Book structure will influence how your content is read.

Book structure guides the reader through the book in a coherent manner that showcases the content.

The three main parts of a book are:

• Front Matter
• Body Matter
• End Matter

Front Matter

This is the first section of the book. These pages can provide an opportunity to include some of the following pages:

• Half title: Contains the title of the book in the same font as the cover with approx 50-70% reduction in size.
• Title page: Reflects a simplified version of the cover design and includes the title, author and any other main contributors such as illustrators, photographers and designers.
• Imprint page:  Captures all the technical details about the book such as, date of publication, publisher’s name, logo and contact details, name of the author, ISBN, copyright, list of contributors, CiP data, printer’s details.
• Dedication: The author names the person or people to whom he/she has dedicated the book to.
• Table of Contents: Chapter headings and subchapter headings. This will also include any other front matter that follows the Table of Contents.
• Foreword: Written by someone other than the author. This is often telling of an interaction between the author and the writer of the foreword that has bearing on the content of the book.
• Acknowledgement: Acknowledges those that have contributed or supported the creation of the book.

Body Matter

This is the core of the book usually comprising of either chapters or chapters and sections. Sections are elements that are contained within chapters often used in family histories and technical manuals.

End Matter

This is where you are likely to find some of the following pages:

• Index
• Glossary
• Promotional material for other books or resources