in Design
Back matter: notes, acknowledgements and the author’s note
What comes after the last chapter has its own conventions. How to order the back matter, and how to make notes easy to use.
The back matter, or end matter, is everything that follows the main text. In a novel it may be a single page of acknowledgements. In a work of history or biography it can run to a quarter of the book. Either way, it has conventions that make it easier to use.
A common order
House styles vary, but a common sequence runs roughly like this: appendices, notes, glossary, bibliography or further reading, picture credits, and the index, which comes last. Acknowledgements, an author’s note and a short biography of the author are placed wherever they fit the book best, though an about-the-author page often closes the book, just before any advertisements for other titles.
The logic is that material which extends the text comes first, material that supports it comes next, and tools for navigating the whole book come last. The index is at the very end so that readers can find it without searching.
Notes
Notes can sit at the foot of the page, as footnotes, or at the end of the book, as endnotes. Footnotes are convenient for the reader and suit books where the notes are short and genuinely interesting. Endnotes keep the page clean and suit books with many references that most readers will not consult.
Endnotes have a practical problem: finding the right one. Numbering that restarts in each chapter is common, so the notes section needs clear headings for each chapter, and ideally running heads that show which text pages the notes on that page refer to, such as Notes to pages 45–62. Without that help, readers must work out which chapter they are in and then hunt.
Note numbers in the text are set as superscript figures, placed after punctuation in most British and American styles. In the notes section itself, numbers are often set at full size, followed by a full point or a space.
Notes are usually set a size or two smaller than the text, with proportionally reduced leading. They should still be readable. Very small, tightly set notes signal that the publisher does not expect anyone to read them.
Acknowledgements and the author’s note
Acknowledgements thank the people and institutions who helped with the book. In non-fiction they are often in the front matter, sometimes as part of the preface. In fiction they are more often at the back, where they do not stand between the reader and the story.
They are usually set in the text face with the same design as a chapter opening, perhaps simplified. They are written by the author and should be read carefully at proof, because names are easily misspelt and hard to correct once printed.
An author’s note is a short piece in which the author steps outside the text. In historical fiction, it often explains what is invented and what is documented. In other books, it may describe sources, explain choices of spelling or terminology, or give context.
Its position depends on its purpose. A note that the reader needs before starting, such as an explanation of names or a warning about content, belongs at the front. A note that would spoil the story, or that is most interesting once the book is finished, belongs at the back. Historical notes in novels usually go at the end.
Designing the back matter
Back matter should look like part of the same book. Headings follow the chapter-opening style, perhaps at a smaller scale, and the grid, margins and typeface remain the same. Bibliographies and indexes may be set smaller and in two columns, which suits their short entries.
Back matter is often finalised last, and it is where errors survive longest. It deserves the same care as the chapters it serves.