ABSTRACT
This chapter argues for Thomas Heywood's being in the middle of the swirling array of patronage and that his epistles dedicatory and addresses to readers define the struggle to position himself as a writer associated with the theater. It also argues that Heywood expressed no such antipathy toward theater audiences in the paratexts of his plays; instead, he occasionally acknowledges the approbation that his plays have received in the theater. The chapter examines the various issues that Heywood raises in the addresses and epistles dedicatory, noting how Heywood becomes even more solicitous of readers when he returns to writing for the theater in the 1630s and reaches out to patrons. It addresses the readers in Heywood's texts constitute together an "apology for readers," one that can become a companion to his much-celebrated Apology for Actors. Heywood underscores the problem for him and other playwrights of little control not only of publication but of timely publication.
