Book Anatomy 101 Transcript

Front Matter

The pages that come before the body of the book are called the front matter. Generally the shortest section of the book, this introduces your book to your readers.

• Title Page

  This part includes:

  • Your book title
  • Your book’s subtitle
  • Your name
  • Your co-writer or translator’s name (if any)
• Copyright Page

  This contains the copyright notice, which includes the year of publication and the name of the copyright owner. This page can also include your book’s publishing history, permissions, acknowledgments, and disclaimers.

• Dedication

  A name and often a message in tribute to a person or cause. Generally speaking, it is an expression of friendly connection or thanks by the author towards another person.

• Epigraph

  This is a quotation or saying that is fitting but not integral to the text.

• Table of Contents

  This part contains the book's chapters and their page numbers.

• List of Illustrations

  If your book includes a number of key illustrations that provide information or enhance the text in some way, consider creating this section.

• List of Tables

  If your book includes a number of key tables that provide information or enhance the text in some way, consider creating this section.

• Foreword

  This section contains a statement or a short introduction about your work by someone other than you who is an expert in the field of the book’s topic.

• Preface

  You can use this page to describe why you wrote your book and establish your credentials and expertise in your field. This section isn’t necessary for works of fiction.

• Acknowledgements

  If not part of the preface, this page contains notes of appreciation to people who gave you support during the writing process.

• Introduction

  If not part of the text, this part presents information about the main text that you want readers to know before proceeding. While the preface talks about the author, the intro refers to the work. You can use this page to explain the concept of your book in detail.

• List of Abbreviations

  This list contains the abbreviations used in your book. This section usually alphabetizes terms by the abbreviation, not by the spelled-out form.

Back Matter

Does your book require notes? An index? A bibliography? Read on for the back matter sections, the parts of a book that commonly appear after the main text.

• Appendix

  An appendix contains extra materials such as tables or source material, which provides additional information on a certain chapter or topic.

• Endnotes

  This page contains all the notes you used to emphasise or document certain passages of your main text. As for footnotes, they’ll be more likely to be included in the references page, which is described below.

• Glossary

  This page lists alphabetically arranged words and their definitions. Consider including this section especially if you use terminology that your readers may not be familiar with, or if you coin new words or phrases in your book.

• Bibliography/References

  This section lists the sources for works used in your book. Make sure to arrange the sources alphabetically using the author's last name. Refer to the 16th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style for samples and guidelines.

• Index

  An index is an alphabetically ordered list of words and terms used for referencing your text. It gathers all the key terms and subjects, sorts them alphabetically, provides cross-references to and from related terms, and includes specific page numbers or other locators.

Sources:
1. University of North Carolina, “Formatting Guidelines”