Rapid-Fire Front Matter Tips
Michael DeLon
The rules distinguishing introductions, prefaces, and forewords are pretty hard and fast. You want to make sure you get each one right. However, all of our advice in this chapter from here on is just that—advice. These are general guidelines. Book publishing customs exist, but there are no laws. You could hypothetically start with Chapter 1, and no one would be able to sue you. The formatting police will not come and arrest you if you commit a horrible front matter crime. So rest and relax. Consider these as general guidelines intended for your benefit.
On the title page you insert…well…the title! Pretty simple. You can include the subtitle and your name, or just the title itself. Or do both: many books have two title pages. The first title page (the “half title page”) has only the title of the book, while the second (the “title page” proper) also lists subtitle and author name. This gives a very professional feel to the book.
Check out our free 11-week course to shorten your learning curve, avoid book-wrecking obstacles, and become an author more quickly and easier than you ever thought possible.
The copyright page is next. On it you tell everyone that you wrote this book, so it belongs to you: “Do not plagiarize, do not steal, do not sell. It is mine!”
In all seriousness, the copyright page is an important page. However, know that it doesn't have to be intimidating. Inserting the copyright symbol (©), your name, the current year, and the words “all rights reserved” is sufficient. Adding a ton of legal mumbo-jumbo is unnecessary. Here is how it might look:
©2016 Michael DeLon and Caleb DeLon. All rights reserved.
You must, must, must get a ISBN number for your book. An ISBN enables people to more easily search for and locate your book. The officialness of an ISBN number also adds credibility.
You can buy ISBN numbers from the official ISBN agency at bowker.com. You can also get them through some publishers. For example, if you publish through Amazon's CreateSpace platform, you can get an ISBN for free or for cheap.
The most common location to insert an ISBN number is on the copyright page, beneath the copyright notice.
Unfortunately, some people like to play the victim and sue others when they make dumb mistakes. If someone read your book and takes your advice, the has something bad happen to them, they may feel like punishing you. They will want you to pay for their mistake—or just bad luck.
To prevent this, you should include a disclaimer at the front of your book. It doesn't have to be long, nor complicated, nor in legal mumbo-jumbo. Here's a good sample disclaimer that you can adapt as you wish:
Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.
Compared with the disclaimer, the dedication is a piece of cake. The dedication is a way to honor a person who is special to you. Simply write, “This book is dedicated to [person’s name].” You can leave it at that, or elaborate on why the person is amazing. Many authors dedicate books to their spouse or children (the ones who have suffered a mild form of neglect throughout the book publishing process).
Michael DeLon is the founder of Credible Author. When he's not helping people become authors, he loves reading great books, playing games with his wife and daughters, and meeting up with good friends for early-morning coffee.
© 2025 Credible Author | Certified Non-Profit Corporation 1395669-5 | Michael@CredibleAuthor.org
