#3 Wednesday Words: The Purpose of a Preface

Hi subscribers! Welcome again to Wednesday Words. Today’s focus is on the purpose of a book’s preface. What’s it there for, why bother reading it? But first…

Speaking of books, did you know September 22 – 28, 2024, is Banned Books Week, which was established as long ago as 1982?

For more info, visit: Banned Books Week | Banned Books (ala.org)

What’s the purpose of a preface?

I think of a preface as a heads-up for readers. A preface pretty much contains information the author feels is important for folks to understand before they jump into the story. In a preface, they may learn behind-the-scenes secrets about the book’s contents, how and why the author wrote it, and how it is structured.

For memoir, which is nonfiction, it’s the place readers may discover unique details that shine a light on the true story they’re about to read. It’s a vital heads-up.

Another way to put it:

“A preface is an introductory passage written about a book by its author. It lays out why the book exists, its subject matter, and its goals. Prefaces are more commonly found in nonfiction books, but they can also be used in fiction.” ~ This quote is from Ricards Fayet, Reedsy co-founder, Chief Marketing Officer, and one of the world’s leading authorities in marketing indie books. Click here.

A heads-up for Undertow

In the preface for my memoir, for instance, there is very important information, including names I changed to protect the guilty (and that’s no joke). This time of year reminds me of writing that preface to Undertow, as well as completing other tasks with my copy editor, the late Ruth Mullen (1953 – 2021). She was a walking, eagle-eyed Chicago Manual of Style. Ruth was also a kind, generous, and good-humored book lover in New York. If you don’t know already, copy editors do the tedious line-by-line work after a structural editor does theirs.

The following is only part of the resulting heads-up for Undertow. Notice the remarks about memory.

Part of the Preface to Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International

By Charlene L. Edge

In its heyday in the 1980s, The Way International was one of the largest fundamentalist cults in America, with about forty thousand followers worldwide.¹ Founded in 1942 by a self-proclaimed prophet, Victor Paul Wierwille (1916–1985), who marketed the group as a biblical research, teaching, and fellowship ministry, The Way still operates in the shadow of its dark history.

I knew Wierwille personally. As one of his biblical research assistants and ministry leaders, I am a witness to his charisma, as well as his abuse of power and manipulation of Scriptures to serve his own agenda. I discovered his sexual abuse of women and chronic plagiarism. Today, those underbelly facts are hidden, denied, or otherwise squelched. The years of Wierwille’s authoritarian reign and the chaos after his death provide the context of my story.

This book is a memoir. It is my recollection of events related to the best of my knowledge and ability. The story’s crucial facts are true. Some events and conversations are combined in the interest of storytelling. Besides my memory and bits from others’ memories, my sources include my extensive collection of notes, journals, letters, calendars, books, newspapers, photographs, and copies of The Way Magazine. …

I recognize that others’ memories or interpretations of the events I describe herein may be different from my own. My book is not intended to hurt anyone. This is a recollection of life in a cult that in recent years has become a topic of public interest.

Notes

Preface

Author Karl Kahler states, “Cult numbers are notoriously hard to pin down, and are often inflated by anti-cult writers more concerned with sounding the alarm than checking the facts. Many writers have claimed The Way had 100,000 members, as if everyone who ever took the class were still a member. Around 1982, when [Craig] Martindale [second president of The Way International] was marching in Ontario and Way leaders were talking to the press, I heard consistently that we were claiming to have 40,000 members.” Karl Kahler, The Cult That Snapped: A Journey into The Way International (Los Gatos, CA: Karl Kahler, 1999), 110.

See also: Zay N. Smith, “The Way—40,000 and Still Growing,” Chicago Sun-Times, Aug. 17, 1980.