Fictionalized dialogue and madeup scenes gave way to wellresearched, factbased narratives, often focusing on a particular aspect of the subjects life. An index is a section that appears at the back of a book that details people, places, events, and concepts that were significant throughout the book. Whats it matter the front and back matter of a book. Back matter definition and meaning collins english. Front matter, body, and back matter even if youve already polished your chapters to perfection, you still need to prepare various other parts of a book before publishing namely, the front matter and back matter. The reason is that the main matter numbering is continued from a previous works and will continue in the next works, and the appendicies have to be omitted from this numbering. Back matter is the stuff at the end of your book, after the main sections of the. 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. Im getting close to wrapping up my series on writing book proposals, but we still have a couple more issues to address. 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.
In this excerpt from book design made simple, we offer a list of possible book front matter pages and their proper order. The electronic scanning lines printed on the back cover or book jacket are encoded with information about the book product, such as the title, publisher, and price. Front matter is the stuff in your book from the page after the cover till the page before chapter one. 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. Front matter is the first section of a book and is generally the shortest.
Front and back matter in books selfpublishing advice. When youve never written a book before, its hard to know whats essential, what can be cut, and where everything fits. Download chapters 1 through 9 of the book by subscribing to our blogsimply fill in the form below, and click the join us. The back matter types menu lets you indicate an items type. Your body content is the book itself its your introduction, conclusion and everything in between. Book back matter includes some or all of these pages acknowledgments if not included at the front of the book. Last week here, i presented the parts of a book which appear in the front 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. Nov 28, 2017 an acknowledgement page is usually a one to two page section in the front matter of a book though sometimes its located in the back of the book, and its focus is thanking and bringing attention to instrumental persons who helped the book become realized, written, and published. Historically, colophons were always located in the back matter, but, nowadays, theyre can also be featured in the front matter, after the title page. Just as front matter is what you find at the beginning of a book, back matter. An overview of the front matter and back matter of your book paradiso gim.
Todays picture book biographies also include, as a matter of course, supporting back matter. An overview of the front matter and back matter of your book. An introduction to a book, usually written by someone other than the author of the book. But theyre also on the verge of putting your writing down. Back matter in your book celebrating independent authors. The chicago manual of style online is the venerable, timetested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format. Your ultimate guide to front matter and back matter. Front matter is the material at the front of a book that usually offers information about the book. Generally speaking, a book will have only one of these three elements immediately following the final page of the body of the work. Some pb ive seen have back matter added onto the back cover, but i am hoping that back matter can be included in with the 32 pages. The front matter includes any material that precedes the text. Back matter items are essentially chapters within a part, with one additional option to customize. I am curious to hear your thoughts on why the mailing list link is more important or further up the page than the book purchase links.
Ill have to dig out some books to give you titles, but things i remember noticing include. 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. 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. Pressbooks lets you specify 24 types of back matter, including miscellaneous. And for those who do read it, the front matter forms their first impression. This is because the main purpose is to let readers know more about you and crosspromote your books. These days, acknowledgements seem to be showing up as back matter for fiction as well as nonfiction titles. How to organize your books front matter by joel friedlander on february 8, 2012 50 comments many writers who think about selfpublishing are taken aback when they start to put their book together for publication.
Back matter in picture books marcie flinchum atkins. 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. This is part of a series on back matter presented by bb ebooks. For this post, id like to talk about those little extras that either will be included in your book or help identify the physical attributes of the book. How to write the front and back matter of your kindle ebook. 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. Anyway, can back matter be considered part of the 32 pages in a picture book. There are, of course, variations to this conventional lineup order. Although there are many competing typography basics books, i think this wonderfully fills a void in typographic education, reminding me of a cross between ellon luptons fun and friendly thinking with type and robert bringhursts dense and thorough the elements of typographic style. The following table defines some common types of front matter. Books can be divided into three areas front matter, body content and back matter.
Jan 03, 2018 all of these pieces front matter, body text, and back matter fit together perfectly to create a complete book. The seven types of love discussed below are loosely based on classical readings, especially of plato and aristotle, and on j. Either way, the material that appears at the front of a book before the actual content is called front matter, and it actually contains some very important information. The front matter pages usually arent visibly numbered. Most of my back matter especially in a series has a link directly to the next book in the series as the first item after the end of the book. 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. Whats it matter the front and back matter of a book the. At the end of the document but before the end reference list there may be several items included. Pat mcnees the difference between a preface, foreword. 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 front matter contains the nuts and bolts of the books publicationinformation such as title, author, publisher, isbn, and library of congress data. Mar 01, 2019 0 5 types of back matter to include in your books. Ensure you have front matter and back matter that is organized properly to give your book a professional look. How to use your books back matter to massively boost your.
Back matter is reserved for things like an index, a glossary, notes and other material that doesnt belong in the body of the book itself, but which youd want to include for the convenience of. Back matter is the final pages of a book, where endnotes, the appendix, the bibliography, the index, and related elements reside. In the previous two posts in our book anatomy 101 series, we looked at the range and organization of your book s front matter, and the main body of the book. Im the guest authoreducator there today talking about back matter in picture books. Front matter is the information that appears in the very beginning of a book. Frontmatter pages are traditionally numbered in lowercase roman. It may also be used to identify book designers, software used, type of printer used, and the kind of ink.
