What Are the Parts of a Book? The Ultimate Guide for 2023 (2024)
Even if you've already polished your chapters to perfection, you still need to prepare various other parts of your book before publishing — namely, the front matter and back matter.
If you haven’t come across these terms before, don’t be intimidated! They simply refer to the first and last sections of a book: the bits that make it look put-together and “official,” rather than like randomly bound pages.
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In this guide, we’ll dissect the anatomy of a book, covering which components a publisher can (and should) include in their final product.
In subsequent sections, we'll burrow deeper into the most common and important sections of a book's front, body, and back matter. But first, let's start with a wide-angle view, beginning with...
The front matter
The front matter of a book consists of its very first pages: the title page, copyright page, table of contents, etc. There may also be a preface by the author, or a foreword by someone familiar with their work.
Though many readers skip right over it, the front matter contains some pretty important information about the book's author and publisher. And for those who DO read it, the front matter forms their first impression, so make sure you get it right!
Title page
The full title and author's name — as they appear on the cover.
Frontispiece
A decorative illustration or photo on the page next to the title page. Typically goes on the left.
Accolades
Quotes from esteemed reviewers and publications in praise of the book. This praise often appears on the back cover as well.
Copyright page
Also called a “colophon,” the copyright page includes technical information about copyrights, edition dates, typefaces, ISBN, as well as your publisher and printer. Usually appears on the reverse of the title page.
Dedication page
A page where the author names the person or people to whom they dedicate their book, and why. This typically comes after the copyright page.
Table of contents
A list of chapter headings and the page numbers where they begin. The table of contents (abbreviated ToC) should list all major sections that follow it, both body and back matter.
Epigraph
A quote or excerpt that indicates the book's subject matter, the epigraph can be taken from another book, a poem, a song, or almost any source. It usually comes immediately before the first chapter.
Preface
An introduction written by the author, a preface relates how the book came into being, or provides context for the current edition.
Foreword
An introduction written by another person, usually a friend, family member, or scholar of the author's work.
The body
The body of a book is pretty self-explanatory: the main text that goes between the front matter and back matter. For readers and writers alike, this is where the magic happens — but it's not just the content that's crucial, but also how you arrange it. Don't worry, we'll show you how!
Prologue (for fiction)
A section just before the main story begins, a prologue aims to set the stage and intrigue the reader. Indeed, many prologues contain intriguing events that only become contextualized later in the story.
Introduction (for nonfiction)
A few pages that usher the reader into the subject matter. The intro goes over early events or information related to the main narrative, so the reader has a solid footing before they begin.
“What's the difference between a preface and an introduction? A preface is personal to the author, discussing why they wrote the book and what their process was. An introduction relates directly to the subject matter and really kicks things off — which is why it's part of the body, not the front matter.”
Chapters
Every single book has chapters, or at least sections, into which the narrative is divided. These chapters may not be designated by a chapter heading, or appear in a ToC; some authors start new chapters just by using page breaks. But if you don't use anything to break up your content, your readers will not be happy. (Also, if you're unsure how long your chapters should be, check out this post on the subject!)
Epilogue (for fiction)
A scene that wraps up the story in a satisfying manner, an epilogue often takes place some time in the future. Alternatively, if there are more books to come in the series, the epilogue may raise new questions or hint at what will happen in the next book.
Conclusion (for nonfiction)
A section that sums up the core ideas and concepts of the text. Explicitly labeled conclusions are becoming less common in nonfiction books, which commonly offer final thoughts in the last chapter, but academic theses may still be formatted this way.
Afterword
Any other final notes on the book; can be written by the author or by someone they know.
Postscript
A brief final comment after the narrative comes to an end, usually just a sentence or two (e.g. “Matthew died at sea in 1807, but his memory lives on”).
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The back matter
The back matter (also known as the “end matter”) is — you guessed it — material found at the back of a book. Authors use their back matter to offer readers further context or information about the story, though back matter can also be extremely simple: sometimes just a quick mention of the author's website or a note from the publisher.
Acknowledgments
A section to acknowledge and thank all those who contributed to the book's creation. This may be the author's agent and editor(s), their close friends and family, and other sources of inspiration. The acknowledgments typically appear right after the last chapter.
