has fragments of this book, three grocery lists, and one sentence I wrote at 3am that I still cannot explain.
Final Words
I started this blog thinking I will make a quick little list, but honestly, it became something like a love letter to the weirdest two pages in any book. And I have no regrets about that!!
Because if you ask me, a great novel makes you feel something, but a great acknowledgements page makes you feel like you actually know the author. There is something really warm about watching someone drop the curtain for two pages and just say, “okay, this is what it was actually like for me.”
No fancy words, no perfect prose, just a tired, grateful, slightly worn out human being saying thank you to the people, the pets, and even the radiators who kept them going while writing the book.
If you are someone who also jumps to the acknowledgements page first, then you already get it. And if you are not, try it once. Pick any book and read the acknowledgements before chapter one, I promise you will not regret it.
And if you are a writer staring at a blank acknowledgements page right now, my advice is simple, be petty, be specific. Thank the chair, thank the dog, thank the 2am panic. This is the one part of the book where being honest is not just allowed, it is actually the whole point.
Keep on visiting my blog for more fun reads like this one!
FAQs
Q1. What is an acknowledgements page in a book? It is a short page, usually at the start or end of a book, where the author says thank you to the people who helped them while writing it. Editors, family, friends, and sometimes even pets make the list!
Q2. Why do people love funny book acknowledgements so much? Because they feel real, if you ask me. Most of the book is polished and edited, but the acknowledgements page is where the author drops that and sounds like a normal, tired person again.
Q3. Can I use humour in my own book’s acknowledgements page? Yes, absolutely! A lot of readers actually enjoy a funny or slightly petty acknowledgements page more than a very formal one. Just keep it honest and keep it you.
Q4. Should I thank my pet in the acknowledgements? If your pet sat with you through late nights, sure, why not! It is one of the most loved categories in this whole genre, and readers really enjoy it.
Q5. Where should the acknowledgements page go in a book? It usually goes right after the title page at the front, or sometimes at the very end of the book. Both are common, so it really depends on what the author prefers.
Sources: Tips to Writing a Book Acknowledgements Page – BookBaby
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