Heartfelt, Hilarious, or Brutal? The Many Faces of Book Dedications

If you had written the Bible, who would you dedicate it to? Your mom? Your editor? God? (Okay, a bit obvious, maybe.)

Book dedications have been around for centuries, and they started off pretty seriously. Back in the day—think Shakespeare and his peers—dedications were less about heartfelt thanks and more about survival. Writers would dedicate their work to rich patrons in hopes of securing financial support. It wasn’t uncommon to see something like, “To the Most Esteemed and Generous Lord So-and-So, Without Whom I’d Be Starving” scrawled across the opening pages. Follow the money? It still sometimes applies.

Fast forward a few hundred years, and dedications have become a lot more personal—sometimes sentimental, sometimes biting, and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. At least to our team.

One of our favorites is from Ben Philippe, who dedicated his book The Field Guide to the North American Teenager with brutal honesty: “For my mother Belzie. I would’ve made a terrible doctor, Mom. People would’ve died.” Think about how you then approach the reading of the first chapter right after seeing that dedication. The stage is set.

Then there’s George Soros, who dedicated The Alchemy of Finance to his wife with this loving tribute: “For Susan, without whom this book would’ve been done much faster.”

Ouch. But also, funny.

The question for our writers is: How do you want to approach it?

Some authors go straight for the heart. J.K. Rowling, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, spread the love far and wide with, “The dedication of this book is split seven ways: to Neil, to Jessica, to David, to Kenzie, to Di, to Anne, and to you, if you have stuck with Harry until the very end.”

That last part? The you? That’s designed to make millions of people tear up before Chapter One—and, perhaps more importantly, to make them feel like they are part of the series.

And then, on the other end of the spectrum, there’s Charles Bukowski, who simply wrote, “This is presented as a work of fiction and dedicated to nobody.” Because, of course.

And how about Stephen King, who has just written too many books for his dedications to mean much? As of February 2025, Stephen King has authored 65 novels, including seven under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, and five non-fiction books. Additionally, he has written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been compiled into collections. So if his first cousin, twice removed, was finally acknowledged in book number sixty-two, how much could it mean? But he seems to care.

The Shining is dedicated to his son: “This is for Joe Hill King, who shines on.” Similarly, The Stand bears the dedication: “For my wife Tabitha: This dark chest of wonders.”

In his memoir On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, King reflected on the importance of support in a writer’s life, noting, “Whenever I see a first novel dedicated to a wife (or a husband), I smile and think, There’s someone who knows. Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference.”

So think through whether you want to be a Soros, a J.K. Rowling, or a Stephen King. Or maybe you have something that is not like anyone else—totally you. And since it will be the first thing your readers read, and it’s from you personally, consider how you want them to see you—because they will also see the characters through that first impression.