Online Community Management For Dummies®

Author's Acknowledgments

Many, many years ago, probably before many of you were born, my family noticed my enjoyment of writing and encouraged me to go beyond school essays and research reports and consider a career as a writer. It took a while, but eventually it happened. Even before I saw it myself, my mother and father encouraged me to write, and I'm so extremely grateful to them.

I'm even more grateful to my husband Bert and son Timothy for putting up with all the days and nights spent parked in front of my laptop, instead of spending time with them. They not only encouraged my dream but put up with crankiness and my absence as I opted to meet deadlines over going on family hikes or spending time with them in the pool.

In addition to my family, four people deserve the bulk of my thanks because I can honestly say this book never would have happened if my BlogWorld bosses, and true friends Rick Calvert, Dave Cynkin and Patti Hoskings, along with my very dear blogging friend Chris Garrett, didn't take me to a John Wiley & Sons, Inc. party in Austin, Texas to introduce me to Ellen Gerstein. Ellen didn't dig my original idea, but the introduction led to several pitches, and my idea for Online Community Management For Dummies is the one that stuck.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't thank the rest of my BlogWorld team, because they were so encouraging and supportive through the whole book writing process — even if I was late with work stuff. Thank you for your kind words and friendship ...