It Takes a Village

As you can see, I found a nice surprise waiting for me on Friday. It’s always nice to hold in completed physical form what has so far only appeared on screen or in marked-up printouts.

The old adage “it takes a village” certainly applies when it comes to publishing a book. It’s why I always read the acknowledgments section first–I want to know who the author thanks for helping them cross the finish line.

I’m not going to recap all of my professional acknowledgments for Who Is James K. Polk? here, but I wanted to recognize several people/groups of people. First, I want to thank the archivists and librarians who assisted me, especially when I was writing during the early months of the COVID pandemic. I literally could not have completed this book without their help. Secondly, I want to thanks the scholars who took time out of their busy schedules to read manuscript drafts. I tend to overexplain, and thus overwrite, so the people who agreed to read early drafts especially deserve a medal for wading through the schlock I sent them. That list includes Tom Balcerski, Michael Cohen, Amy Greenberg, Spencer McBride, John McCardell, Beth Salerno, Laura Ellyn Smith, and Mike Trapani. Finally, I wanted to thank the scholars who wrote blurbs for the book jacket: Will Bolt, Richard Ellis, and Chris Leahy (who read an early draft as well).

When I sent my dad this picture, he told me to “relax and enjoy the free time.” My job doesn’t really give me the luxury of free time nowadays, but knowing that WIJKP is completed and that it will be out soon is relaxing in its own way.