Ah. So I see you, too, are one of those people who reads acknowledgments. Welcome, friend. You and I have a lot in common.

If writing can feel like birthing a Honda Civic, then writing a book is like birthing a car dealership full of them.

It's not pretty. You sweat a lot. Most of the work is done while crying.

But you are not alone.

My name might be on this book, but the following people helped.

Most special thanks to …

Kristina Halvorson, who gave me the title of this book and in exchange asks merely for all my love, money, cryptocurrency, a lock of my hair, and perpetual acknowledgment of her genius. Here you go, Kristina. You are Writing Royalty.

Andrew Davis, for the steady beam of sanity-checking support, friendship, advice … and for acting as mediator when a few of these chapters and I got in a fight. Also thanks for answering random weekend texts toward the end of this book when ugh I just couldn't anymore.

Ahava Leibtag, for the unwavering support and honest, generous, gracious feedback. Any sentence that begins with Ahava's signature line Can I tell you something … ? always delivers exactly what you need to hear. And by “you” I mean “I.”

Jess Tyson, for lovingly organizing and managing All The Things. Without you, Jess, the manuscript for this book would be in piles around the Tiny House Studio or maybe littering the floor of my car, not neatly captured and bound right here.

Number-one son Evan W. H. Price, for the cover and interior illustrations, and also for suggesting that a seaside breeze coming through the slider might make for the best setting to finish this second edition. (It was perfection.)

Number-one daughter Caroline R. H. Price, for being the best hype person ever (You've got this!) as well as my Gen Z consultant ready to answer questions like “Do you know who Rocky Balboa is?” “How about Seabiscuit?” “What about a Rolodex?” (These references make sense when you read the book.)

P.S. Also, I'm not saying that your reading the first edition of this book when you were still a kid didn't launch your own career in Marketing, Caroline … but I'm not not saying that, either.

Also grateful to …

Doug Kessler, for being an early reader of The Ugly First Draft—yet still saying non-ugly things about it. Also for subtly prodding me to be a better writer because everything he writes is so ridiculously good and it rage-motivates me.

Kerry O'Shea Gorgone, for legal expertise, research help, hijinks. And for delivering more than I expect (always).

Katie Martell, for writing about important things and with wisdom and yet always a sense of humor. Sure, she calls us all to be better people … but I appreciate her telling me to loosen up with this book and have a little more fun already!

Andy Crestodina, Joe Pulizzi, Ruth Carter, Jay Acunzo, Corey O'Loughlin, Paul Roetzer, Jason Miller, Liz Murphy, Mitch Joel, Robert Rose, Justin Levy, Dane Sanders, Alex Rynne, and Tim Washer for answering my messages and emails even though I always need everything, like, yesterday.

To my MarketingProfs family. I used to feel weird referring to people I work with as family. But I've known some of you for almost half my adult life—so, I guess we're stuck with each other the way family is.

Team Wiley. Sorry for missing that deadline. And that other one. And really sorry this is late, too.

To TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, for making the writing of this book at least twice as long as it might have been otherwise.

To LinkedIn for the swig of good vibes when I was eight hours from this book's deadline!

And thanks to the following for sharing their feedback and encouragement generously and without expectation:

David Meerman Scott, Jay Baer, Lee Odden, Mark Schaefer, Carla Johnson, Michelle Martello, Joe Chernov, Jesse Noyes, Heidi Cohen, Melanie Deziel, Jonathon Colman, Allison Tyler Jones, John Simmons, Richard Pelletier, Ardath Albee, Sonia Simone, Michael Brenner, Ashley Zeckman, Nick Westergaard, Nancy Harhut, Erika Heald, Erin King, Paul Gillin, Jill Foster, C. C. Chapman, and Keith Jennings.

Finally, thank you to Vahe Habeshian, the world's best editor, among other things. I'm sorry for arguing over your suggested edits quite so much. You were mostly right. ☺

* * *

Wait. One more …

Thank you to E. B. White—the author of my favorite book of all time, Charlotte's Web, as well as Stuart Little and the writing guide The Elements of Style.

The Elements of Style was a talisman to me when I was a college student learning to be a better writer. I studied it. Memorized its rules. Clung to it like a baby orangutan clings to its mother's back, thinking it's the only way to ever get anywhere. (I still reread the book every year or so.)

E.B. White's quote in the Epilogue of Everybody Writes reminds me that anyone who waits for the perfect conditions to write won't ever create much of anything. I think of that advice almost every day—there's a practical forgiveness in it.

Thanking a great writer I never met is maybe pretentious. I don't know.

But the gratitude is real.