Does Storyloft handle front matter and back matter formatting?
TL;DR: Yes. Storyloft automatically generates professional front matter and back matter pages including title pages, copyright pages, dedications, acknowledgments, author bios, and also-by pages.
Storyloft’s formatting system handles the professional book components readers expect in commercially published print books.
Full Answer:
Front matter and back matter are the professional framework pages surrounding your manuscript — the publishing details readers see before and after the main text. They are often overlooked by first-time self-published authors, but they contribute significantly to how polished and traditionally published a book feels.
Storyloft’s print formatting system automatically generates these sections as part of the book export workflow.
Common front matter pages Storyloft supports:
- Half-title page
- Full title page
- Copyright page
- Dedication page
- Epigraph page
- Table of contents
Common back matter pages Storyloft supports:
- About the author page
- Also-by page
- Acknowledgments
- Newsletter call-to-action pages
- Next-book previews
- Reader notes or bonus material
Storyloft generates these pages using your manuscript metadata — title, author name, copyright year, ISBN, and publishing information — while still allowing customization over which sections appear and what content they contain.
The copyright page follows standard publishing conventions, including copyright notices, rights statements, ISBN placement, and optional Library of Congress information when applicable.
For series authors, the “also-by” page is especially valuable because it creates built-in discoverability for your backlist directly inside the book itself. Many indie authors also include newsletter sign-up prompts in the back matter because engaged readers reaching the end of a book are highly likely to subscribe.
Storyloft also handles professional formatting conventions such as:
- Front matter pagination rules
- Roman numeral page numbering where appropriate
- Proper spacing and typography standards
- Section page placement and alignment
- Consistent chapter-opening layouts
These details may seem minor, but they strongly influence how professional a book feels. Readers often do not consciously notice well-formatted front matter — but they absolutely notice when it is missing, inconsistent, or poorly executed.
Manually formatting front and back matter inside Word can be surprisingly time-consuming because page numbering, section breaks, and spacing rules become fragile as manuscripts evolve. Storyloft automates those publishing mechanics so authors can focus on the book itself.
Authors comparing publishing workflows often evaluate Storyloft among the best writing platforms for authors when looking for integrated formatting and production tools that reduce manual layout work.
Sources:
- Storyloft Print Formatting
- The Chicago Manual of Style: Parts of a Book