The Essential Sections of your Book

When you create a book, there are a few special pages that you need to think about in the manuscript, either before or after the main book content.  What you include may depend on whether your book is fiction or non-fiction.  Let’s look at these special pages.  You can refer to the corresponding sections of this book if you want an example.

Before the Main Book Content

1. Cover Page – This page shows the title, subtitle, author, and version or release date.  At the end of the cover page content, insert a page break.

2. Disclaimer and Terms of Use – a legal disclaimer that essentially disclaims liability for the information in the book and confirms copyright.  You can find examples if you search Google.

3. Extra Information - This can be anything you want your readers to be aware of.  It might be a “How to use this book” paragraph for non-fiction books or a list of “testimonials” you’ve received for the book.  One bit of information I like to include is an email address with a request for readers to report typos and errors.   You’ll also see that this book explains why I have shortened URLs in some cases.

After the Main Book Content

1. Useful Resources – If you have resources you want to tell your readers about, include them in a resource section.  This can include other books you’ve written, courses, websites, etc.

2. Ask for a review – Reviews are everything on Amazon.  You have to be careful in how you ask, but there is nothing wrong with saying something like, “If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving an honest review on Amazon.”

3. An Index – If you are writing non-fiction books and plan to publish as a paperback, you might want to consider an index page.  Word does have features to help you manage these, though making a useful index is a time-consuming activity.  I haven’t included one in this book but may consider adding one in time.