The publishing industry recognizes various parts of all books. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the different terms.
Front matter appears before the main text and serves to introduce your book to your readers. It should include a few pages that include the book's title, the author's name, the copyright information, and perhaps a preface or a foreword.
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Title page is the first page of your book and contains your title only. This page should not include a byline or subtitle. |
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A book can also have a second title page listing any of your previously published books by title. |
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Copyright page contains copyright notice, including the year of publication and the name of the copyright owner. This page also lists the book's publishing history, permissions and acknowledgments, disclaimers and the books ISBN number. |
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Dedication page is usually a very shout one line sentence and is a tribute to one person or family member who made a difference in your life. |
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Epigraph page is not absolutely necessary. Here you can place a simple quote or phrase from another work that is significant to your book. You must obtain permission to used copyrighted material. |
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Table of contents is usually only utilized in nonfiction works. The contents must be worded exactly as they appear in the book itself. If creating a table of content do not add page number. DLite Press will create any page numbering during the formatting process. |
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Foreword is generally a statement about the book and is usually written by someone other than the author who is an expert or is widely known in the field of the book's topic. A foreword has the potential to increase sales of your work and is usually found in non-fiction works. |
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Preface page describes why you wrote the book including your research methods and your qualifications and expertise as an author. It is more commonly utilized in non-fiction works. |
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Acknowledgement page will include your words of appreciation to those who provided you with help and support during your writing process or writing career. Here you could also include credits to illustrators or excerpts used in your work. |
Main content is the core of your work and can be fiction or non-fiction. Your work should be organized to follow a logical sequence or progression of ideas. Your work can be divided into chapters or parts with chapter titles, chapter numbers or part titles, e.g. part one, part two,etc. Parts will group ideas or content into clearly organized pattern.
Epilogue page is a brief concluding section and can directly address the reader or continue the story years later by giving an update on the characters. Chapter numbers are not used in this section. In non-fiction work the section can be used as an overview of your work or to give advice or encouragement to readers.
About the Author(s) provides a short biography which can include your expertise as a writer and a summary of your personal life including where you live and your occupation. Photos of yourself can be included in this section.
Back matter can include a number of additional pages providing vital information about your book.
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Appendix will include information to clarify unusual terms used in the text or document references, tables or reports on sources. |
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End Notes instead of footnotes can be used to clarify sections of your text. Notes should be arranges in chronological order by chapter or section. |
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Glossary includes an alphabetically arranged list of words and their definitions. Here you would include anything they that average readers would not be familiar with such as foreign words or phrases and words/phrases created by the author. |
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Resources can include a list of organizations, associations, web sites or other sources that you consider related and invaluable to your readers. |
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Bibliography or References will list the source of material used in your text. It should be arranged alphabetically by the author's name. |
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Index is also an alphabetical listing and is most often used in non-fiction works. Any terms, words or subject matter that a reader will most likely to want to find would be included in the index. |
Back Cover
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Blurbs: a brief summary of your work – generally written by the publishers. |
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Endorsement: These are from people who have read the book in its manuscript stage. They are in some way important, and are usually connected to the topic of your book (i.e.: a business book would have a business expert, a novel would have another novelist). |
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