Back Cover page

Back Cover page

A Generic Professional Book Structure

Specific elements that make up a book structure 12/12

In our last brief, we glanced at the Additions Page as the eleventh element in the specifics of a professional book structure. Components found in the additions page of the book include about the author page, Glossary of keywords or phrases used, Acronyms, References, & Bibliographies, Footnotes and endnotes

In today’s post, we look at the Back Cover Page and conclude the package of a professionally written book. This must be obvious because a reader has first eye contact of a book by front cover and by back cover.

Author Picture

Readers want to associate with the reader. They will reach more about the writer in the fore-word, the about the author and in the preface. However, reader want to see the face of the writer. The standard is to have a portrait of the author as opposed to the complete picture. If the book is an autobiography or autobiography or a memoir, the picture of the author may be the main front picture of the front page.

Short book review or testimonial

These are short marketing notes from one or two readers with pre-reading privileges. These act as first eye witnesses of the contents of the book. They may have been part of the book editing team, or book reviewers. But they have read the book in part or in full and they give a quick word of their reading experience. These words have to be really short in order to accommodate the other parts of the back cover contents. These are brief descriptions about the book, to entice readers to read your book.

Book blurb

This is a summary of the book description. The purpose is to let your readers know what to expect in a book. However, the right place for a book summary is in the introduction where chapter pages are summarised in a lot detail. The back cover summary about the book must be very brief.

Right colour

The author must choose the right combination of colours. The colour choice must also reflect the theme and the target group. If the target group are children, bright colours will do, while dull colours are appropriate for adult target groups. Also, ensure the mix of colours; primary and secondary colours are also professionally done. The services of a professional book setter are available to those with limitations to navigate the entire book writing process.

Author bio and author photo.

Just below or adjacent to the author’s portrait picture are brief descriptions about the author. The descriptions are in two parts (a) the author’s brief life is summarised. This summary includes their academic credentials and major achievements such as a summary of their literary works. This summary support the contents of the book. Readers usually read the credentials of the author when making a decision to get the book as an assurance of the integrity of the contents of the book.

The second part of the information (b) summarise their private life. The author may elect to share some family life information such as their marital and family life, their religious and community life information. This information is highly summarised and must fit on the back cover of the book. The back cover page is not a page for full descriptions about the author. The full descriptions have a proper place in the autobiography, the biograph or memoirs of the author.

Barcode

A barcode is?the graphical representations of a book’s ISBN and price. Barcodes are used on physical books, allowing them to be machine read, and facilitating automated sales and inventory tracking – a requirement for most large retailers.

Publisher

The details of the publisher are summarised at the bottom of the book. This usually takes the form of the publisher’s logo and Publisher name.

Summary of the contents of the back cover page

1. Book blurb, also known as a book description. This summary lets your reader know what to expect about the plot as well as your writing style.
2. Author bio and author photo.
3. Publisher information.
4. Short book review or testimonial.
5. ISBN barcode.

This article concludes our series on the structure of a professionally written book. Be motivated to write and be a professional writer. Here below is a summary of a professional book structure.

1. Front cover page
2. Professional author page
3. Dedication
4. Copyright page
5. Acknowledgement page
6. Foreword page
7. Preface page
8. Content page
9. Introduction page
10. Chapter pages
11. Additions Page
12. Back Cover page

(Copyright ?2024 by PA Barnabas Chiboboka)