The Anatomy of a Book 101

Why the Front and Back Matter matter!

Sep 13, 2023

I will probably end up using the word “matter” more than I’ve ever used it before so bear with me as I explain what parts you should have in your book and the other optional stuff. You DO NOT, I repeat YOU DO NOT need to create EVERY SINGLE PAGE that is listed below. Of course, if you choose to leave out key pages like the Title Page, then you run the risk of not looking as professional as you’d like. Some pages are more specific for Non-Fiction books and others are more specific for Fiction. My first suggestion is to grab some books off your shelf (or in a bookstore/library) that match the genre you are looking to emulate, and then steal like an artist, and take notes on the front matter and back matter they used. I do this ALL of the time to this day.

NOTE: This post, while highly informative, is more for the writer who is intending on publishing their work in the near or distant future. I totally understand if this isn’t something you’re remotely interested in. Some of you might just hire someone else to worry about your “Matter” pages. But, if you or someone you know is experiencing “Matter Fatigue” might I suggest sharing this post or bookmarking it for when you need it. You never know…

First, let’s go over what these main terms mean:

Front Matter - The different pages you see before the main story begins.

Back Matter - All the pages that come after the story has ended.

FRONT MATTER PAGES

I’m putting this in an order that I feel works best for fiction books. But there is no hard and fast rule for the order of these pages. It’s just “the norm.”

TITLE PAGE

This is typically the very first page you see when you first open a fiction book. It will include the title of the book, large and center stage. If there is a series title or subtitle, that will be on this page as well. And, of course the name of the author.

ACCOLADES

You’re familiar with this page, I am sure. It’s a page I will often breeze right by but they exist. Whenever a book is reviewed by a magazine or newspaper of record, a quote is pulled from that review that will encapsulate just how amazing the books is. This is where that quote, or quotes, will go. A collection of high praise from the most notable in publishing. As I will likely never have something like this in my lifetime, I leave it out and never really think about it.

COPYRIGHT PAGE

This language can differ depending on the type of book being published and the amount of information needed to go on this page, such as the ISBN, name of the publisher, etc. If you’re looking for the most basic of information to include in your copyright page, this is what I use: CLICK ME!

DEDICATION

Not having a dedication page is weird. Everyone has a dedication page. And if you don’t have someone you want to dedicate your book to, you can always substitute the dedication with the next section. Or you could just leave it out altogether. Totally up to you.

EPIGRAPH

Nothing like a good quote to really set the tone of the book. Make sure it’s something that fits so perfectly with what the reader is about to embark on that they return to it and want to write it down/remember it for themselves. Whenever I come across a great quote I’ll write it down to one day use in some way. If you haven’t been keeping track of your favorite quotes around town, now would be the perfect time to do so.

HALF TITLE PAGE

This page isn’t required. Some book have it, some books don’t. It’s exactly what you think it is. Take the Title Page and strip it away to just the two main parts: Title and Author. In some cases it might just be the title of the book and that’s it. Again, this one is totally optional and you don’t have to feel any obligation to have it in your book if you don’t want it.

Not all fiction books will have (or need) a table of contents. If you have chapter titles, a table of contents can be a nice way of displaying them all in one location with page numbers for added convenience. Not required but can be a handy tool for the user. Optional and totally up to you.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This one I will interchange between putting it in the front OR back. Depends on my mood, really, where I end up putting it. This is where you should thank all those people you couldn’t include on your dedication page. This is where you thank all those people who believed in you and helped you along the way to get to this point where you actually have a published novel. Just don’t leave anyone out!

FOREWARD

This isn’t written by you. I see these mostly in anthologies and collections or special editions of books. It will be written by someone else who has some special connection to the author and the subject matter of the book itself. They’ll have some sort of insight they want to share about how great or impactful the book was when they read it. Stuff like that.

PREFACE

Think of this section as a brief history on how the book came to exist. What sparked the need to write it, how long did it take? All the little tidbits, surprises, and hurdles that needed to be jumped along the way in order to get to the finish line is reserved for the preface. Totally optional and totally not necessary in ever instance. A lot of the time the “how I wrote this book” just isn’t as interesting as we like to think it is.

INTRODUCTION [for NON-FICTION]

Here’s your chance to talk a bit about the content of the book. Let the reader know what they can expect about the characters, genre, location, stuff like that. A bit more backstory than a synopsis, with details and information that might help the reader maximize their expectations. Another one of those optional bits. Don’t have an intro just for the sake of having an intro. Sometimes the work can speak for itself and that’s totally okay, too.

PROLOGUE [for FICTION]

This is typically a scene that comes before the start of the book. It’s important, always, and usually conveys something to the reader that they’ll need to know in order to fully understand the story they are about to read. Don’t ever include a prologue if it’s irrelevant to the story just to be different. Bad idea. Seriously, a prologue invokes an expectation to the reader that it’s so important it needed to be put first before the story could even begin. Don’t set yourself up if the payoff just isn’t there.

BACK MATTER PAGES

EPILOGUE [for FICTION]

A scene that wraps up the story in a satisfying manner, an epilogue often takes place some time in the future. Alternatively, if there are more books to come in the series, the epilogue may raise new questions or hint at what will happen in the next book.

AFTERWORD

Any other final notes on the book; can be written by you or by someone you know.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pretty self-explanatory, but this is where you get to talk about yourself. What are your accomplishments, what is your family life like, what are your favorite hobbies to do besides writing. This page might also include a photograph and some links to your social media. Remember this is a PRINT book so if you can have all of your handles the same across major social media platforms it can make listing them all as easy as a row of icons with your handle near the bottom of the page.

APPENDIX [for NON-FICTION]

Although this is specific to non-fiction work, I’ve seen this used by fiction authors as well. It contains additional details or updated information relevant to the book, especially if it's a newer edition.

GLOSSARY

This is a list of special terms and words that might be unique to the story with definitions to help the reader better understand. This list is in alphabetical order.

INDEX

A list of specialty terms or phrases used in the book, along with the pages on which they appear, so the reader can find them easily. This list is in alphabetical order.

Phew! That was a lot, right? One thing I recommend doing is just listing out all of the sections and then deciding which you want and which you don’t. They aren’t all a must have. Some can be helpful to the reader but others can be too much information. Finding that perfect balance is totally up to you. But hey, if you want to share what you’re thinking for your own book that you’re working on now or hope to get started on some day, let me know! I’m more than happy to provide my two cents!

Keep it here, folks, for more posts like this one that shows you my process as I go from start to print on my book.

Also, allow me to offer my services as well. I love formatting books and have done so for a few people in the past using InDesign exclusively for Print formatting. I am also more than willing to put your manuscript through my Vellum software program to provide you with the ePub files you’ll need if you just want to do an ebook. My rates are really reasonable. Just shoot me an email ericadrayton@substack.com and let’s chat!