Adding Front and Back Matter to Give Our Readers More

When we create a novel for our readers to enjoy, we might start with the first sentence of chapter one, but we shouldn’t consider it finished when we type “The End” after the last sentence of the story. It’s time to write the front and back matter to give our readers more.

We can add so much to our readers’ enjoyment by including the right kind of extra material at the front and back of the book.

I won’t be writing today about some of the most common types of front and back matter. A dedication, acknowledgments, an author bio―you might find these in almost any novel. Although some people read them, many don’t. I seldom do, but I add them for the enjoyment of those who will.

Discussion questions are often found in books that are more than an enjoyable story, ones that appeal to book clubs because of their themes. I write historical adventures with characters who face life-altering choices, so I always include discussion questions relating their choices to the challenges we face in our own lives. But since I don’t lead a book club, I don’t usually read the questions in other authors’ books.

There are other features that we often find in historical novels that I love to see. My readers tell me they enjoy them, too.
A cast of characters
A map and a list of important locations
A historical note or a note about the imaginary world

I’ll be sharing some about how I use these to enhance a reader’s experience of the Roman-era adventures/quests in my Light in the Empire series. Other genres that focus on places and times other than our contemporary world, like fantasy, scifi, split-time, and time-slip novels, might benefit from these as well.

1. Cast of Characters

   I often have to set a book aside for a while, and when I return to it, I find I’ve forgotten how some of the characters are related to the story. I love the list of characters in the front matter that refreshes my memory.

   For some stories, the list can be quite simple. For others, it requires a bit more detail about the characters. Because I write historical adventures with multiple POVs and with non-POV characters playing important roles in the action, I make a character list that includes enough information to make keeping track of people and how they are related to each other easy.

   Since many of my characters have unusual Roman-era names, even some relatively minor characters are in the list so readers are never left scratching their heads asking, “Who was that?” Because Rome was a slave-based society, slaves were often given names derived from Greek or Latin words that matched their work assignments. To be historically accurate, I have to do the same.

   I put the character and location lists with the map right before Chapter 1 so readers of e-books will see them. If you’re curious about the level of detail I find helpful, you can see them in the Look Inside feature at Amazon.
2. Locations in the story and a map.

   For stories taking place in locations your readers won’t be familiar with, a map can be a wonderful tool for fixing the story in space and time. This is especially true for historical stories in remote times and odd places. We all know where Sydney is and maybe Denver, but Puteoli and Sepphoris? For many readers, probably not.

   A map helps orient me when I’m reading, and readers have let me know how much they like following the action on the map I provide at the front of every novel.

   If you are going to include a map in your own published work, you have to have legal rights to use it that way. Starting with a public domain map and altering it is a safe way to make sure you do. However, it can be very difficult to find a good public domain map that includes the important locations without having one that’s overcrowded with extra towns. That is especially true when many of the present-day towns either had different names or didn’t even exist when your story takes place.

   I use two different approaches to solve this problem

   a) Adding features to a public domain map

   Since many of my stories involve travel, I make my own map showing the places where important things occur. It might sound intimidating, but it’s easier than it sounds. I start with a high-resolution public-domain topographical map that I crop to the region of the story. One source of the topo map is https://maps-for-free.com with its high-res satellite image of the whole world that increases resolution as you zoom in.

   I figure out which towns, rivers, lakes, etc., should be included. Then I make small circles in the correct location on the topo map, label with letters and numbers, and provide a list of locations keyed to those numbers. Here’s the map from Truth and Honor, with one part showing the towns and topography around Roman Carthage where most of the action takes place. The other part is a more distant view showing the cities and towns that are father away.

   

   The list of locations also lets me include both Roman-era names and contemporary names. One reader said she likes to pull up the locations on her computer to follow along with the characters as they travel. With the great photos at many travel sites, you can feel like you’re actually making the journey with the people in the story.

   b) Making a hand-drawn map

   For my stories set entirely in Rome, a different approach was needed. I use Platner’s 1911 map of the topography and monuments of ancient Rome to guide the action as I write my stories. But it’s too cluttered and has lettering that is too small for the resolution required by POD printers and e-book publishers. The solution: I tape a copy of the Platner map to a window on a sunny day and trace those features that are important in the story. Here are the original and hand-drawn versions of the map I used in More Than Honor and What Matters Most.

   

3. A Historical Note

   There are two kinds of historical notes, and I enjoy both.

   a) Historical notes providing cultural background

   These short articles proved historical background to help readers understand the backdrop of the story.

   Examples from my own books include “Daily Life of Gladiators When Not in Mortal Combat” and “Slavery in Roman Times: Hoping for Freedom While Legally Classified as a Thing.” If you’re curious about either topic, the historical notes from all my novels can be found at my Roman history site, Life in the Roman Empire: Historical Fact and Fiction.

   We do the research to be able to write a historically accurate book. It’s both helpful to our readers and fun to share some of what we learned with this addition to our book’s back matter.

   b) Historical notes distinguishing what’s historical fact, what’s fiction, and what history has been altered

   This is especially common in Biblical fiction, where what we know about a particular character is very limited, so the author’s imagination has to create a lot of details that are reasonable, given what is known of the times. Whenever a well-known historical figure is featured in a story, readers like to know what part is based on known facts and what is imagined.

4. Other back matter that readers find helpful

   a) Glossary

   Not all books need this, but if there are non-English words or unusual things in the book’s world, like in scifi and fantasy stories, here’s a good place to provide a definition or description

   b) Scripture References

   For books where Scripture plays an important role, a section in the back matter that provides chapter and verse for anything quoted or referred to by the characters is helpful for anyone who wants to read what’s before and after the quote for context and reflection. In my Roman-era novels, some of the house churches have copies of one or more of the gospels or epistles that were being copied and circulated at that time. I’ve heard from readers about how much they like that Scripture References section in the back, so I always include it.

   If your characters quote scripture, it’s important to give the reference, including the translation. To choose the right translation, the Blue Letter Bible is very handy for direct comparison of different English translations. Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and Spanish versions are here as well. BLB also provides the exact language that the Bible publishers want included on your copyright page.

   c) Why the author wrote the novel

   One more thing that I enjoy is the author’s reflection on the theme of the novel. Many delightful novels don’t have a deeper theme, but even if they don’t, I’m curious about what inspired an author to write the story I’ve just loved reading.

   This can be in the front or the back, but I put mine in the front before the character list. The Look Inside opens the book at this point. Each is a short (500 words) reflection on a spiritual theme of the book, like forgiveness, faithfulness, betrayal, agape love, or sharing our faith. Since some of the most highlighted sentences are in the Note from the Author, I know at least some of my readers related to what I shared.

   d) Thanks for reading and a call to action

   To make it easy for a reader to share how much they enjoyed your book, include some links at the end of the ebook edition. A request for a review at the bookseller where they bought the book, a link to BookBub and Goodreads where they can post a review or rating, and a link to your newsletter sign-up form or social media so they can learn about your writing life and future books as you write them―all make it easier for a reader who loved your book to support you as you work on the next one.

Although it takes extra time and effort, I enjoy adding the front and back matter sections that I know some of my readers will love.

Share your thoughts!
What do you like to find in the front and back matter of the books you read?
What do you include in your own books?