Front and back matter of a book

Back matter in your book celebrating independent authors. So that you earn a commission everytime someone makes a purchase via your bibliography link. An overview front matter is one of the last sections of a book manuscript for an author to complete. Front matter and back matter are terms used to describe the first and last pages of a book but not the actual story or body content of the book. So please do take these things as seriously as your story. Front matter is one of the last sections of a book manuscript for an author to complete. If the reader has enjoyed the story, the first thing they will want to do is check out your other titles. The back matter is the concluding section of a book, and it can contain a whole host of information, and many of these sections are entirely optional. You likely go back to these pages called front matter and back matter to learn about the author, see if there are any intriguing dedications, and discover whether the author has other books to check out. The front matter of a book consists of its very first pages.

So what is contained in the front and back matter and what do you need to include in your book. One of these components that often causes selfpublished authors pause is the front matter and back matter. Whats it matter the front and back matter of a book the happy. How to use your books back matter to massively boost your. Learn more about creating projects and tables of contents. Optimizing your front matter and back matter writing your book is the first step in your selfpublishing journey, but in order to really sell books, you have to think like a publisher. Its the page at the very front of the book, not used in all cases, that has only the title of the book on it. How to format front matter how to make an ebook series. For readers and writers alike, this is where the magic happens but its not just the content thats crucial, but also how you arrange it. An unabridged list of the parts of a book by joel friedlander on september 29, 2009 57 comments the history of book printing goes back to the first bibles pulled sheet by sheet off johannes gutenbergs presses in mainz, germany in the late fifteenth century. Make sure you know what is supposed to be in your book and where it is placed. You can also add other front matter as well as back matter pages, but these arent required. Now these are merely suggestions for what you can choose to include in the front and back matter of your book. May 27, 2015 book promotion expert ben cameron always says writing the blurb is the hardest 100 words youll ever write, and many authors are also stumped when it comes to writing the front and back matter another task that usually falls just when youre feeling least like writing another word, after completing your books final edit.

But that made me realize i was probably missing a major opportunity to connect with those readers, so i checked my back copy the material at the end of my book and found it seriously wanting. Well never look at a childrens picture book in the same way again. When it comes time for book design there are 2 parts to consider outside the body of the book. Were novices, so working with front matter and back matter is a new experience. Back matter is the stuff at the end of your book, after the main sections of the book are finished. Nov 17, 2019 front matter is the information that appears in the very beginning of a book. If youve used roman numerals to paginate your front matter, you have no problem, since the page numbers in the body of the book wont change. If done haphazardly, its a sure sign in most peoples eyes that the book content will not be up to par. Jul 31, 2019 what is included in the front and back matter of a book. Pick up multiple books from your shelf and take a look at the front and back matter for a. The amount of front matter you include depends on the length and content of your document, but may include. Front matter is at the front and is sometimes called the prelims or preliminary matter.

These are the parts of the book before and after the content of your book and will vary based on whether it is a fiction or nonfiction book. Apr 26, 2019 what exactly is front matter and back matter. How you should be using back matter in your ebooks adam geen. Nov 12, 20 your checklist for the components of a nonfiction book, from the front cover to the back and everything in between. Just as front matter is what you find at the beginning of a book, back matter, simply put, is what you find at the end of a bookthe sections that appear after the central story has been completed.

A quick and easy guide to writing the best front and back matter for your self published book, both print and ebook editions, by jessica bell. How to use your book s back matter to massively boost your fanbase, get more shares, and explode your platform. As you create your ebooks whether its meant for kindle or kobo or nook or whoever, you have the option of inserting front matter or back matter sections. In this excerpt from book design made simple, we offer a list of possible book front matter pages and their proper order. Book back matter includes some or all of these pages. Lets first take a look at the different sections you may want to include in your book.

Front matter is information about a book which precedes the main text. Make the most of your book, include highquality front and back matter. Its really not all that complicated, but it is important to get it right if you. To gain access to your free bonus materials, please enroll in the upcoming minicourse, what goes in your book besides your book. Youll learn the nitty gritty about book back matter in chapter 29, designing your back matter. Chicago gives us the following outline on the order in which they should occur of course not every document will include all of the items. If its found between the cover of your book and its not a part of the main text, it is considered front and back matter. Ive moved shearwater to permafree and got over 5,000 downloads this month. Parts of your selfpublished book including all of the necessary parts of a book and putting them in the right order is the first step to making your book credible and professional.

