Cookbook Front Matter (2024)

FAQs

What is the front matter of a book called? ›

Front matter is the stuff that goes at the beginning of the book before its main content. Common types of front matter in books include a title page and copyright notice, acknowledgements, a dedication, or an introduction, preface, foreward, or prologue.

According to the Chicago Manual of Style, here is the general order of front matter: 1) Half title page (just the title), 2) series title, list of contributors, frontispiece or blank page, 3) Title page, 4) Copyright page, 5) Dedication page or epigraph, 6) Table of Contents, 7) List of Illustrations, 8) List of Tables ...

Page numbering

Page 1 is normally the first page of the first chapter. The preceding pages (the frontmatter) should use Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, etc.) although they can be left unpaged if the frontmatter is very brief.

What is front matter? Front matter is the first section of a book and is generally the shortest; it is also sometimes called the prelims, or preliminary matter. It can be as simple as a single title page, or it can include multiple title pages, foreword, a preface, and much more.

Front matter introduces your book to your readers. Appearing before the main text, it usually contains just a few pages that include the book's title, the author's name, the copyright information, and perhaps even a preface or a foreword.

A really extensive front matter section might contain the following components (listed in the order preferred by The Chicago Manual of Style): half title, series title or frontispiece, title page, copyright page, dedication, epigraph, table of contents, list of illustrations, list of tables, foreword, preface, ...

Dedication. A book dedication is a device that some authors use to bestow a high honor on a person (or small group of people) they want to praise or otherwise spotlight. The dedication page goes in the very front of the book, after the title page.

The title page is exactly as it sounds. It is a page that lists the title of the book. But it does more than that. A title page also lists the author, illustrator, and publisher of a book. If the publisher has a logo (also known as a colophon) this also goes on the title page.

There are only two pages you must include in your front matter: a title page and a copyright page. The title page must go on a recto page, and the copyright page must go on the verso page immediately following the title page (in other words, the copyright page is printed on the back of the title page).

Good to know: Forewords and prefaces are part of what is known as the “front matter,” which is all the stuff at the front of the book that comes before the actual text—title page, copyright page, table of contents, and so on. These pages are often numbered with lowercase roman numerals (i, ii, iii).

What is the correct layout for a book? ›

Start each chapter on a new page. Some books go further and start each chapter on a right-hand page, but that really isn't necessary (except for the first chapter; always start your novel on a right-hand page). Start the text about one-third of the way down the page, with the chapter number above.

Publishers call the preliminary pages in a book the “front matter.” They aren't always numbered separately — some books start with the title page as page 1 and are paginated continuously throughout — but when there is a significant amount of front matter, it's conventional to number it using lowercase roman numerals.

Table of contents. Lists chapter titles and their corresponding page numbers. The table of contents (TOC) is a guide to all the major sections that appear after it, including the front matter and back matter and the content in the main body. May extend to several pages but always start on the right-hand page.

Length: The dedication is often a line or two. The acknowledgments section is often a page or two. The dedication goes in the front of the book. It goes before the table of contents and is not included in the table of contents.

The front matter is a section in the beginning of a book. The front matter in a book consists of: the title page (which includes copyright information, the ISBN number, etc.), the dedication, the epigraph, table of contents, acknowledgements, the foreword, the preface, the introduction, and the prologue.

The title page of a book, thesis or other written work is the page at or near the front which displays its title, subtitle, author, publisher, and edition, often artistically decorated.

Front Cover

It's sole purpose is to sell the book to readers, and includes essential elements such as the book's title and author name. Other elements to potentially include could be a subtitle, images, series number, or any accolades that you think will bring in more of the right readers.