Front Matter
Quick answer: Front matter is everything in a book before the main text: title page, copyright, contents, dedication and epigraph. See what each page does in a poetry book.
Front matter is everything in a book that comes before the main text: the half title, title page, copyright page, dedication, epigraph, table of contents and any preface or introduction. Publishers traditionally number these pages in roman numerals, so the poems themselves begin on page one. The counterpart at the other end of the book, notes, acknowledgments, index, is called back matter or end matter.
In a poetry collection the front matter is short but loaded. A dedication and an epigraph can tune a reader's ear before the first poem sounds, and the contents page quietly announces the book's architecture. Poets assembling a first manuscript often neglect these pages, then discover that editors read them as part of the design.
The Standard Sequence
Conventions vary slightly between publishers, but a typical poetry collection runs in this order.
What It Does in a Poetry Book
Front matter is the airlock between the world and the poems. A well-chosen epigraph works like a tuning fork: it names the register the book will play in, and the first poem confirms it. The dedication carries private meaning in public view. Even the contents page persuades, since section titles and their proportions tell an editor whether the manuscript has a shape or is merely a stack. Books teach you this if you start noticing: read the front matter of three collections you love and you can usually predict the book's temperament before the first poem.
Front Matter in Your Own Manuscript
When submitting a full manuscript, keep the front matter lean: title page, contents, dedication and epigraph if you have them, and an acknowledgments page listing prior journal publications, which many presses ask to see up front. Resist explaining your poems in a preface; collections almost never need one, and editors read the impulse as anxiety. Let the epigraph do any framing, and let the poems carry the rest.
What poets can take from this
- Study the front matter of three admired collections before assembling your own.
- Choose an epigraph that frames the book without explaining it.
- Keep manuscript front matter minimal: title, contents, dedication, epigraph, acknowledgments.
- Check your target press's guidelines for where they want prior publication credits listed.
- Skip the preface; if a poetry collection needs one, the ordering usually needs work instead.
Try it yourself
Draft the complete front matter for your future collection: title, dedication, and an epigraph from any public domain writer. Then write the opening poem that the epigraph seems to promise.
Questions
What is the difference between front matter and back matter?
Front matter is everything before the main text, such as the title page, dedication and contents; back matter follows the text and holds notes, acknowledgments and indexes. Poetry acknowledgments appear in either position depending on the publisher.
Why are front matter pages numbered in roman numerals?
Tradition and practicality: numbering the preliminaries separately lets the main text start cleanly at page one, and lets publishers alter front matter late without renumbering the whole book.
Does a poetry manuscript need a table of contents?
Yes, almost always. Editors use it to see the book's structure at a glance, and most submission guidelines for full manuscripts expect one.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated July 2026.
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