We all know what the title page is, but whats a half title. Ensure you have front matter and back matter that is organized properly to give your book a professional look understand what metadata can be embedded within an ebook and how it relates to discoverability gain comprehension of how more complicated back matter like an index and notes section can function in an ebook. The front matter is a section in the beginning of a book. May 19, 2014 hello, this is ken from bookfuel with a brief explanation of front matter and back matter. There arent any definitive rules for how the different sections of front matter in an ebook should be organized, and it is very unlikely that your book will be rejected for publishing based on how you have structured it except for smashwords, the nitpicky ones. Book back matter what to include in the back of your book. Front matter is the stuff in your book from the page after the cover till the page before chapter one. Back matter definition of back matter by the free dictionary. Books consist of many components, all of them important when creating a full, complete, and professional work. As i said previously, there are no hard and fast rules that dictate how a book must be structured, but the structure discussed here is one thats been around for a few hundred years.

If you have any material at all after the main part of your book, check this guide from book design made simple to find out the proper order. Make sure the links in your catalogue are affiliate links of your account. This is a work file in kcb format you can use to update your book later. It can be as simple as a single title page, or it can include multiple title pages, foreword, a preface, and much more. Optimizing your front matter and back matter makes this possible.

Jan 03, 2018 all of these pieces front matter, body text, and back matter fit together perfectly to create a complete book. These sections of back matter are often supplementary in nature, and inform the reader about some aspect of the book. From front matter to back matter, book content is arranged in a traditional, prescribed manner and each element appears in a similar location in every book. The inside of your book, which we call the book block, is divided into three main sections. Front matter of a book what is included in the front matter. Back matter includes a blurb, writer biography which may include a photo, testimonial quotes, barcode, isbn, quotes or extracts from the book, and the publishers name and logo. We tend to spend all of our time writing the main content. Sep 26, 2019 you can probably guess but anything found before the main text is called front matter and anything found after, the back matter. This includes all frontmatter items listed below, together with chapters in the body matter and back matter.

The back matter is where youll find components such as an index, a glossary, an. The front matter, and all its components, is a seriously important part of the book. Though the front matter may not be as sexy as the main text or as information packed as the back matter, its an opportunity for authors to set the tone for their readers experience. Back matter items are essentially chapters within a part, with one additional option to customize. Solutions are practical, his best practice guidelines sensible and their rationales well explained. Jun 25, 2015 how to format a book in ms word part iii. Page numbers can in a header at the top of the page, or at the bottom, as they are in this book. Kindle create displays your book in three sections. The front and back matter is all the extra stuff at the beginning and at the end of your book that sits between the cover and the chapters.

After the last page of the manuscripts text, pagination continues in numerical sequence into the back matter. Jan 18, 2018 front matter, the body and back matter. Books can be divided into three areas front matter, body content and back matter. Title page the title page is especially easy because you dont need to give it a different style. Now before we get into it, these are merely meant as suggestions and there are definitely some who refuse to put a table of contents at the beginning of their book for instance since it. The parts of a book and the elements of content the balance. It matters a lot, but sometimes authors get confused about what goes where, when, and why. Front matter of a book what is included in the front. The back matter also known as the end matter is you guessed it material found at the back of a book.

Hello, this is ken from bookfuel with a brief explanation of front matter and back matter. Book front matter what to include in the front of your book. After this comes the body of the book and after that, what is called the back matter. Front matter includes the title pages, the writers name, the edition, the publication date. Front matter is the information that is presented before the body of the document. The good thing is that front matter and back matter are fairly formulaic there are a standard set of elements to include and a typical running order for them, and all of them are included in this article. Books are divided into three parts front matter, body text with or without illustrations, and back matter. This is especially important when selfpublishing on a deadline, selfimposed or not. What youve been working on, the manuscript youve sweated. This means engineering your book so that its a marketing tool itself.

You can probably guess but anything found before the main text is called front matter and anything found after, the back matter. This extra material is called the front or back matter depending on whether it comes before or after the text. Back matter is the final pages of a book, where endnotes, the appendix, the bibliography, the index, and related elements reside. When you format your book for hard copy printing, you should follow the structure as shown in the diagram below. Just as front matter is what you find at the beginning of a book, back matter, simply. We tend to spend all of our time writing the main content of the book and fail to factor in the extra time required to write and organize the front and back matter. In the words of renowned typographer jan tschichold 19021974, book design, though largely forgotten today, relies upon methods and rules upon which it is impossible to improve, and which have been developed over centuries. Front and back matter goes after the book is fully edited and before you begin formatting the content. Today, we look at the elements which make up the back matter. What is included in front matter really depends on the type of publication, so lets go. Nov 07, 2012 every book, your book included, should have front matter, and making front matter look great is easy if you know how. Book front matter includes some or all of these pages. Beware the ebook front matter trap the great thing about selfpublishing is that there is no one telling you what you have to do with your book.

