In the previous entry, we described Front Matter.
The mandatory parts of the Front Matter are the Title/Copyright pages. This can be the first page in your book. The title page should be on the right side when you view the open book. Right-hand pages are referred to as “odd” pages and left-hand pages are “even”.
On the Title page you should have 1) The title of your book , 2) Author name, 3)Imprint name and state. The text should all be centered, title biggest and boldest. The imprint name and state can be a different font from the title and author, and should be aligned at the bottom of the page. The title page should NOT be numbered and should not have a header or footer.
The Copyright page is the flip side of the title page, so it will be an even page. The text on the copyright page should be bottom aligned. If you’ve created your own imprint, start with your logo, above a line that says “Published by [imprint name]”. If you have a website, it would be good to put that on the next line. Skip a few blank lines and then put “Copyright [symbol][year] [author]”. If you are doing an anthology with multiple authors, then you will have several lines of the format: “[story title], copyright [symbol][year] by [author]”. Remember to include credit lines for any illustrations or photos used. Then a line that says “All rights reserved.” It is also an option to put the copyright listing above the imprint logo. The last thing at the bottom of this page is the ISBN.
Like the title page, the copyright page should have no page number and no header or footer material. If you have other front matter pages (like Dedication, Acknowledgements, or Prologue), they should all start on an odd page. In Word, you do this by inserting a section break from the top menu bar (instead of doing carriage returns or control carriage returns). One of the options for section breaks is to force the next page to odd or even–use odd for these pages, and for each new story in an anthology. I like to also start new chapters on an odd page. Depending on how many pages you have in the front matter, you may want to number the pages. If you do, you should use small roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv …).
I encourage you to always include a dedication (family and friends will be honored to be mentioned. Think about whether there is anyone you need to acknowledge (e.g., editor, illustrator, beta reader, critique group, etc.).
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As always, thank you for your helpful tips! Peggy