Author Notes

An author’s note can have many uses, but it is generally a way for authors to speak directly to their readers about their work. It might explain what they created or why they created it. It could be a reflection of what they learned while writing their novels or how they grew as an author. Since it’s used to address the audience directly, it could create a connection between authors and their readers, possibly making the work more memorable or meaningful. It might be a statement authors feel needs to be made, or it could be an explanation of how reality mingles with fiction, so readers are better informed.

One of my favorite authors, the late Robert B. Parker of the fantastic Spenser series, wrote a book called Double Play. It’s written about Jackie Robinson and his bodyguard, Joseph Burke, in 1947 when Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier. I’m going to quote Parker’s author note verbatim. “This is a work of fiction about a real man. Most of what I’ve written, I made up. I have, however, attempted to render Jackie Robinson accurately—as he was, or as I imagined him to be in 1947 when I was turning fifteen, and he was changing the world. The rest is altogether fiction. It may be more Burke’s story than Jackie’s, but without Jackie, Burke would have had no story. And neither would I.” It was a phenomenal book, but Parker felt the need to not only give Jackie Robinson credit but also make it clear to his readers that he made the story up. That’s a good use of an author note.

John Grisham wrote an author note for Calico Joe, another of my favorite books, about a fictional event in the 1973 professional baseball season. He wrote, "The mixing of real people, places, and events into a novel is tricky business. This is a story about the Cubs and Mets and the 1973 season, but, please, all you die-hard fans, don't read this with any expectation of accuracy. I have completely rearranged schedules, rosters, rotations, records, batting orders, and I've even thrown in some fictional players to mix it up with the real ones. This is a novel, so any mistake should be promptly classified as part of the fiction."

Harlan Coben is my favorite author, but on the first page of Miracle Cure, there's a "note from the author," which is awful. It says "Okay, if this is the first book of mine you're going to try, stop now. Return it. Grab another. It's okay." Wow. He also said, "Please know that I haven't read Miracle Cure in at least twenty years. It is my second published novel, one I wrote...when I was just a naive lad....I'm hard on it.” He said, “Man, what was I thinking?... It is a bit preachy in spots and sometimes dated.” Then he said, “Flawed and all, I love this book." It doesn't sound like he loved it because if he did, he wouldn't have written the author note. 

I say instead of putting forth a warning, he should’ve revised his book. Made it better. Republished it so he could be proud of it. Or if he didn’t want to revisit the manuscript, he should’ve unpublished it so people don’t read it, thinking it’s on a par with his other works and find themselves disappointed. I was disappointed. I couldn’t get it out of my head that Coben was uncomfortable with me reading it, and I found out from an ill-advised author note. 

I’m an author too, and I’ve used author notes to make important comments a few times but never to make excuses for my writing or to warn my readers they may not enjoy my book. In my mystery, Lost and Found, there is a treasure hunt and a search for a grandfather with dementia. The novel starts in Germany just before WWII. A German-Jewish family sends a son to America with a treasure of art. As I researched the book, I found ample opportunity to include recorded historical events throughout my mystery. But the book was fiction, so I made up things as well, and some of the non-fictional events included my made-up characters and their fictional activities. I felt compelled at the end of the book to explain what was factual and what wasn’t. I used an author note to do so and felt it was a nice addition to my book.

In my two most recent books, I’ve had to include an author note similar to one from John Green and A Fault in Our Stars. He said, "This is not so much an author's note as an author's reminder of what was printed in small type a few pages ago: This book is a work of fiction. I made it up. Neither novels nor their readers benefit from attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea that made-up stories can matter, which is sort of the foundational assumption of our species. I appreciate your cooperation in this matter."

Maybe he was serious because of some feedback or some similarities to something real in his life or of someone he knew, or maybe he was sarcastically joking since people know he writes fiction. Either way, this is a good use of an author note, and it’s a use I made of the notes in my last two novels.

In Jumper, the first book in my time-travelers series, I literally got some one-star reviews because, as I was told, the Staff of Moses wasn’t made of sapphire and it never was a possession of Adam in the Garden of Eden. There were other Biblical references that I used as ideas, but readers wanted me to know that I was a heretic, and I didn’t know my Bible. Well, I never said what I wrote was factual. I wrote a fictional novel. I made things up. I was also told that the Jordanian military wasn’t an elite fighting force. Well, again, so what? They were in my book because I made it up. I did plenty of research to get peripheral details correct, but I never claimed to be writing non-fiction. I was criticized for making Muslims my bad guys in the Middle East as if I was making some political statement, but I never mentioned Muslims, and the true baddy was an Israeli. The only reason the book was in Jordan was because that was where Mt. Nebo was and where the Staff of Moses was found and where one of my main Biblical characters was actually from. It wasn’t political at all.

So when I wrote the follow-ups, Planer and Warper, I wrote author notes. I said, “I shouldn’t have to say this, but I’m compelled to remind my readers that this is a work of fiction. I made this up, including stories that often have a basis in the Bible.” I said other things including that they’re not political books. But mostly I said, “I’m telling you as clearly as I can that I made things up like authors do.” It’s what Robert B. Parker did. It's what John Grisham did. It’s what John Green did. It’s what J.K. Rowling did in Harry Potter. I have to wonder if people wrote her and told her the magic that was done was impossible like they did to me to tell me my details weren't accurate. So I wrote an author note like many authors do, and I reminded my readers I am a fictional novelist. If things seem so real that I have to be reminded elements are inaccurate, it means I did a good job researching and making my made-up story believable.  

So if you’re an author and there is something you feel is important to say, say it in an author note. Just don’t tell your readers to put it back and try something else because it’s so flawed. That’s my advice from The Red Pen.