Failure to Fully Identify Famous People Mentioned in Your Text

In the course of writing your book, you will probably refer to authorities or famous people at some point in the text. You could do this in passing. For instance, you might be writing a book on golf and mention Jack Nicklaus. Or you might be quoting something someone has said or written, like a passage from Tiger Woods' How I Play Golf. When you do this, it is vitally important that the first time you mention an authority, you devote a few words to identifying the individual involved.

You may think the person you mention is so famous that, like Tiger Woods, everyone will know who they are especially golfers. But what about five years from now, or ten? Will everyone know then? Or what about Jack Nicklaus? The average duffer of today may not know he was the Tiger Woods of his era. The same is true when citing or mentioning professionals, politicians, movie stars anyone and everyone.

Again, you may think everyone must know who William Jefferson Clinton is but surveys reveal that most people asked to identify Gerald Ford Do not remember he was President. Plus, not everyone who reads your book may be up on popular culture, or even American culture. Steven King and Steven Segal will only be puzzling to them.

And merely referring to someone as Professor Feldman or Janet Jepperson, Ph.D. does not give readers much hint of the person's particular area or degree of expertise. Now, picture how much more illuminating these references become when you add a brief identifying tag. "My good friend, Jack Nicklaus, PGA Player-of-the-Year in 1967 and 1972, and six-time Masters winner..." Or, "Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States, who assumed the office after the impeachment and resignation of Richard Nixon." Or, "Steven King, the best-selling horror novelist..." Or, "Robert S. Feldman, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts and author of Understanding Psychology..."