Order of back matter in a book

You can create your indexes in microsoft word or hire an indexer to do it for you. Illustrationsphotos at the back that are magnified versions of whats in the main pages, along with other interesting info type stuff. Hello, this is ken from bookfuel with a brief explanation of front matter and back matter. Calculate book page count using word count for book design. Now, lets get to the parts of your book and in what order they should appear though of course, you dont have to include all of the elements. 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.

Front matter of a book what is included in the front. A formal postscript, in a books back matter, is usually called an afterword. 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. 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.

Nov, 2019 the back matter also known as the end matter is you guessed it material found at the back of a book. Front matter is the stuff in your book from the page after the cover till the page before chapter one. What it is and why it is important a breakdown of whats what in the first few pages of a book maybe youve flipped through the first few pages of a book and wondered what all that information is about, or maybe youve always just skipped those pages. But theyre also on the verge of putting your writing down.

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 frontmatter, the body of the book, and the backmatter. Acknowledgements if author wants them in the back matter. If the reader gets that far, they can get the rest of the wayif interested. Not all books will include each of these back matter elements, and since you are selfpublishing, you get to decide what you want to include. Jan 10, 2014 last week here, i presented the parts of a book which appear in the front of the book. Its the 30,000 to 50,000 words you just pumped out. The normal order of parts of the book s front matter. We included a page on which the child who owns the book. The front matter contains the nuts and bolts of the books publicationinformation such as title, author, publisher, isbn, and library of congress data. Are you looking for some reading recommendations or want to find out whats popular. Today, we look at the elements which make up the back matter.

Lee child, and then in order of the character or seriesie. Get front and back matter in order not every book will have front and back matter, but if yours does, understand that there is a customary order in which these things usually appear. Appendices can be useful in a memoir if you have additional information that might be interesting to the reader but would interrupt your narrative if placed in the body of the book. Sometimes it may also include a postscript, appendix or addendum and glossary. 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. 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. 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. Generally speaking, a book will have only one of these three elements immediately following the final page of the body of the work. The glossary is a list of term definitions used throughout the book that might be unfamiliar to the reader.

On the one hand, you might want to list your books in the back matter, complete with sales links in the ebook version. Ive moved shearwater to permafree and got over 5,000 downloads this month. The back matter is where youll find components such as an index, a glossary, an appendix or two, endnotes unless you prefer. Get front and back matter in order kristen stieffel.

With ebooks and print on demand, you can keep updating these lists with each new release. Effective author marketing requires you to stay current. Material, such as an index or appendix, that follows the main body of a book. In order to determine what appealed to us, we looked at book after book of some of our favorite childrens authors and illustrators. We decided to put a graphic design on the opening and ending pages of the book to add visual interest. Anyone who has read that far is clearly interested in what you have to say. Extro or outro an extro can be used to conclude a work. My thinking is that i want to encourage them to purchase the next book. End matter is the material at the back of the book, generally optional. He holds the new york times record for being a best selling author in hard cover books and also is in the guinness book of world records under the same prestige. Body matter the core content of the book parts sections chapters in that order. Back matter in your book celebrating independent authors.

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. So please do take these things as seriously as your story. The book s half title page comes before the full title page in a book. Listed below is the typical order of the back matter in a book. This excerpt from book design made simple offers insights into the best way to present this material. Most often seen in nonfiction like a biography or an academic text, a bibliography lists the references and sources used in researching or. You can often tell a book is selfpublished because many of these parts will be missing or in the wrong order. There are two types of indexes subject matter and detailed. Listed below is the usual order of how the front matter is formatted in a book. You can also just end the book after the last page of your last chapter. Make it shine by arranging it in the proper order and designing it for great readability.

Your book back matter might be the most valuable section of the book. It is a given fact that i cannot number the appendicies i. The reason is that the main matter numbering is continued from a previous works and will continue in the next works, and. Ill have to dig out some books to give you titles, but things i remember noticing include. 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. The parts of a book and the elements of content the balance. Half title, or bastard title title only, on otherwise blank page. Book back matter what to include in the back of your book. The back cover often contains biographical matter about the author or editor, and quotes. 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. Order of the pages in the front matter of a book tex.

It includes information about the author, publisher, order, and tone of the book. Use this list instead to make sure you have the right content in the right category, and that elements of your book appear in the sequence in which they are expected. Whats it matter the front and back matter of a book. Wondering how to set up the front matter and back matter in your selfpublished ebook.

How you should be using back matter in your ebooks adam geen. The first order of business in creating a blueprint for book construction is to identify the parts of a book and the order in which conventionthe inherited wisdom of the logic of the book from all the book creators that have preceded usdictates they should appear. These sections of back matter are often supplementary in nature, and inform the reader about some aspect of the book. They are listed below in the order usually seen in the book. Pat mcnees the difference between a preface, foreword.

