How to Self Publish: Front Matter, Back Matter

All the little bits that’ll make your story pop

Ready to self publish? Great. Once you have your novel all polished and ready, there’s something more you’ll need to do: Begin to write the front matter and back matter .

Don’t forget the additional pages a book requires — when the book is actually scheduled for publication, you’ll find yourself needing these in a hurry (of course, not all of these will apply to your project). I’ve had some surprise scrambles before when self publishers and publishers requested some of these, especially the back cover content, and I realized I’d forgotten all about them. (For front and back matter, this is the correct order, according to the Chicago Manual of Style.)

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
9. Foreword
10. Preface
11. Acknowledgements
12. Introduction
13. List of abbreviations or…