Elements Of A Book
The Elements of a Book, in Order
A finished book is more than its chapters. Readers, retailers and librarians expect certain pages in a certain order, and a cover with specific parts. Here is each element, where it goes, and which ones your book actually needs.
- Layout and editing by an in-house team
- Front and back matter set in standard order
- Print and ebook files built from the same text
- Revisions included until the brief is met
The structure
Three parts: front matter, text and back matter
Books are conventionally divided into three parts. The front matter is everything before the main text begins: the title pages, the copyright page and any material that introduces the book. The text, or body, is the chapters themselves. The back matter is everything after: notes, appendices, the index, acknowledgements and information about the author.
Not every book includes every element. The order most publishers follow comes from the Chicago Manual of Style, and getting it right is one of the small signals that tells a reader, a bookseller or a librarian that the book was produced professionally.
Front matter
Front matter, in the conventional order
Optional items are marked. A work of fiction may need only the first three; non-fiction usually adds a table of contents.
- Half title: just the book's title, on the first right-hand page
- Title page: full title, subtitle, author name and publisher or imprint
- Copyright page: copyright notice, edition, ISBNs, credits, permissions and any disclaimer
- Dedication (optional): a short line to someone who matters to the author
- Epigraph (optional): a quotation that sets the tone, with its source
- Table of contents: essential in non-fiction, optional in most novels
- Lists of illustrations or tables (optional): for heavily illustrated or data-rich books
- Foreword (optional): written by someone other than the author, and signed by them
- Preface (optional): the author on why and how the book was written
- Acknowledgements: placed here or in the back matter
- Introduction: part of the front matter or the first section of the text, depending on its content
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The text
The main text and how it is divided
The body of the book is organised into chapters, and sometimes into parts that group chapters together. A prologue or epilogue in fiction belongs to the text, not the front matter. In non-fiction, the introduction often counts as the first section of the text if it is essential reading.
Consistency matters more than any particular style. Chapter titles or numbers, how scene breaks are marked, how subheadings are styled in non-fiction: decide once, and apply it throughout. Readers notice an inconsistency before they could explain what it is.
Back matter
What can come after the text
Back matter in non-fiction is mostly reference material. In fiction it is mostly about the author and what to read next.
Appendices
Supporting material that would interrupt the main text: documents, data, worked examples or templates.
Notes and bibliography
Endnotes grouped by chapter and a list of sources. Expected in history, biography and serious non-fiction.
Glossary
Definitions of specialist terms, useful in technical, legal or invented-world books.
Index
An alphabetical list of subjects and page numbers. Prepared from the final typeset pages, because page numbers must be fixed first.
About the author
A short bio, often with a photo and where to find the author online.
Also by the author
Other titles, a series reading order and an invitation to join a mailing list. In self-published books, this page does real marketing work.
The cover
The elements of a book cover
An ebook needs only a front cover. A print book needs a full wrap: the front cover with title, subtitle and author name; the spine with title, author and often the imprint logo, sized to the page count and paper; and the back cover with a description, a short author bio or endorsements, and space for the barcode. Hardcover editions with a dust jacket add front and back flaps, which usually carry the longer description and author bio.
The back cover copy is easy to underestimate. It is often the second thing a browsing reader looks at, after the front, and it does the same job as the retailer description: telling the right reader this book is for them.
Interior design
The elements of a well-designed page
Inside, the visible elements are the trim size, the margins, the typeface and size, the running heads that carry the title or author name at the top of the page, and the folios, or page numbers. Chapter openings get their own design, often starting lower on the page with a larger heading, and running heads are usually left off them.
Front matter pages are traditionally numbered in lower-case roman numerals or left unnumbered, with arabic page numbers starting at the main text. In an ebook, most of this disappears, because the text reflows to the reader's screen. That is why print and ebook files are built separately from the same edited text.
Working with us
Putting the elements together
Our layout team sets front and back matter in standard order, designs chapter openings and running heads to suit your genre, and builds both the print interior and the ebook. Our editors can write or tidy the copyright page, back cover copy and author bio. If you are unsure which elements your book needs, we will recommend a set based on the genre and the material you have.
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Questions about the elements of a book
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A book has three main parts: front matter (title pages, copyright page, contents and introductory material), the main text (chapters and parts) and back matter (appendices, notes, index and author information). A print book also has a cover with front, spine and back. Which optional elements you include depends on the genre.
Usually the copyright notice with year and owner, a rights statement, the edition, the ISBN for each format, the publisher or imprint name, credits such as the cover designer, any permissions for quoted material, and a disclaimer if the book needs one, for example for fiction or health advice.
In print, often not, especially if chapters are only numbered. Ebooks are different: a linked table of contents helps readers navigate, and retailers generally expect one. Many novelists include a simple contents list in the ebook and leave it out of the paperback.
A foreword is written by someone other than the author, usually to recommend the book. A preface is the author explaining why and how they wrote it. An introduction prepares the reader for the content itself. Most books have none or one of these, rarely all three.
Either is accepted. Many modern books, especially fiction, put acknowledgements at the back so readers reach the story sooner, which also helps the retailer preview start with the actual text. Academic and some non-fiction books still place them in the front matter.
After the interior is typeset and the page numbers are final. Any change to the text after indexing can shift pages and break the index, so make all edits first. Ebooks often use a linked index or none at all, since readers can search the text.
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Front covers and full print wraps with spine and back.
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Final checks on your typeset pages before printing.
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The production standards readers notice.
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