Whats it matter the front and back matter of a book the. The back matter of your books is a powerful marketing tool. Back matter definition is matter following the main text of a book. Front matter of a book what is included in the front matter. Im the guest authoreducator there today talking about back matter in picture books. The parts of a book for self published authors bookstand.

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. Front matter order in a book half and full title page. The front of the book requires first a title page, and. And that means keeping your already published titles updated as well. It may be a very simple listing of what is in the book, or it may be very detailed and include descriptions of each chapter or section. This excerpt from pages 24 and 25 of book design made simple should help you estimate the length of your front and back matter. Back matter, obviously, is the stuff that goes at the end of the book.

Keep in mind that there is no book that has all of these parts. You might include a brief description of each book to grab the readers interest. When you format your book for hard copy printing, you should follow the structure as shown in the diagram below. 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.

The specific elements included at the end of the book should appear in the table of contents in the front matter. 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. Your back matter can include an appendix, glossary, bibliography, pronunciation guide and more. Back matter definition of back matter by merriamwebster. Today id like to talk about something that i dont see talked about in too much detail on the web. Books can be divided into three areas front matter, body content and back matter.

Dark matter is a thriller, of course, but its also the first love story ive ever written, and i worked hard to strike a balance among thrills, science fiction, and genuine emotion. The front matter is paginated using lower roman numerals, however, the back matter is not. Youll find modern classics such as game of thrones or the harry potter books and books that are the basis for movies such as a wrinkle in time. 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.

This information isnt on the checklist because it may not apply to your book. Back matter is the final pages of a book, where endnotes, the appendix, the bibliography, the index, and related elements reside. Most nonfiction books include some back matter, perhaps a glossary, bibliography, or index. If done haphazardly, its a sure sign in most peoples eyes that the book content will not be up to par. After this comes the body of the book and after that, what is called the back matter. This is a good place to start your search for your next book. The image below from book design made simple explains the order of pages for your front and back matter.

Back matter is an important part of a professional business document, and any other long document. After the last page of the manuscripts text, pagination continues in numerical sequence into the back matter. Errata are commonly added shortly after the first publication. To me, its the love and family elements that make up the beating heart of dark matter.

Nov 17, 2019 front matter is the information that appears in the very beginning of a book. Nov 28, 2017 the front matter comes before the onset of the story otherwise known as body text, and the reason for this is that it contains information that is important to know before reading the story. 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. Its hard to believe, but one out of every seventeen hardcover novels sold in the united states is a book authored by james patterson. Some common items in back matter include an index, bibliography or appendix. We included a page on which the child who owns the book can write his or her name. 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. End matter optional materials at the back of the book glossary if included bibliography if included index if included notes on book elements. How to write the front and back matter of your kindle ebook. Back matter definition of back matter by the free dictionary. Front and back matter in books selfpublishing advice. Jan 18, 2018 front matter, the body and back matter.

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. Jack reacher where applicable, we provide you with both the publication order of the books written, as well as the chronological order of the books. 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 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. If the front matter introduces the book, the back matter then wraps everything up.

Aug, 2019 so lets go through the list of how to market your book with my favorite preorder strategies. 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. Jan 03, 2018 the order of the back matter in a book. Back matter in picture books marcie flinchum atkins. Your body content is the book itself its your introduction, conclusion and everything in between. The epilogue is a section that comes after the story, but is still, technically. Book back matter includes some or all of these pages acknowledgments if not included at the front of the book. Nonfiction back matter usually includes a summary or conclusion, bibliography and index. The front matter of a book consists of its very first pages.

The good thing is that front matter and back matter are fairly formulaic. 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. Professional and technical writingdesignback matter. Front matter is everything that comes before your content. Anyway, can back matter be considered part of the 32 pages in a picture 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. Authors use their back matter to offer readers further context or information about the story, though back matter can also be extremely simple. 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. The front and back matter in a book are one of the key factors to presenting a professional and quality product.

Your ultimate guide to front matter and back matter. The inside of your book, which we call the book block, is divided into three main sections. The particular parts and their order is more fluid in the back matter compared to front. When it comes time for book design there are 2 parts to consider outside the body of the book. The history of book printing goes back to the first bibles pulled sheet. 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. Halftitle pages displaying nothing but the main title of a book were introduced to protect the main title page, as peter wilson correctly states. Back matter is the stuff at the end of your book, after the main sections of the book are finished. Back matter definition and meaning collins english dictionary. If you still want to include a halftitle page, dont put it after the title page. Back matter items are essentially chapters within a part, with one additional option to customize. Front matter all books include the part of a book called front matter. Take a look at the walmart books best sellers section. It comes after the body text and includes concluding sections that.