About the author
This is where the author gives a brief summary of their previous work, education, and personal life (e.g. “She lives in New York with her husband and two Great Danes”). For more on this topic, read through our guide to writing an author bio or check out some stellar About the Author examples.
Copyright permissions
If the author has sought permission to reproduce song lyrics, artwork, or extended excerpts from other books, they should be attributed here (may also appear in the front matter).
Discussion questions
Thought-provoking questions and prompts about the book, intended for use in an academic context or for book clubs.
Appendix or addendum (nonfiction)
Additional details or updated information relevant to the book, especially if it's a newer edition.
Chronology or timeline (nonfiction)
List of events in sequential order, which may be helpful for the reader, especially if the narrative is presented out of order. A chronology is sometimes part of the appendix.
Endnotes
Supplementary notes that relate to specific passages of the text, and denoted within the body by superscripts. Almost always used in nonfiction, but occasionally found in experimental/comedic fiction as well, such as Infinite Jest.
Glossary
Definitions of words or other elements that appear in the text. In works of fiction, the glossary may contain entries about individual characters or settings. The glossary usually appears in alphabetical order.
Index
A list of specialty terms or phrases used in the book, along with the pages on which they appear, so the reader can find them easily. The index is also usually in alphabetical order.
Bibliography/reference list
A comprehensive breakdown of sources cited in the work. Your bibliography should follow a manual of style — luckily, it's easy to create one using free tools like Easybib. Note that this is a formal list of citations, not a bonus reading list on your subject; that would go in the afterword or appendix.
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If you're ready to go a little deeper, head to the next part of this guide and prepare to get up close and personal with copyright pages!
Design and content make up the entirety of the book, including the title, introduction, body, conclusion, and back cover. In order to write a book in full, you need to have all the moving parts to make it not only good but also effective.
Books are generally divided into three sections: front matter, principal text, and back matter. Front matter is the material at the front of a book that usually offers information about the book.
How do you write a book review? A book review comprises three critical parts: the summary and background, details about the author, and critical analysis. The layout of most book reviews is as follows: bibliographical information, introduction, thesis, supportive context, summary, critical analysis, and conclusion.
Three basic parts of a book are front matter, body matter, and end matter. Front matter can include the title page, copyright page, dedication, acknowledgments, foreword, preface, and table of contents. Body matter can include a prologue and the main chapters or contents of the book.
Characters, setting, plot, conflict, point of view, and theme are six key elements for writing fiction. Characters are the people, animals, or aliens in the story. Readers come to know the characters through what they say, what they think, and how they act.
The Four Elements of Fiction: Character, Setting, Situation, and Theme is a detailed discussion about the importance of how the four elements of fiction must relate to one another in order to produce a page-turner.
The parts of a book include the front matter, the body, and the back matter. The body is the most significant portion, containing the main narrative. The front matter and back matter are the non-story pages that come before and after the story is told.
The Classic Story Structure, also known as narrative structure or dramatic structure, has been a standard format used for many centuries in visual stories and novels. This structure's seven main parts include the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, dénouement, and themes.
The four stages of writing a book review are: introducing the book, outlining its contents, highlighting parts of the book by selecting particular chapters or themes, and giving a detailed evaluation.
You should clearly state your opinion of the work in question, and that statement will probably resemble other types of academic writing, with a thesis statement, supporting body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
The main parts of a story consist of five elements: characters, setting, plot, conflict, and resolution. Great authors know how to harness these story elements with others we'll cover in this post to write a memorable story.
The anatomy of a book is divided into two primary sections, the front matter and the back matter. As you can surmise, the front matter precedes the body of work or the story. And, accordingly, the back matter follows the work or story. Not every manuscript will include all of these parts.
The body of the book includes the content of the book itself, which is usually presented in the form of chapters. For works of fiction, the body of the book is the actual story as it unfolds. For nonfiction works, the body includes the author's account of events For some books, the content isn't broken into chapters.
The New Testament contains 27 books written in Greek by 15 or 16 different authors between 50 C.E and 120 C.E. It can be divided into 4 groups: Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, Epistles, and Apocalypse.
A hexalogy (from Greek ἑξα- hexa-, "six" and -λογία -logia, "discourse") is a compound literary or narrative work that is made up of six distinct works.
