What is the correct order of front matter in a book?

The traditional sequence runs: half title (optional), also-by page (optional), title page, copyright page, dedication, epigraph, table of contents, foreword, preface, acknowledgments, then introduction. Not every book uses every element, and fiction usually needs far fewer of them than authors expect. The prologue is not front matter at all; it belongs to the body of the book.

What is the difference between a foreword, a preface, and an introduction?

A foreword is written by someone other than the author, usually to lend credibility. A preface is written by the author about the book itself: why it exists, how it came together, who it is for. An introduction is also by the author but is part of the actual content, setting up the material the reader is about to study. Foreword and preface are front matter; a content introduction can be numbered as front matter or as the first body pages depending on the design.

Why does front matter use roman numerals for page numbers?

By long convention, front matter carries lowercase roman numerals (i, ii, iii) and the arabic page numbering restarts at 1 on the first page of the body, usually chapter one. This keeps the body pagination stable even if you add or remove a dedication or foreword later, and it is the single clearest signal that a book was professionally typeset rather than exported straight from a word processor.

Which front matter pages go on the right-hand page?

Important openers fall on the recto, the right-hand page: the title page, the dedication, and the first page of major sections all traditionally open on the right. The copyright page sits on the verso, the back of the title page. When an opener lands on the right, the page facing it on the left is often left blank, which is normal and intentional rather than a mistake.

Author Guides · Interiors · Front matter

Front matter order: what goes before chapter one (and in what sequence)

By Tracy Atkins, founder of BookDesigner.ai and BookDesignTemplates.com · 15+ years of print files, 70,000+ authors · Updated July 17, 2026

The short answer: the traditional sequence is half title, also-by, title page, copyright, dedication, epigraph, table of contents, foreword, preface, acknowledgments, introduction, and then chapter one. Important openers fall on the right-hand page, front matter is numbered with lowercase roman numerals, and the arabic count restarts at 1 in the body. The prologue is not front matter. Full order and the recto/verso logic below.

The traditional sequence

There is a settled order that professionally typeset books follow. You will not use every element, but when you do include one, it belongs in this place in the stack:

Order	Element	What it is
1	Half title (optional)	Just the book title, alone on the first recto
2	Also-by (optional)	A list of the author's other titles
3	Title page	Title, subtitle, author, imprint (recto)
4	Copyright page	The verso of the title page
5	Dedication	Short, centered, its own recto
6	Epigraph	A quotation setting the tone
7	Table of contents	Nonfiction always; fiction rarely
8	Foreword	Written by someone other than the author
9	Preface	The author, on the book itself
10	Acknowledgments	Front or back (see below)
11	Introduction	The author, part of the content

Skipping a number is fine. A novel might use only the title page, copyright, and a dedication and then go straight to chapter one. The order of whatever you keep is what matters.

Foreword vs preface vs introduction

These three get confused constantly, and putting the wrong label on a section is a quiet tell that a book was not edited by a professional. The distinction is about who is speaking and about what:

Foreword is written by someone other than the author, typically a recognized name who vouches for the book. If you wrote it yourself, it is not a foreword.
Preface is written by the author, but it is about the book: why it exists, how it came to be, who it is for. It stands outside the actual content.
Introduction is written by the author and is part of the content. It sets up the material the reader is about to study, and a reader who skips it may miss something they need.

Because the introduction is genuinely part of the book, some designers begin the arabic page numbering there rather than at chapter one. Either choice is defensible; consistency is what counts.

The prologue is not front matter

A prologue is a scene, and it belongs to the story. It is body matter that happens to come first, so it is set in the same type as the chapters, numbered in the same arabic sequence, and never grouped with the copyright and dedication. Placing a prologue up in the roman-numeral front matter is one of the more common self-publishing errors. If it reads like a chapter, treat it like a chapter.

Acknowledgments are the flexible one. They can sit in the front (common in older nonfiction) or in the back matter after the last chapter (increasingly the norm, because readers want to reach the content faster). Both are correct; pick one and do not split them.

Recto, verso, and the right-hand rule

Open any well-made book flat. The right-hand page is the recto; the left-hand page is the verso. The convention is that important openers fall on the recto: the title page, the dedication, and the first page of each major section all traditionally begin on the right. The copyright page is the exception that proves the rule, because it lives on the verso directly behind the title.

Forcing an opener onto the right sometimes leaves the facing left-hand page blank. That blank is deliberate, not a printing error, and removing it to save a page is what breaks the rhythm. This is the same recto discipline that makes chapter one open on the right in a finished book.

Roman numerals, then a fresh start

Front matter is numbered with lowercase roman numerals: i, ii, iii, iv. The arabic count restarts at 1 on the first page of the body. There are two good reasons for this. First, it lets you add or cut a dedication or a foreword without renumbering the entire book. Second, it is the single clearest signal that a book was properly typeset rather than exported straight from a word processor, where every page tends to share one continuous count from the title onward.

The half title, title page, and copyright usually carry no visible number at all even though they consume roman-numeral positions. Blank pages and display pages are counted but not printed. Getting this folio behavior right, along with which pages suppress their running heads, is most of what separates a homemade interior from a bookstore one.

Fiction needs less than you think

Nonfiction earns its front matter: a table of contents, a preface, an introduction, and sometimes a foreword all serve the reader. Fiction rarely does. A novel does not need a table of contents, seldom needs an introduction, and almost never needs a foreword. The strongest novels often run title page, copyright, dedication, and then the story. When in doubt with fiction, cut. Every page the reader turns before the story starts is a page between them and the reason they bought the book.

Or let the sequence handle itself.

BookDesignerAI builds your interior for $99.99, and all of these conventions are handled automatically: the front matter falls in the right order, openers land on the recto, roman numerals give way to arabic at chapter one, and every page carries the correct folio. You choose from 16 professional designs and receive a press-ready PDF, an ePub, and an editable DOCX. Cantos, our book-design AI, does the typesetting. Start with proof: upload your manuscript for a free 30-page preview of your own book, with no credit card and nothing ever trained on your work.

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