Your Book’s Matter, Matters

The front matter and back matter are the parts of your book that wrap your story. Consider this:

The chair creaks as you snuggle into it with your book, a lap blanket (or cat), and a hot beverage. You have set aside precious time to read and have been looking forward to diving into this book. The cover flips over, and you smooth your finger over the title page. You flip that page, then the next, then the next. Where the heck does the story start? Your heart rate increases as you flip pages, looking for your story. Ah, here we go.

Do the Matters, Matter?

From an existential point of view, no. Other than a title page and a copyright page, everything you include before the story begins or after the story ends is optional.

So why include it?

Let’s talk about that after we see what our options are. For brevity, I’m only discussing front and back matter for fiction.

Front Matter

Title Page – This should include the title of your book, subtitle (if applicable), and illustrator (if applicable). The title page is one of two required pages.

Copyright page – This should include the publication or edition dates, author, publisher, and your ISBN(s). Optional information includes the printer, publisher logo, and website. You can also include: rights reservation, permissions, disclaimers, and Library of Congress Number. Some copyright pages include editors, cover artist, publisher’s address, and BISAC code(s). Last, you could include ordering information, environmental notices, trademark notices, and the country where the book was printed. The copyright page is one of two required pages.

Optional Front Matter

Half Title – Title of your book.

Series Title Page – A list of other books in the series.

Frontispiece – An illustration that sits opposite the title page.

Content Warning – A list of themes that may be triggering or problematic for some readers.

Blurbs – Endorsements of your book from authors and publications.

Dedication – The person(s) or organization for whom the book was for. Sometimes, the dedication includes a note of why the author dedicated the book to them.

To my wonderful readers: sorry about that last cliff-hanger. Well no, not really. HAHAHAHA. But seriously, I love you guys.
― Rick Riordan, The House of Hades

Epigraph – A quote, phrase, saying, lyric, poem, etc. that sets the tone for the book.

Preface – An introduction to the book written by the author. Prefaces may provide a context for the current edition, or tell the story of the book’s creation.

Foreward – An introduction to the book, written by someone other than the author.

Illustrations – These can include: maps, lineage trees, family crest of arms, anatomical drawings, engineering plans, or character art, among others.

Acknowledgements – A formal thanking of the people who contributed to the book’s creation, shaping, or supported the author’s efforts.

Back Matter

Appendix – Detail-filled tables, lists, charts, or statistics. For fiction, I’ve seen appendices of characters, definitions for unfamiliar or made-up words, creature specifications, recipes, and incantations or prayers.

Errata – Corrections of major errors in the printed version of the book. This is unusual for print-on-demand books.

About the Author – Author’s biography. May include a photograph.

Afterword – Last notes on the book, often included instead of preface and/or foreward. If written by the author, these might be called Author’s Notes.

Acknowledgements – A formal thanking of the people who contributed to the book’s creation, shaping, or supported the author’s efforts. Some authors prefer the acknowledgements in the front matter, and some in the back matter.

Discussion Questions – prompts and provocative questions about the story to encourage deeper reflection. Often provided for book clubs.

Call to Action – Invitation to join a mailing list, explore a podcast, connect with the author on social media, provide a book review, purchase the next book, etc.

Excerpt – Sample chapter of an upcoming book.

My Book’s Matter

Per the tiny story above, I’m not a fan of much front matter before the story. In Oil and Dust, I’ve included the required Title Page and Copyright page. I also included a dedication and an epigraph.

In my back matter, I included Author’s notes (similar to a preface), an About the Author biography, an introduction to the Elemental Artist Series with a link to the free prequel short story Sign up to receive A Garland of Cedar and Snow and information about the next book in the series, Graphite and Turbulence, followed by a lengthy Acknowledgements section.

For those of you interested in using Vellum to format your book, they include Blurbs, Half Title, Title Page, Copyright, Dedication, Epigraph, Table of Contents, Foreword, Introduction, Preface, Afterward, Endnotes, Acknowledgements, About the Author, and Also By sections, besides the option of inserting a full-page image. These are optional and you can rename them. In my book, I added an Afterward element and renamed it “Author’s Note”.

So why does the matter, matter?

My philosophy is your book is first and foremost an experience for the reader. I believe being intentional in how we present the book will lead to a better experience for your readers.

Next, your book is marketing for you, the author, as well as a sales tool, so why not enhance the relationship between you and reader by speaking to them through your front and back matter?

Putting together the front and back matter wasn’t difficult, but it took time and thought. How have you approached your front and back matter?

Header Photo by Mikołaj on Unsplash