Parts of a Book: Front Matter to Back Matter
A book has a cover and three parts inside it: front matter, from the title page to the introduction; the body, with its chapters; and back matter, from the epilogue to the author bio. KDP’s formatting guide gives the usual order of each part, and calls many of the elements optional.
SelfPub Go TeamUpdated 10 min readIn short
- Front matter is everything before chapter one: half title, title page, copyright page, dedication, contents, preface, acknowledgments, prologue, introduction.
- In print, the half title, title page, dedication, contents and chapter one start on right-facing pages; the copyright page sits on the back of the title page.
- A Kindle eBook with chapters must have a working table of contents, without page numbers.
- Back matter follows the last chapter. Previews and other bonus content go there, never at the front.
- KDP allows no more than 4 blank pages in a row at the start or in the middle of a print file, and no more than 10 at the end.
On this page
The parts of a book in order
This is the order KDP’s guide to front matter, body matter and back matter gives for a paperback, with the pages Kindle Create adds for an eBook. You won’t need all of them: a novel often has a title page, a copyright page, a dedication and chapters, and little else.
| Part | Section | What it holds | Page in print |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half title | Front matter | The title only | Right-facing, no page number |
| Title page | Front matter | Title, subtitle, author | Right-facing, after the half title |
| Copyright page | Front matter | Copyright notice, edition, publisher, ISBN if you add it | Back of the title page |
| Reviews and praise | Front matter | Quotes about the book or the author | Before the dedication |
| Dedication | Front matter | A line or two for someone | Right-facing |
| Table of contents | Front matter | Parts and chapters as they read in the body | Right-facing |
| Preface, acknowledgments | Front matter | The author on the book; thanks | After the contents |
| Prologue, introduction | Front matter | The opening scene or the subject | Last before chapter one |
| Parts and chapters | Body | The text itself | Chapter one right-facing |
| Epilogue, afterword | Back matter | The close of the story; how the book came about | Back matter starts right-facing |
| References, bibliography | Back matter | Sources and notes | Right-facing |
| Index | Back matter | Terms and page numbers | Right-facing |
| About the author, other books | Back matter | Bio, series list, books by the author | Right-facing |
Outside the pages are the parts every print book has: the front cover, the spine and the back cover, printed together as one cover file.
The outside: front cover, spine and back cover
A paperback cover on KDP is one PDF: back cover, spine and front cover side by side, with bleed around the edge. Its size depends on the trim size and the page count; the KDP cover calculator works it out and gives you a template to design on.
- Front cover. Title, subtitle and author name. KDP’s metadata guidelines ask for the title on the front cover or the spine of a print book, matching the title you enter when you set the book up.
- Spine. Title and author along the spine, but only from 79 pages: below that KDP doesn’t allow spine text.
- Back cover. The blurb, perhaps a photo and a short bio, and the barcode in the lower right corner. Leave that corner empty and KDP adds a barcode for you; to make your own, use the ISBN barcode generator. What to write in the blurb is in our guide to what a blurb is.
Front matter: from the half title to the introduction
Front matter is everything that comes before chapter one. Most of it is short, and in print most of it starts on a right-facing page, so a blank left page in between is normal.
Half title and title page
The half title carries only the book’s title. The title page follows it on the next right-facing page, with the title, subtitle and author name; KDP’s guide notes it has no “by” before the name. Neither page shows a page number or a running header.
Copyright page
The copyright page is the first left-facing page after the title page, the back of the title page. It usually holds the copyright notice, the year, a rights statement, the edition and the publisher or imprint. The ISBN can go here too: KDP’s manuscript templates page says it’s not required, and if you add it, it must match the ISBN of that edition. The copyright page generator drafts the page from your details.
Reviews, dedication and epigraph
Praise for the book or for your earlier books comes before the dedication. The dedication itself takes a right-facing page of its own. An epigraph, a quotation that sets the tone, is another optional front-matter page Kindle Create can add.
Table of contents
The contents page lists the parts and chapters with the names they have in the body: if chapter one is called “The Large Dog” in the text, it can’t be “The Big Dog” in the contents. In print it starts on a right-facing page; add the page numbers last, after the layout stops moving.
Foreword, preface, acknowledgments, prologue and introduction
KDP’s Kindle Create guide tells these apart. A foreword is usually written by someone else. A preface is the author’s own note on the book or the edition. An introduction opens the subject and belongs mostly to nonfiction; a prologue shows an earlier event that sets up a story, and belongs to fiction. Acknowledgments can go at the front, as in KDP’s paperback order, or at the back, where Kindle Create places them.
Body matter: parts and chapters
The body is the text itself, divided into chapters and, in longer books, into parts. KDP’s paperback guide describes how it is usually laid out:
- Chapter one starts on a right-facing page; each later chapter starts on the next available page.
- A chapter’s first page has no running header, and its first paragraph isn’t indented.
- Left-page headers show the author’s name and right-page headers the book’s title.
- Page numbers in the body are Arabic numerals, running in order.
The body decides the page count, and the page count decides the spine and the printing cost. Before the layout is done, the word count to pages calculator gives a close estimate from your word count and trim size.
Back matter: from the epilogue to the author bio
Back matter is everything after the last chapter. Its first section starts on a right-facing page, and so do the bibliography, the author bio and the index. The pages Kindle Create offers for an eBook show what usually belongs here:
- Epilogue and afterword. The close of the story, or a note on how the book came about.
- Acknowledgments. Thanks to the people and sources behind the book.
- References, notes, bibliography and index. Mostly nonfiction; an index is set in hanging indentation.
- About the author. A short bio, often with a photo.
- Praise, books in this series, books by the author. Where readers who finished the book find the next one.
- List of characters. Useful in long fiction with a large cast.
Bonus content, such as a preview of your next book, also goes at the back. KDP’s bonus content policy requires it at the end of the book, listed in the table of contents, and no more than about 10% of the book.
Front matter in a Kindle eBook
An eBook has the same parts, with a few rules of its own:
- A working table of contents. Amazon requires one in every Kindle eBook with chapters or sections: the logical table of contents in the Kindle Go To menu, plus an HTML contents page at the front, which it strongly recommends.
- No page numbers. Not in the contents, under KDP’s navigation guidelines, and not in the text: the Guide to Kindle Content Quality lists in-line page numbers as a critical issue to remove.
- One cover. KDP’s preview checklist asks for a cover and no second image of the cover on the next page.
- No bonus content up front. Previews or other stories placed before the book are listed as disappointing content.
Keep eBook front matter short: the sample a reader downloads starts at the front, and KDP’s navigation guidelines place the contents there so it shows in that sample. In Kindle+, KDP counts pages read with its own standard formatting, which our KENP calculator turns into money.
What KDP checks in a print interior
KDP’s page on fixing paperback and hardcover formatting issues lists the problems that most often send a file back. Three of them are about the parts of the book:
- Blank pages. No more than 4 blank pages in a row at the beginning or in the middle of the file, and no more than 10 at the end. Front matter on right-facing pages adds single blank pages, which is fine.
- Page numbers in order. In a left-to-right book, even numbers sit on left pages and odd numbers on right ones. A jump in numbering looks like missing pages.
- Details that match. The title, author and, if printed, the ISBN in the interior have to match the book’s details on KDP.
KDP’s manuscript templates, Word files for each trim size, come with the front matter formatted and placeholder chapters. Delete every bit of sample text you don’t use: KDP warns that leftover template text can get the file rejected. Our guide to publishing a book on Amazon covers the steps around the interior.
See what each book earns after its ads.
Once the book is out, SelfPub Go puts its KDP royalties and Kindle+ page reads next to its Amazon Ads spend, book by book, in a desktop app for macOS and Windows.
Download SelfPub GoRules here come from the linked KDP Help pages as of the date at the top. If a linked page now says otherwise, trust the linked page.
Frequently asked questions
What are the parts of a book?
Outside: the front cover, the spine and the back cover. Inside: front matter (half title, title page, copyright page, dedication, table of contents, preface, acknowledgments, prologue, introduction), the body with its parts and chapters, and back matter (epilogue, afterword, appendix or references, index, about the author).
What is front matter in a book?
Everything before chapter one. KDP's formatting guide lists the usual order as half title, title page, copyright page, reviews and praise, dedication, table of contents, preface, acknowledgments, prologue and introduction, and notes that many of these elements are optional.
What comes first, the dedication or the table of contents?
The dedication. In KDP's usual order it follows the copyright page, and the table of contents comes after it, on a right-facing page.
What is the difference between a foreword, a preface and an introduction?
A foreword is usually written by someone other than the author. A preface is the author's own note on how the book or this edition came about. An introduction opens the subject itself and is mostly used in nonfiction; a prologue, its fiction counterpart, shows an earlier event that sets up the story.
Where does the copyright page go?
On the back of the title page: KDP's formatting guide puts it on the first left-facing page after the title page, with no page number or header. You can print the ISBN there; if you do, it must match the ISBN of that edition.
Does a Kindle eBook need a table of contents?
Yes, if it has chapters or sections. Amazon requires a working table of contents in those eBooks: the logical one in the Kindle Go To menu is required, and an HTML one at the front of the book is strongly recommended. Neither shows page numbers.
What goes in the back matter of a book?
Whatever follows the last chapter: an epilogue or afterword, acknowledgments, appendices, notes, a bibliography, an index, an about-the-author page and lists of your other books. On KDP, bonus content such as previews of other books belongs here too, never at the front.