The usual order of the front matter is shown above. Books can be divided into three areas front matter, body content and back matter. How to use your books back matter to massively boost your. The front matter types menu lets you indicate an items type which may change how it is styled in outputs. What is included in front matter really depends on the type of publication, so lets go. The number of levels of subheadings shown should be limited, so as to keep the contents list short, ideally one page, or possibly a doublepage spread. When you format your book for hard copy printing, you should follow the structure as shown in the diagram below. 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. It includes your bio, long or short, and can include your other books, website or contact information. Today, we look at the elements which make up the back matter. Jan 18, 2018 front matter, the body and back matter. Its the page at the very front of the book, not used in all cases, that has only the title of. How to write the front and back matter of your kindle ebook.
If the front matter ended on page xiv, the back matter would start with page xv. Ill cover the many dysfunctions of ebook pages in another article, but lets step back for a moment. 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. There may also be a preface by the author, or a foreword by someone familiar with their work. Jan 03, 2018 the back matter includes the following. Authors use their back matter to offer readers further context or information about the story, though back matter can also be extremely simple. Whats it matter the front and back matter of a book the. Nov, 2019 the front matter of a book consists of its very first pages. Its the 30,000 to 50,000 words you just pumped out. We all know what the title page is, but whats a half title. Book front matter what to include in the front of your book. Well never look at a childrens picture book in the same way again.
Generally speaking you will find these more often in hard cover books. On the back could be a list of additional titles by this same author. Your books front and back matter your literary prose. Jan 10, 2014 last week here, i presented the parts of a book which appear in the front of the book. Front matter is everything that comes before your content. Front matter is the material at the front of a book that usually offers information about the book. A good example is the bastard title or half title page.
How to setup the allimportant front and back matter of. Mar 20, 2017 other books by if this is not your first book, you definitely want to list your other books. Ive moved shearwater to permafree and got over 5,000 downloads this month. Front matter and back matter grammar factory publishing. This page is found either in the front or back matter of the book. Im the guest authoreducator there today talking about back matter in picture books. The order of pages shown above is customary but not mandatory. There are actually a lot of elements which are included between the covers which authors and publishers need to think about. 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 book the sections that appear after the central story has been completed. Jun 12, 2014 part of the best practice guides for authors from bb ebooks that discusses adding proper front matter, back matter, and metadata. Smashwords front matter, back matter, and metadata a. Front and back matter in books alliance of independent.
Back matter definition of back matter by the free dictionary. You can create, edit, delete, rename or reorder front matter items the same way that you would with chapters, with one additional option. The front matter includes any material that precedes the text. Nonfiction book formatting for microsoft word lulu blog. Your ultimate guide to front matter and back matter. Back matter in your book celebrating independent authors. The back matter is where youll find components such as an index, a glossary, an. If the reader has enjoyed the story, the first thing they will want to do is check out your other titles.
Whats it matter the front and back matter of a book. 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 book s final edit. Is it the last page or two that discusses facts about the book. Back matter is the final pages of a book, where endnotes, the appendix, the bibliography, the index, and. A guide to front and back matter ive become quite proficient at putting together a book, and im not just talking about writing and editing a manuscript. That gives you headroom to play with the front 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. Some common items in back matter include an index, bibliography or appendix. How you should be using back matter in your ebooks adam geen. Sep 15, 2014 books are divided into three partsfront matter, body text with or without illustrations, and back matter. Carrie charley brown is hosting reforemo read for research month, a time when writers challenge themselves to read picture books as mentor texts to improve their writing.
This includes all front matter items listed below, together with chapters in the body matter and back matter. The back matter also known as the end matter is you guessed it material found at the back of a book. Were novices, so working with front matter and back matter is a new experience. You can split, merge, or rearrange chapters as needed.
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. 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. The purpose of front matter is mostly to make sure your book looks as professional. Most nonfiction books include some back matter, perhaps a glossary, bibliography, or index. Gain comprehension of how more complicated back matter like an index and notes section can function in an ebook utilize vendorspecific buy links to boost your sales and author brand pick up a copy of front matter, back matter, and metadata and improve your publishing level of knowledge to give you a professional edge. It can also be found in the front or back of the book.