Beware the ebook front matter trap polgarus studio. Authors use their back matter to offer readers further context or information about the story, though back matter can also be extremely simple. Jan 10, 2014 last week here, i presented the parts of a book which appear in the front of the book. The reedsy blog offers a daily dose of writing tips, publishing advice, and clever book marketing ideas. Your body content is the book itself its your introduction, conclusion and everything in between.

The front matter contains the nuts and bolts of the books publicationinformation such as title, author, publisher, isbn, and library of congress data. Other books by if this is not your first book, you definitely want to list your other books. Whats it matter the front and back matter of a book. The errata are sometimes found in the back of the book called the back matter. Front matter is information that is presented before the body of the document. How to write the front and back matter of your kindle ebook. Front and back matter in books selfpublishing advice. But if you started your page numbering at the title page with page 1, all the page numbers in the book will change once you drop in that wonderful new preface. Your body content is the book itself its your introduction. The specific elements included at the end of the book should appear in the table of contents in the front matter.

If the front matter introduces the book, the back matter then wraps everything up. What is included in the front and back matter of a book. Your checklist for the components of a nonfiction book, from the front cover to the back and everything in between. Jul 12, 2012 table of contents list of illustrations list of tables foreword by someone other than the author preface by the author acknowledgments or in back matter introduction abbreviations or in back matter back matter acknowledgments or in front matter appendix or several appendices numbered a, b, c, etc. The front matter includes any material that precedes the text. Book design is the art of incorporating the content, style, format, design, and sequence of the various components and elements of a book into a coherent unit. Pick up multiple books from your shelf and take a look at the front and back matter for a point of reference. It is upto you to decide what all you want to add to the front or back matter of your book.

Front matter is the first section of a book and is generally the shortest. The front matter is paginated using lower roman numerals, however, the back matter is not. I will usually list my books in the front matter, but in the back, i include a paragraph about each of the books to entice readers to go deeper. Most fiction books have a minimum of back matter, while nonfiction can include a number of items.

Aug 02, 2016 the front matter is paginated using lower roman numerals, however, the back matter is not. Material, such as an index or appendix, that follows the main body of a book. In traditional publishing, page numbers for the front matter appear in roman numerals. When youve never written a book before, its hard to know whats essential, what can be cut, and where everything fits. Nov 28, 2017 for the last few weeks, diggypods blog has been discussing the various elements of a books front matter that is, all the different pieces that fit together and introduce the author, the story, the themes, and its importance. Whats it matter the front and back matter of a book the. There is more to a nonfiction book than a catchy cover and table of contents much more. Sep 07, 2016 now these are merely suggestions for what you can choose to include in the front and back matter of your book. It comes after the body text and includes concluding sections that provide further reading, deeper explanations, and any final thoughts from the author or another writer. Someone special in your life you want to dedicate this book to. The front and back matter in a book are one of the key factors to presenting a professional and quality product.

The particular parts and their order is more fluid in the back matter compared to front. Your books front and back matter your literary prose. The actual first page of your book after the front matter should always start on a righthand page and will be page 1. Sometimes part of the preface rather than a separate section in its own right, or sometimes placed in the back matter rather than the front, it acknowledges those who contributed to the creation of the book.

Your ultimate guide to front matter and back matter. On the contrary, salvettes book presents a detailed coverage of crucial aspects of front and back matter and metadata and is informed by his experience at his publishing company bb ebooks. Learn how you can add front and back matter with just a few clicks using kindle create. Back matter is information about a book and the writer which follows the end of the main text. Jul 05, 2017 these elements bookend your content, the front matter providing specifics related to the content primarily, and the back matter focuses on keeping your reader invested after theyve consumed the content. A formal postscript, in a books back matter, is usually called an afterword. What is most important is that what you do include looks professional and is well formatted. Its the 30,000 to 50,000 words you just pumped out. Nov, 2019 the back matter also known as the end matter is you guessed it material found at the back of a book.