Acknowledgments

This morning, I got to thinkin'.  Does anyone read the Acknowledgements anymore?  Did they ever? 

I mean, I know sometimes other writers read that section, if they're looking for an agent or a cover artist or an editor.  I know people close to the author read them to see if they're mentioned.  Sometimes, I'll read the ones in my friend's books to see who they thanked.  But, for the most part, as a general reader, I don't read them.

And I do it even less than I used to because with ebooks, the book opens up at the first line of the book (Chapter One or Prologue or whatever), and it takes actual forethought to scroll back and read them.  I usually just dive right in.  I'm more likely to read them in hardcopy.  They're right there as I turn pages to get to the story, so why not glance at them?  Right?

If you pick up a copy of Up Wish Creek and read the Acknowledgements, you might notice something.  Well, you might notice if you've already read In Deep Wish's Acknowledgements.  They're almost identical.  I read the previous Acknowledgements and all of it was still true, so I left it.  It's not that I'm not grateful to the people who help me, but since I'm a hermit, there aren't that many people to thank individually. 

I've started putting a Special Note right after the Acknowledgements, pointing people to other books in the series, but that's something a reader would have to scroll back for, too.  :shrug:

So, your turn to chime in.  Do you read the Acknowledgements?  Do you read the other front matter of a book?  What about the back matter - About the Author, or Other Books By?