Front or Back: Does it Matter?

What’s in a book? Well, there’s a front, middle and back. When self-publishing an authors looks at a book in a whole new way. I came across the term Front Matter while going through KDP’s instructions. I thought, “What’s that?” It’s simple. Today I will explain the biology of a novel.

The Front Matter (first part of the book) can consists of: Title Page, Frontispiece, Accolades, Copyright Page, Dedication Page, Table of Contents, Epigraph, Preface and (or) Foreword. After all of that information an author won’t need to write a thing! Not every book has all the topics above. Some things to consider is what genre are you writing for, how much information do you want to share and what’s your personal choice? After all the book is being self-published, so the author isn’t stuck in a square peg if they happen to be a circle. There is no publisher to answer to or to help if you need questions answered.

• Title Page, the full title with the author’s name as shown on the cover
• Frontispiece: a illustration or photo opposite the title page on the left
• Accolades: basically, quotes from notable people about your book… if you don’t know anyone popular don’t use them
• Copyright Page: if you don’t have copyright yet, say pending
• Dedication Page: the name of the person/persons the book is dedicated to and why
• Table of Contents: chapters in your book and page numbers (it should list Front & Back Matter)
• Epigraph: A quote regarding the subject matter (poem, song, another book, etc with permission)
• Preface: the author’s note regarding the book (don’t give anything away!)
• Forward: written by another person (scholar, friend, family member or someone popular)

The Body (second part of the book) is where the story takes place. But there can be extra things, including Prologue, Introduction, Chapters, Epilogue, Conclusion, and Afterword.

• Prologue: used for fiction and sets the stage for your story
• Introduction: used for nonfiction and tells of your subject matter
• Chapters: hopefully, you have them already written
• Epilogue: used for fiction and can wrap up the book (best used for series)
• Conclusion: used for non-fiction and sums up the book’s main ideas
• Afterword: any final thoughts

The Back Matter (the third and final part) which can contain Acknowledgements, About the Author, Copyright Permissions, Discussion Questions, Appendix, Chronology, Endnotes, Glossary, Index, or Bibliography List).

• Acknowledgements: more “thank you’s” to those who helped
• About the Author: a summary of your writing endeavors
• Copyright Permissions: anything you’ve borrowed from another (song, poetry, artwork, etc)
• Discussion Questions: academic prompts
• Appendix: used for nonfiction to give updated information
• Chronology: used in nonfiction (in other wards, timeline) of the list of events
• Endnotes: supplementary notes mostly used in nonfiction
• Glossary: definitions (words, characters or settings)
• Index: specialty terms in alphabetical order
• Bibliography: a list of research material used.

Does it seem overwhelming? Yep, but necessary if you decide to self-publish. This article was written by the help of Reedsy. Here is the original information…

https://blog.reedsy.com/parts-of-a-book/