Depending on the book and style it may be named differently. 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. Nov 06, 2017 then, when im setting up a new book, once i get the edited manuscript back, i add the front and back matter from the back matter file to the book. For those who have worked on and helped write and publish the book, can be in the front matter or the back matter. Watch for the next installment in the book construction blueprint, elements of the page.
Front and back matter goes after the book is fully edited and before you begin formatting the content. All of these pieces front matter, body text, and back matter fit together perfectly to create a complete book. Front matter is the first section of a book and is generally the shortest. If so, hurricane wolf by diane paterson is about noah and his parents preparing for a hurricane in florida. Backmatter numbering graphic design stack exchange. Back matter pages are numbered continuously with the main text. This is a work file in kcb format you can use to update your book later. Then, when im setting up a new book, once i get the edited manuscript back, i add the front and back matter from the back matter file to the book. After the last page of the manuscripts text, pagination continues in numerical sequence into the. Front matter of a book what is included in the front. Anachronisms and dysfunctions of ebook front and back matter. Ive gone into some detail about what frontback matter is and why its important.
It is more often found in the back of a work of fiction or an ebook. The back matter types menu lets you indicate an items type. This a page, usually printed with only the book s title, that precedes the. Home front and back matter in ebooks by elizabeth october 6, 2010 3 comments category. 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.
The next few pages of the physical book will include. Best practice guides for authors ebook written by paul salvette. Nov 28, 2017 the front matter is a section in the beginning of a book. Learn more about creating projects and tables of contents. Back matter in picture books marcie flinchum atkins. After this comes the body of the book and after that, what is called the 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. Back matter items are essentially chapters within a part, with one additional option to customize. Because the back matter file has all the books, i do have to go in and delete the current book. Jun 04, 2014 front matter, back matter, and metadata.
The front matter of a book consists of its very first pages. Front matter is the stuff in your book from the page after the cover till the page before chapter one. Last week here, i presented the parts of a book which appear in the front of the book. More in the modern world of publishing where authors are expected to publish several books a year, standards and literary traditions that have existed for centuries can understandably be overlooked. It can be as simple as a single title page, or it can include multiple title pages, foreword, a preface, and much more. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read front matter, back matter, and metadata. The reason is that the mainmatter numbering is continued from a previous works and will continue in the next works, and the appendicies have to be omitted from this numbering. 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. Kindle create displays your book in three sections. 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.
Jun 25, 2015 how to format a book in ms word part iii. The title page must go on a recto page, and the page must go on the verso page immediately following the title page in other words, the page is printed on the back of the title page. Though many readers skip right over it, the front matter contains some pretty important information about the book s author and. Solutions are practical, his best practice guidelines sensible and their rationales well explained. The terms of art for this stuff are front matter and back matter. Include correct links under catalogue or your buyer hook. In fact, nonfiction books will use a lot more front and back matter in the design. 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. Feb 03, 20 the terms of art for this stuff are front matter and back matter. If back matter has to be added to volume 1 late in production, use lowercase roman numerals, continuing the page numbering from where the front matter in that volume left off. Part of the best practice guides for authors from bb ebooks that discusses adding proper front matter, back matter, and metadata. Back matter is the stuff at the end of your book, after the main sections of the book are finished.
It is expensive to do this and most books do not even have them. Other books by if this is not your first book, you definitely want to list your other books. Without rehashing the topic, there are a few special considerations for nonfiction books to think about. The front matter is a section in the beginning of a book. 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. These sections of back matter are often supplementary in nature, and inform the reader about some aspect of the book. Apr 26, 2019 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. Mar 02, 2016 carrie charley brown is hosting reforemo read for research month, a time when writers challenge themselves to read picture books as mentor texts to improve their writing. What is the prefered way to number the backmatter in this case. Book back matter what to include in the back of your book. 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. The front matter is paginated using lower roman numerals, however, the back matter. Its just a simple matter of cut and paste and im done.