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The Book Block
In publishing, the collection of all the pages between the
covers is known as the “book block.” Within the book
block itself, there are usually three sets of pages:
• The Front Matter
The front matter includes the title page, the copyright
page, a table of contents, and perhaps other elements,
such as a foreword, a preface, and an epigraph.
• The Core Matter
The core matter consists of the main content of a
book: the narrative in a novel, the poems in a poetry
collection, the essays in an essay collection, and so on.
• The Back Matter
The back matter consists of all the content that fol-
lows the core matter. This could include an epilogue,
an afterword, acknowledgements, a short profile of
the author, and an index.
Front Matter
Front matter is the material in the front of the book, be-
fore the book narrative begins. Front matter is up to your
personal preference, though it’s good to at least have a
title page before the first narrative page. Except for the
Table of Contents, these elements are typically one page
each. In typical order of appearance:
Each of these elements is described below.
Title Page
The title page appears on the right and presents the full
title of the book and the author’s name.
Copyright Page
A copyright notice usually appears on back of the title page.
Here’s a typical copyright notice: Copyright © Sarah
Doe. All rights reserved.
Under U.S. copyright law, your self-published work is
protected as soon as you put pen to paper. Copyright is
based on your creative authorship and is not dependent
on any formal agreement with a book publisher or self-
publishing company, although registration with the U.S.
Copyright Office is beneficial.
Copyright Registration allows you a higher level of security
and confidence when it comes to protecting your work.
When you register your work with the U.S. Copyright
office, you create a public record of your authorship.
Even though you are protected the moment you start
writing, you’ll have to register your work with the Copyright
Office to be officially recognized as the copyright holder
in a court of law. The use of the copyright notice is the
responsibility of the copyright owner. For more information
see http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf
You do not need an ISBN to print your book using the
NOOK Press print platform. However, if your book does
have an ISBN, you should list it.
Dedication
If an author wants to dedicate the book to a person or
group of people, that dedication usually appears on its
own odd-numbered page. The dedication itself is often
centered and set in italic like so:
To Mary, as always
Table of Contents
The table of contents follows next. Microsoft Word and
other word processors include tools for automatically
generating a table of contents to ensure it accurately
reflects your latest changes to the document.
Epigraph
An epigraph is a quotation or group of quotations that
the author feels set the tone for the book that follows.
Like dedications, epigraphs might be centered on the
page and set in italics. Quotations should always be attributed.
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.
—Helen Keller
Preface
A preface is an introduction written by the author of the book.
Foreword
A forward is an introduction usually written by someone
other than the author of the book. In non-fiction, the
foreword might be written by another expert in the same
field as the author.
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication page
• Table of contents
• Epigraph
• Preface
• Foreword
PRE-PRESS MANUSCRIPT
7
The NOOK Press Print Platform Formatting Guide
