Your Book’s Front Matter MATTERS!
Important Tips for the Formatting Your Book
Important Tips for the Formatting Your Book
The front matter of your book includes required and optional information for your readers. Finishing your manuscript and sending it off to your editor is just the first step towards the final publication of your book. As your manuscript is being edited, it is time for you to start preparing all of the other information that needs to be added to the final draft.
All of this information is important and necessary for the formatting process for your book, and is added after the final editing. At the very end, the final step before publishing is the proofreading step. Proofreading is not the same as editing. Your proofreader will check the total final draft for typos, minor spelling, capitalization, and punctuation mistakes, and any lingering formatting issues.
The Three Major Parts of Your Book
Designing Your Book is as Important as Writing Your Bookmedium.com
What is Your Front Matter?
The front matter of your book is so named because it is everything in front of the actual written body of your book. There are a couple of mandatory elements for the front matter, but the remaining elements are optional. It is up to you, the author, your goals, your formatter, your editor, and your budget (the size of the book dictates the cost to print) to decide which optional elements to include.
The two mandatory elements of the front matter are:
The title page, which includes the title, subtitle (if any), author, and publisher of your book. Often the title page can also include the location of the publisher, the year of publication, some illustrations, and a little description of the book. You want to take care that the title page doesn’t look cluttered; that is the job of your formatter. The title page is located on the recto (right) side of your book.
The copyright page, which is located on the verso (left) side of your book and on the back of the title page. The copyright page includes the official copyright for your book, the ISBN (International Standard Book Number), and also additional information such as the edition number, Library of Congress data, legal notices, and credits for your editor, designer, and illustrator if desired.
Optional front matter elements you can include are:
A frontispiece, which is an illustration on the verso facing the title page.
A dedication, which follows the copyright page.
An epigraph, which is a relevant quotation that usually faces the table of contents. You can also include an epigraph at the beginning of every chapter.
The table of contents. Fiction books usually do not include a table of contents.
A list of figures and/or tables, again for nonfiction or business and academic books.
The foreword (not forward) is a short contextual piece written, signed, and dated by someone who is not the author.
The preface is written by you, the author, and usually tells the story about how and why the book was written.
The acknowledgments element is where you, the author, expresses thanks and gratitude for those who helped with the creation of the book.
The prologue is an element in fiction books that sets the scene for the story. The prologue is written in the voice of one of the book’s characters, not in the voice of the author.
How the Front Matter and Your Book are Paginated
Your formatter is responsible for paginating your book. The front matter is almost always paginated with Roman numerals, and there is a reason for that. When your book is indexed, whether formally for a nonfiction reference-type book, or for search engines if you at a later time add something to the front matter, all that changes is the numbering for the front matter. Otherwise, all of your page numbers would change, including those for tables, etc.
Also, using Roman numerals for the front matter is just standard. Your readers expect that.
If your front matter section is extensive, it may be helpful to your book designer, formatter, and your readers to add a half-title page at the end of the front matter and before the actual book copy begins. This second half-title page signals that the front matter is finished and the actual “book” is beginning. The next page after the 2nd half-title page is usually blank or includes just an illustration.
Time to Get Busy!
I hope this information will be helpful to you as you move toward the publication of your book. Especially as an independent author, you are responsible for everything that goes into publishing your book. Later in this series, I will discuss the back matter and back cover copy of your book; two other very important sections that help to complete your final draft.
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