What is front matter, and what goes in it?

Front matter is something you’ll see in every published work, ever. It’s there, like part of the furniture. Readers barely notice it, but it exists in every published book you’ve ever picked up, so most writers only confront it once the manuscript is finished and the book is ready for formatting.

What is front matter?

Front matter is the umbrella term for everything that comes before your first chapter: the title page, copyright page, dedication, table of contents, author’s note, and so on. Back matter, on the other hand, sits at the end of the book: the acknowledgements, author bio, bibliography, index, call to action, etc.

In answer to your question, we’ll tackle front matter only in this post (but I’ll probably do a write up of back matter so we can do a deep dive into both), but both front and back matter are the admin of your work. They each have a job to do, ranging from legal (copyright page), practical (the table of contents), to emotional (a dedication or an epigraph) that are distinct from the content of the work itself.

Front matter usually consists of:

• A title page that includes the book title, subtitle, author name, editor, translator, publisher information, and edition number.
• A half-title page that includes only the title, and no other information.
• A frontispiece, which is an illustration that will often sit opposite the title page to give a book a bit more visual flair.
• A copyright page that lists the copyright holder, publishing information, ISBN, and copyright notices.
• A dedication, which is a single page that includes the author’s dedication.
• A table of contents that includes page numbers and chapter titles for easy reference.
• An epigraph, which is a quote that precedes the body of a manuscript.
• A preface, which is the author’s statement of intention, context, and expertise.
• A foreword, which is a short introductory piece written by someone other than the author.

Note: do not confuse preface and foreword with a prologue or introduction. Prologues and introductions are not front matter, they are body matter (meaning they belong to the body of the manuscript as they’re essential to the content of the work).

What must be included in the front matter?

Some elements of front matter aren’t optional, either because retailers require them or because leaving them out will cause you headaches later. It’s all about information, so if someone is trying to find your book, they’ll know exactly what they have and what they’re looking for.

The title page

Your title page, unsurprisingly, includes the book’s title, subtitle (if you have one), and your name as the author. It can also include the editor (for collected works), translator, publisher information, and edition number if relevant. Resist the urge to decorate it. A title page should not have any cover art, taglines, or series branding. It’s meant to be functional.

The copyright page

This is the one page nobody enjoys putting together, but everybody needs. It’s the most confusing and most functional. At minimum, it should include your copyright notice, the edition and printing information, your ISBN, and a standard fiction disclaimer if you’re writing fiction.

Copyright pages tend to follow a similar formula, but details can differ slightly depending on where you’re publishing. If you’re going through UK channels, you’ll typically add a line asserting your moral rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (“The right of [Author] to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted”), and you can request a CIP (Cataloguing in Publication) entry from the British Library. In the US, the equivalent is registering for a Library of Congress Control Number, and your rights are protected automatically the moment you create the work.

Every country will have its own legal traditions to do the same job, so check which applies to your country, rather than copying a template that might not be relevant to you.

A note on ISBNs

You’ll need an ISBN to sell your book through most retailers and have it catalogued in libraries. Where you get one depends on where you’re based. UK authors buy theirs through Nielsen; US authors typically go through Bowker.

I’ve already done a post on ISBN’s specifically, so if you’d like to know more about it, I suggest you read up on it here.

The optional extras

Now that we’ve covered the non-negotiables for front matter, we can tackle the optional extras. None of the following are required, but they’re often included to personalise the front matter not only for the author, but for the reader as well.

Dedication

A dedication should not be more than a single line or very short paragraph, addressed to whoever the book is for. It doesn’t need to explain itself as it’s for the writer and intended recipient, not for the reader directly. A dedication should be brief, not thorough.

Epigraph

An epigraph is a short quotation that is placed just before the manuscript begins, that sets a tone or theme. In a non-fiction work, this might be a quote that exemplifies the subject matter. In a work of fiction, this might be a real-life quote that fits the theme of the book, or from a work that inspired it.

The most important thing is to make sure you’re allowed to use it. Quotes are usually fine, but song lyrics in particular are far more tightly controlled than most authors expect, and quoting even two lines without permission can land you in trouble. Make sure you have all the relevant copyright information for anything you’re including that you didn’t write yourself.

A table of contents

A table of contents is standard for non-fiction but usually unnecessary for a novel, unless your chapters are titled rather than numbered and readers might want to jump around. It lives in a hybrid space between necessary and not necessary because of this.

If you’re writing non-fiction, there are very few instances where a table of contents wouldn’t be necessary. Exemptions to this might be memoirs or more narrative non-fiction. In fiction, tables of contents are less common, and are most often used in epic fantasy or sci-fi space operas. These aren’t rules, just trends, so just be aware that you’ll need to decide on whether a table of contents is useful or necessary based on your own use case.

The preface (or author’s note)

A preface is written by you, in your own voice, usually in the first person. It explains why you wrote the book, how you came to write it, and whatever challenges shaped the writing of it. That makes it the right place for context on an updated edition, background on a historical event you’ve fictionalised, or including any relevant content warnings.

Prefaces are dry by nature, and readers skip them more often than almost any other page in a book, so don’t bury anything critical there that is essential to understanding or enjoying your work. If it’s book-essential it belongs in the body matter, not the front matter.

The foreword

Unlike a preface, a foreword isn’t written by you. It’s a short piece contributed by someone else, usually there to lend the book credibility or context. In non-fiction, that’s often an expert vouching for the material, whereas in fiction, forewords tend to turn up on reprints, posthumous editions, or books that have taken on some cultural weight since they first came out.

The playlist

I know it’s become popular to include playlists in self-published work, but I’d question whether it’s relevant or necessary.

Curated playlists have become a lovely, very online tradition among fiction writers, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with including one. But ask yourself whether it belongs in the printed book itself. Track lists date your work. Songs get pulled from streaming services, artists fall out of favour, and a playlist that felt perfectly curated when you were writing the book can feel dated and cringe a few years down the line.

A live link on your website or in your newsletter, updated as needed, tends to age better than a fixed page included permanently in a book. But if you’re really intent on including it, then I’d recommend it go in the back matter as supplementary material, rather than in the front matter.

What doesn’t belong up front

Full acknowledgements belong in the back matter, not the front. Nobody is picking up your book to read a list of thank-yous before they’ve read a single word. And on top of this, ebook retailers that offer “Look Inside” previews usually have previews generated from roughly the first 10% of your file, so every page of front matter you add is a page of content that gets pushed out of the preview.

Introductions and prologues cause a lot of confusion for writers because they fundamentally don’t belong in a book’s front matter. An introduction is written by you, but it sits in the body of the manuscript because its content is essential to the manuscript itself. It’s not content that readers can skip.

Introductions are usually used in non-fiction as a way to prime readers on unfamiliar topics before the book begins to make the argument. A prologue does something similar for fiction: it’s a scene there to set the tone and raise a reader’s expectations.

The bottom line

Front matter isn’t there to impress anyone. It exists to do a handful of very specific jobs: identify the book, protect your rights, and give readers who want it a little context before the story starts. A title page, a copyright page, and an ISBN aren’t optional. Everything else, from a dedication, an epigraph, to a preface, are.