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Front Matter of a Book
by Ron Kurtus (8 November 2015)
The front matter of a book consists of the material before the actual content or body of the book.
The purpose of the front matter is to give information about the book, author, publisher, copyright, and ISBN, as well as to list the table of contents. These items are required. Optional information can include such items at dedication, acknowledgments, and preface.
Typically, front matter pages are numbered with lowercase roman numerals, while content pages have standard numbering, starting with 1.
Questions you may have include:
- What are the required front matter pages?
- What are the optional front matter pages?
- How are the pages numbered?
This lesson will answer those questions.
Required front matter pages
The following front matter pages are required:
- Title, author, and publisher page
- Copyright and ISBN information page
- Table of contents and list of illustrations
Title Page
The book title and the names of the author(s) and the publisher are found here.
A title page has, at a minimum, the full title of the work, including the subtitle (if any), and the name of the author and—if applicable—illustrator.
Copyright page
Additional information appears on the back side of the title page: the copyright notice, the ISBN (the International Standard Book Number) and printing numbers, the publisher’s address, the year the book was published, and the Library of Congress Catalogue information.
Everything else depends on the type of book, but may include:
- Publisher’s name and address
- Copyright information
- ISBN
- Edition notice
- Date of publication
- Number of printings
- Disclaimers
- Warranties
- Safety notices
Table of Contents
The Table of Contents lists the individual chapters and the other elements found in the book plus the page where each begins. It’s more typically found in nonfiction books than in novels.
List of Charts, Diagrams, Photos or Illustrations:
If included, this might follow the TOC to further detail the book’s contents.
Optional front matter pages
The following front matter pages are optional:
- Half-title page
- Other books by author page
- Dedication
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
Half-title page
The first page in most hardcopy books is a half-title page that only consists of the title and nothing more. Some authors skip the half-title and simply include a blank page.
On the other side of the half-title page, you can have a listing of other books you have written. However, if page one is blank, then so is page two, and the listing of other books is on another page.
In an e-book, you do not want blank pages.
Other Books by the Author Page
This optional list might appear on the opposite side of the Half Title page, or on its own page following the Half Title page or elsewhere.
Dedication Page
This optional element allows the author to dedicate the book to someone or something.
Acknowledgments
Here the author thanks people helpful in some way relative to the book.
Foreword
A special kind of introduction that offers supportive information relevant to the book, the Foreword is written by someone other than the book’s author.
Preface
Written by the book’s author, the Preface contains important information relating to the book topic, but outside of the book’s contents.
Introduction
The Introduction to the book can be part of the front matter or set as the beginning of the book.
Numbering front matter pages
The front matter pages are typically numbered with lowercase roman numerals. This is to prevent the book from starting on some page other than 1.
However, some books start the numbering from the first page, even if they don't display the numbers until the beginning of the book. (I've seen some books that started at page 10. This can be confusing.)
Another reason for using lowercase roman numerals is that it allows additions to be made to the front matter after the indexing has been set. If number are used, the indexing could be broken.
However, many books do not display numbers or numerals in their front matter at all. But they still start numbering at the beginning of the book.
Note that since pages are not numbered in e-books, it probably doesn't matter in that case.
Summary
The front matter of a book consists of the material before the actual content or body of the book. The purpose of the front matter is to give information about the book, author, publisher, copyright, and ISBN, as well as to list the table of contents. These items are required.
Optional information can include such items at dedication, acknowledgments, and preface.
Typically, front matter pages are numbered with lowercase roman numerals, while content pages have standard numbering, starting with 1.
Be up front with your readers
Resources and references
Websites
How to Organize Your Book’s Front Matter - The Book Designer
Front Matter - About.com: Desktop Publishing
Books
Top-rated books on Self-Publishing
Questions and comments
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Front Matter of a Book