Pages That Start Your Book

I'm almost done you see,

500 pages and more.

Now the thing that bothers me,

is the start I delayed before!

Beneath the Cover

Page 1

This first page is the title page. It typically shows the book's title and the author(s)

Page 2

This page (called the verso page) is "the meat and potatoes" for identifying the book that follows. At a minimum it will have any Acknowledgements (the "without whom this effort would still be just a dream" acknowledgements.) This is followed by the book's ISBN Number you have obtained from the U. S. agent providing International Standard Book Numbers and bar codes (the latter for the back cover of your book can be purchased from a number of sources, some more reasonable than others.) Have your roughly $125+ available, or go through a publisher who has those items for the books they publish. (This will not avoid the cost, if you are self-publishing.) The next item is listing your book's Congressional Catalog Number. That number is obtained directly from The Library of Congress. It can be obtained before you even print the book's proof copy, and you will want a barcode for the back cover, and a specified second barcode for the book, if it is to become an ebook. This page will list the publisher and where the book was manufactured (printed).

Page 3

This is a page for who you decide to dedicate the book to (friend, family, mentor, etc.)

Page 4

By Page 4 you can begin the book text, or you can do an Introduction which will tell the reader what the book is about, or something of the circumstances and reason(s) why the book was written.

From this point on the following pages are your text, though some books will first have a list of the chapter headings and a page number on which each chapter starts.

The last pages

These final pages may be an index, a note from the author(s), an introduction to the next book if this is one of a series, or an epilogue.

The back cover

It cannot be emphasized enough how important the back cover may be. If the book will not have a dust cover/dust jacket, the back cover will likely be the first thing a potential reader/buyer will read once the front cover has grabbed their attention. It must sell the book's contents and excite the potential reader/buyer to go further in making their decision as to what to do with your book, including put it down, come back to it later, sit down and read, check it out from the library, or buy it.

The back cover will also display the book's barcode, and possibly a widget that can be scanned to order or purchase the book.

The rest is what else your wrote to put inside the covers.

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© 2017 Demas W. Jasper All rights reserved.