Books are generally divided into three sections: front matter, principal text, and back matter. Front matter is the material at the front of a book that usually offers information about the book….Introduce Yourself

• Half-title page.
• Title page.
• Copyright page.
• Dedication.
• Epigraph.
• Table of Contents.
• Foreword.
• Preface.

Elements of setting may include culture, historical period, geography, and hour. Along with the plot, character, theme, and style, setting is considered one of the fundamental components of fiction.

The author selects the parts of the book that best fit his or her genre or story….Front Matter

• Title page.
• Copyright page.
• Dedication.
• Table of contents.
• Foreword.
• Acknowledgments.
• Preface or Introduction.
• Prologue.

Planning a Novel in Ten Steps

1. Step 1 – The One Sentence Summary. Start by writing a one-sentence summary of your novel.
2. Step 2 – Describe the story.
3. Step 3 – Characters.
4. Step 4 – Expanding.
5. Step 5 – Back to the characters.
6. Learn how to write a novel to suit your audience, with our structured novel writing course.

Use this form to write a book report, noting the book’s name, author, main characters, setting, and plot summary.

A successful book review includes a short summary of the book, background information about the author and topic, and an evaluation of the content. When writing a short summary of the book, assume that your audience has not read it and address the book’s main topics and ideas and explain why they matter.

The front matter of a book consists of its very first pages: the title page, copyright page, table of contents, etc. There may also be a preface by the author, or a foreword by someone familiar with their work.

Title Page: The title page is the page that contains the title of the book, the author (or authors) and the publisher.

Intentionally blank pages placed at the end of books are often used to balance the folios that make up the book (see bookbinding). Often these pages are completely blank with no such statement or are used as “Notes” pages, serving a practical purpose.

The first page of your book must:

• Introduce your narrator. This seems like a no brainer, but a lot of manuscripts I’ve read in workshops spend A LOT of time setting the scene of their story.
• Establish us in time and place.
• Set the tone.
• Demonstrate your writing chops.
• Hint at the story to come.

Most nonfiction books have between 5 and 20 chapters. Any less than 5 and your chapters may be running long or may contain too many ideas. That said, there are plenty of books with 30 or 40 chapters. And some books, usually with very short chapters, can have 50+.

5 Steps to Writing a Killer First Chapter to WOW Readers

1. Introduce the main character in the first paragraph.
2. Present a problem for your protagonist to wrestle with in Chapter One.
3. Hint at or describe the “back story” in your novel.
4. Always write in the active voice.

An ideal first chapter should do the following things:

1. 1) Introduce the main character.
2. 2) Make us care enough to go on a journey with that character.
3. 3) Set tone.
4. 4) Let us know the theme.
5. 5) Let us know where we are.
6. 6) Introduce the antagonist.
7. 7) Ignite conflict.

Chapters are only topping out at around five pages or so. There’s no rule about chapters.

There is no such thing as too short. A chapter should be no longer than is necessary to tell the story within it. Think of chapters as stories within stories. Each one has a beginning, middle, and end.

Some authors like longer chapters. Some like shorter ones. It’s up to you. However, there is an industry average, and it seems to be about 8 to 10 pages, give or take a little.

Pages by Word Count