The Anatomy of a Book: Front Matter
We read books all the time. When we open one, we have an idea of what to expect - even if we’ve never really thought about why we expect certain things. We see the way books look at the end, when flesh and clothing and make up cover up the bones of what’s there. We don’t really think about the way the joints are working, or the spine is holding up everything else. We just accept that the book works.
In this series, we’re x-raying commercial nonfiction books at their most basic structure: their bones, you might say. I deeply believe that to write a book well, you must understand what makes a book work. Otherwise, when you go about trying to put one together, you might end up with something that looks more like Frankenstein’s monster! Sure, it walks and talks, but I think we all know it’s not the same.
The anatomy of a book can be broken down into three overall parts:
- Front matter (think of it like the skull - the locus of control for the book)
- The body (think of it like the rib cage and the spine)
- End matter (think of it like the feet)
At this point, we’re just looking at the bones to understand what’s there. Obviously, just putting the bones together wouldn’t be enough to give you a fully-fleshed book; that would require muscle and skin as well. And for a book, the muscle and skin come in how well you write these parts. Execution is what turns a bare skeleton into a living, breathing book.
So today, let’s look at the bones of our front matter.
Front Matter: The Locus of Control
The front matter—or all of the stuff that comes before the main text—is where we set readers’ expectations. The front matter sets the direction for the book. It is forward-facing, guiding the vision for where we will take the reader. And it’s also what invites others to join us, by making the book appealing (aka marketing!).
And we have several tools to help us set those expectations, establish our vision, and invite others to join us:
- Endorsements
- Dedication
- Foreword
- Preface
- Table of Contents
- Introduction
Not every commercial nonfiction book will include all of these pieces - but they’ll likely include at least a few. Remember, we need these tools to help us set expectations and vision for the book.
Endorsements
Also known as quotes or “blurbs” (ew - one of my least favorite words!), endorsements are short, usually 2-3 sentence statements from well-known authorities in the field. They’re from people who can vouch for the book’s content and help to persuade the reader of the value contained within the book. As you can imagine, these are an incredibly powerful marketing tool, which is why they’re usually the very first thing you see when you open a book.
Dedication
Dedications aren’t necessary, but they can be a useful little tool in setting expectations. Sometimes, dedications identify the ideal reader for the book, or the person who influenced the book the most. Sometimes it’s more of a personal acknowledgment of gratitude from the author for someone specific in their lives (often a spouse or family member). How you approach the dedication can also give readers an idea of your humor or writing before they dig in. For example, I love this list of creative dedications.
Foreword
The foreword (definitely not spelled “forward,” despite so many authors’ insistence!) is a piece written by a well-known authority in the field--not by the author him- or herself. In that way, it functions much like an endorsement, but rather than merely being 2-3 sentences, a foreword is usually 2-3 pages. It’s still in praise of the text, but here the foreword author has a chance to lay out an argument for the reader about why they should read this book. Often the foreword author is someone that the reader will know and trust; someone whose opinion weighs quite heavily on the reader; someone whose work the reader enjoys.
Preface
Often confused with the introduction, a preface is another marketing tool used to give the reader a snapshot of what they’ll find in the book. A good preface usually includes the following information:
- Who the book is for
- Why the book is important
- What problem the book is trying to solve for the reader
- How the book will solve that problem
If you’re like me, then you don’t usually commit to something without having a decent understanding of what you’re going to get out of it. That’s exactly the purpose of a preface. Usually, a preface isn’t too long (maybe 2-3 pages); remember, the goal is to give the reader just enough information to get them interested in reading the whole thing.
Table of Contents
This is definitely my favorite part of the front matter, and perhaps of the whole book! The Table of Contents exists to serve as a roadmap for the reader. If the Preface says “Here’s where we’re going,” the Table of Contents says “Here are the directions for getting there.” You’ve been promised a destination; now think of each chapter as a waypoint along the way. You have to stop at each waypoint to gather information and prepare you for the next leg of the journey. When you look at a good Table of Contents, you should be able to get a sense for how this journey is going to go.
Introduction
While the preface provides a useful snapshot, the introduction has two key purposes: hook the reader, and make sure the reader has the right expectations. This is where the author might go into a bit more depth about why they wanted to write this book; why were they interested in tackling this problem? If the book has two authors, this might be where they talk about their process and how they worked together--not just for the fun of it, but to help the reader understand the approach they took. The author also hooks the reader by describing the problem in more depth, and making a big (brief) promise about the solution. If there are any assumptions you’re making about the reader, or any vital information the reader needs to know before reading the book, this is your last chance to say so.
Remember a few key things about the front matter of a book:
- The purpose is to set expectations and vision, and invite the reader in.
- You don’t have to use all of these pieces. Think of the front matter as a collection of tools; some tools might be better suited for your book than others.
- How well you use these tools is what will start to give life to your book.
Next week, we’ll get into the main body of the book itself—the spine that holds everything else together and fulfills all of the promises you made to the reader in the front matter.
Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash
