Front Matter is one of the last sections of a book manuscript for an author to complete. But it’s the first thing a reader sees. Before page 1, there are several items that appear in the front pages of any book. Some pages are mandatory: title, copyright, and table of contents. Others are optional. Every page before the first one in Chapter 1 is paginated using lower case roman numerals beginning with the Title Page is i. Except for the Copyright Page, all sections of the front matter begin on a recto page. Verso pages are those on the left hand side of an open book; recto pages are on the right. In the body of the book manuscript, every new chapter begins on a recto page. This means if your chapter ends on an odd-numbered page, you will have one blank page between the end of the chapter and the start of the next one. Because printed books are bound together in signatures – 32 pages constitutes a signature – the total number of book pages is always divisible by eight. This is why you often find blank pages or additional front matter at the beginning or end of a book. Title Page – [required] The title and author’s name appear centered on the page. This is always the first printed page. Copyright Page – [required] This page contains copyright information (title, subtitle, author, publisher, date of publication, subject headings, Library of Congress and/or Dewey decimal designation, ISBN number, and Library…

Preparing a book proposal for submission to a publisher or an agent requires you write a Table of Contents (TOC). This should be an outline of the book concept you plan to propose. Simple enough? Simple is not the same as easy. To begin this document, start with a list of your chapters. Do you have chapter titles? Are the chapters divided into sections or parts? Translate the structure of your book into outline format. Include the (estimated) pagination of each chapter. How long is your book? Publishers have standard expectations of word counts for different genres. For memoir, 80-100,000 words or roughly 200 pages. For narrative non-fiction it may depend on the subject and scope of your book, but again 200-300 pages is a good range. Manuscripts longer than 300 pages may handicap their odds, since the cost of paper and printing is the biggest production expense; the longer the book, the lower the profit margin. In addition to the chapters, you will also have Front Matter and Back Matter and will want to indicate in your Table of Contents what you plan to include in each. Front Matter goes before Chapter 1, page 1 of the manuscript; Back Matter appears at the end of the book. Front Matter includes the title page, copyright page, dedication, epigraph, a Preface or Foreword, perhaps a Note to the Reader, Acknowledgements, Table of Contents, and/or Introduction. Other than title and copyright pages, what you decide to include in your Front Matter is…

Planning to write a non-fiction book in 2013? Do you have a work-in-progress memoir? And your goal is to publish? Then start the New Year with a timeline and plan to write a book proposal. Now that you’ve updated your biographical profile, write a synopsis of your book concept before the end of this month. In less than 1,000 words, write an essay in third person about your book manuscript. Not easy, I know. If you are writing a memoir, this exercise helps you focus on the narrative arc, themes, characters, and direction of your work-in-progress. If you are preparing a non-fiction manuscript, I recommend you begin with a synopsis and invest your time in writing proposal before you spend years belaboring a book without commercial feasibility. Authors don’t get rich and famous from writing books in today’s economy (although the rich and famous have an easier time getting their manuscripts published than debut authors from Dubuque). When you prepare a book proposal, one of the most important documents is the synopsis. Distilling 200 plus pages into a précis of essential points is a serious challenge to any author. In order to write the synopsis of your book, you may need to take several steps back from your manuscript and take some time and perspective. This is your Elevator speech, your 30 second Hollywood pitch, your big chance to convince an agent or acquisition editor to read more. Unless you hook ’em with a powerful synopsis, they won’t bother to…