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arrangement is codex (plural, codices).
Arthur is given a rickety shopping cart and a list of the "Seven Most Important Things": glass bottles, foil, cardboard, pieces of wood, lightbulbs, coffee cans, and mirrors.
There are seven elements of fiction that can be found in any story, regardless of the form the narrative takes. These elements are character, plot, setting, theme, point of view, conflict, and tone. All seven elements work together to create a coherent story.
At around 10 to 25 pages, that makes short stories much shorter than novels, with only a few approaching novella length. A piece of fiction shorter than 1,000 words is considered a “short short story” or “flash fiction,” and anything less than 300 words is rightfully called “microfiction.”
Most short stories seem to be between 1,500 words and 7,500 words long so about 3- 30 pages long (a typical printed page is somewhere between 250 and 450 words) depending on font and print formatting. Also, pages of dialogue may have fewer words, which affects length too.
The word epilogue comes from the Greek epilogos, which means “conclusion word.” It always comes at the end of a literary work and is therefore the opposite of a prologue, which always comes at the beginning. As with the prologue, the epilogue originated with Greek playwrights and poets.
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.
Sharp dialogue: Good books are filled with sharp, memorable dialogue. Bestsellers contain dialogue that advances the plot, demonstrates your characters' personalities, and adds texture to the world of your story.
A preface, prologue, and foreword are all a part of a book's front matter, the introductory pages of a book before the main text—often numbered with Roman numerals—that include the title page and table of contents.
Book layout design, or “typesetting,” is the art of creating a book's interior. It involves all of the decisions that influence the way readers experience the content of your printed book: fonts, spacing, the styling of chapter headings, margins, etc.
The “main body” of your book is the essential part of the content. The frontmatter and backmatter are supplementary to the main text; they provide background and context.
Just like most academic papers, literature reviews also must contain at least three basic elements: an introduction or background information section; the body of the review containing the discussion of sources; and, finally, a conclusion and/or recommendations section to end the paper.
One or two paragraphs summarizing the book. One paragraph on the book's strengths. One paragraph on the book's weaknesses. One paragraph on your assessment of the book's strengths and weaknesses.
Information about the intended audience. A critique of the argument/content of the book. Remarks on the strengths and limitations of the book. A note on the format, length and price (or value for money)
A good book is one that makes the reader feel. It takes the reader on a compelling journey. Calling a book “good” is an opinion that can be applied to any book. I believe that a book can be considered good if it is a great story with average writing.
This systematic review examines whether the use of children's literature in EFL classrooms supports the 4Cs of CLIL—content, communication, cognition, and culture.
This is called the EXPOSITION. It is the background information on the characters and setting explained at the beginning of the story. The EXPOSITION will often have information about events that happened before the story began. The EXPOSITION is often the very first part of the PLOT.
The CLIMAX of the story is when the CONFLICT of the PLOT is resolved.It is often the most exciting part of the story: when the hero saves the princess, discovers the buried treasure, or slays the dragon.
A glossary is an alphabetical list of technical terms and definitions customized to a specific subject. Usually found at the end of a textbook or textbook chapter, glossaries contain sets of words narrowly geared toward the book's subject matter.
The table of contents is usually located within the first few pages of the book after the title and copyright pages. It outlines the sections contained in the book and the order that they appear in.
Back matter (also called end matter) is the closing pages of a book—anything that comes after the story ends, or after the bulk of a nonfiction book is wrapped up. Some books have no back matter. Others include many sections of back matter, including an index, a glossary, an appendix, or a chronology.
The five books making up the Torah are Be-resh*t, Shemot, Va-yikra, Be-midbar and Devarim, which in the English Bible correspond to Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
A heptalogy (/hɛpˈtælədʒi/; from Greek ἑπτα- hepta-, "seven" and -λογία -logia, "discourse"), also known as a septology, is a compound literary or narrative work that is made up of seven distinct works.
A hexalogy (from Greek ἑξα- hexa-, "six" and -λογία -logia, "discourse") is a compound literary or narrative work that is made up of six distinct works.
These include the Quran (given to Muhammad), the Torah (given to Moses), the Gospel (given to Jesus), the Psalms (given to David), and the Scrolls (given to Abraham).
A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games.
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