Book front matter includes some or all of these pages. 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. If the reader gets that far, they can get the rest of the wayif interested. If it is more like part of the text essentially chapter 1, start the regular page numbering with the introduction. These are universal and will work regardless of what genre you write or who your readers are. Hello, this is ken from bookfuel with a brief explanation of front matter and back matter. The school for champions helps you become the type of person who can be called a champion. Back matter is the content that comes at the end of your book, and it is the perfect space to. The guide to what you type after you type the end epilogue. After the last page of the manuscripts text, pagination continues in numerical sequence into the back matter. Anyone who has read that far is clearly interested in what you have to say. There are two types of indexes subject matter and detailed. Whether youre a student, an educator, or a lifelong learner, can put you on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.
Today, we look at the elements which make up the back matter. The parts of a book and the elements of content the balance. When a book is filled with facts or topics a reader might want to find quickly, an index is the fastest way to find them. It is however something that ive seen certain authors inquire about on the kindleboards so i thought why not bring it up for some discussion 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. Jan 10, 2014 last week here, i presented the parts of a book which appear in the front of the book. Front matter of a book what is included in the front matter. The front matter is paginated using lower roman numerals, however, the back matter is not. Nov 17, 2019 front matter is the information that appears in the very beginning of a book. Illustrationsphotos at the back that are magnified versions of whats in the main pages, along with other interesting info type stuff. The specific elements included at the end of the book should appear in the table of contents in the front matter. After the epilogue or afterword or postscript, the order and kind of elements included in the back matter is dependent upon the particular book project.
The amount of praise is going to differ depending on the trim size of your book, and the type and size of the font used. It is a given fact that i cannot number the appendicies i. How to organize your book s front matter includes a checklist of front matter items. It is meant to be a quick reference for readers looking for a specific instance of a certain keyword. After the epilogue or afterword or postscript, the order and kind of elements included in the back matter is dependent upon the particular book. Front matter includes the dedication, epigram, table of contents, foreword, preface, and acknowledgements. Back matter definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Make it shine by arranging it in the proper order and designing it for great readability. And not every book includes every type of front matter. Were novices, so working with front matter and back matter is a new experience. It deals with physical matter and chemical matter will make a great introductory informational text when exploring matter with upper elementary students. The afterword generally explores how the book came to be written.
An acknowledgement page is usually a one to two page section in the front matter of a book though sometimes its located in the back of the book, and its focus is thanking and bringing attention to instrumental persons who helped the book become realized, written, and published. You can create your indexes in microsoft word or hire an indexer to do it for you. The front matter contains the nuts and bolts of the book s publicationinformation such as title, author, publisher, isbn, and library of congress data. The back matter of your books is a powerful marketing tool. After this comes the body of the book and after that, what is called the back matter. I am impressed with the book s exploration of vocabulary terms for matter.
Ive moved shearwater to permafree and got over 5,000 downloads this month. If so, you might be interested in a list of book types or genres. Authors use their back matter to offer readers further context or information about the story, though back matter can also be extremely simple. All of the pages in a book that appear before the body copy.
Some include the introduction in that numbering system, if it is prefatory in nature about the writing of the book. There are five primary types of back matter that you can include in your books. Your book back matter might be the most valuable section of the book. Selfpublishing comes with an unlimited amount of freedom.
Are you thinking about branching out and enjoying a new genre. The epilogue is a section that comes after the story, but is still, technically, part of the story. Book front matter what to include in the front of your book. These sections of back matter are often supplementary in nature, and inform the reader about some aspect of the book. As an independent author or small press, you never want to pass up the opportunity to advertise yourself. 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. Back matter definition is matter following the main text of a book. 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. Front matter of a book what is included in the front. 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.
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. 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. List of book types or genres by yourdictionary do you have a favorite type of book, either fiction or nonfiction. In corwin books, appendices often take the form of practitioner resourcespractical tools, templates, or quickreference materials that educators can take away and use as they implement. Page numbers for the front matter, up to the introduction, are small roman numerals x, xi, xii, etc. Back matter definition of back matter by the free dictionary. This excerpt from book design made simple offers insights into the best way to present this material. Back matter in general, appendices appear at the back of a book and provide readers with additional information about or elaboration on the main text. How you should be using back matter in your ebooks adam geen.
Its the 30,000 to 50,000 words you just pumped out. An epilogue is a type of back matter that comes immediately after the main text. Acknowledgements if author wants them in the back matter. Material, such as an index or appendix, that follows the main body of a book. Back matter is the stuff at the end of your book, after the main sections of the book are finished.
Mar 20, 2017 i dont add excerpts of other books in my book matter because i find that redundant with amazons look inside. 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. The back matter also known as the end matter is you guessed it material found at the back of a book. Book back matter what to include in the back of your book. Back matter is the content that comes at the end of your book, and it is the perfect space to market your other books to readers, especially if you selfpublish your books.
Some common items in back matter include an index, bibliography or appendix. Today id like to talk about something that i dont see talked about in too much detail on the web. Back matter definition of back matter by merriamwebster. As part of the best practice guides for authors from bb ebooks, front matter, back matter, and metadata is a short guide that will help you. Most fiction books have a minimum of back matter, while nonfiction can include a number of items. You will normally list your back matter in one short paragraph in your proposal where you discuss the contents of your book. The main idea of back matter, regardless of the type of book youre writing, is to make the book as helpful as possible to the reader. Back matter definition, the parts of a book that appear after the main text, as bibliography, index, and appendixes.