When I wrote my first novel, “Broken Promises”, I had the idea that completing the novel was all there was to it. How wrong I was. Changing novels into books takes lots more work and thought. Open any novel and you can see all the extra things added.
Front Matter
All the pages before the first line of the novel are referred to as front matter. This can include the title page, copyright page, dedication and table of contents. These are not always the same for a printed book and a digital one.
My title pages always have a reference to the place the book is published. I have my print copy, GoatKeepers Press; the Kindle copy, Kindle Edition; and the Smashwords copy, Smashwords Edition.
The Table of Contents lists the same chapters. It doesn’t have to be in the printed book, but must be in the digital ones.
Each chapter has a title. The print book has page numbers. The digital copies have hyperlinks from the Table to the chapters and back again.
The Novel
Well, this is what I wrote, isn’t it? Changing novels into books means making changes here too.
Look at a published novel. All the text has even edges on left and right. There are page numbers. Each chapter usually begins on a new page.
And the last page of each chapter is not only a line or two long. If this is the case, I go back in the chapter and either add text or condense so the last page has several lines or becomes part of the previous page.
Digital copies have no page numbers. Usually, they have few page designations as the text flows freely on the ereader. The text is not justified with those even edges, but left justified.
Back Matter
Lots of stuff can be at the end of a novel. Some series have the first chapter of the next book. Acknowledgements by the author to people who helped with the novel, comments about the novel and lists of other books by the author are common.
Print books list the author’s website or other social media platform. Digital copies may even include links to these places.
Changing novels into books takes time and thought. But a book is not complete without all of these additions.
