The Preface page
Barnabas Chiboboka FZICA, FFA, FAIA, MBA
Chartered Accountant
A Generic Professional Book Structure
Specific elements that make up a book structure 7/12
Preface page
In our last brief, we looked at the acknowledgement page. This page appreciates everyone that made the writing and publication of the book possible. This page lists by name all those that the author wishes to appreciate in relation to their contribution to the writing and publication of the book.
The acknowledgment may include a wide range of people, such as immediate family members, friends, editors, and anyone who would have helped in the writing and publication of the book. Unlike in the dedication page, the acknowledgement page lists several people. The dedication page is a statement to a single person or a group of people expressed as a unit. The acknowledgement page will list persons and their contribution to the book in a little detail.
We also looked at some tips or help on how to write a good acknowledgement page.
In today's brief, we look at the preface page. The author writes the preface from the author's perspective of the book. The statement is an introductory statement and reveals the information about the book, such as how the author got inspired to write the book.
The author may also write something about themselves and particularly why they quality to write the book.
This page is the very opposite of the foreword, which is written by another person other than the author and gets written from the perspective of the foreword signatory.
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?The Preface as defined by the Greenleaf book group
"The preface gives you, as the author, the opportunity to introduce yourself to your readers and explain to them why they should hear what you have to say. This is where you build credibility, so you should give some insight into how you got to be an expert on your subject. You can toot your own horn a bit here.
You should use a preface to spark curiosity about your content and draw readers in. Here, you speak directly about the purpose, creation, or importance of your book. How did your book's genesis come about? What was the pain point you were seeking to address when you decided you wanted to write a book, and why is that important to your readers? The preface is where you explain the who, when, and where of it all.”
The summary difference between the foreword and preface
Someone other than the author writes a foreword and tells the readers why they should read the book.?In contrast, the author writes the preface. The author's principal task is to tell his readers how and why the book came into being and why they should get attracted to it.
An introduction differs from both the foreword and the preface, as we will note in our next brief.
Our next brief discussion on the generic professional author structure is the introduction page, as the eighth element in the specifics of a book structure.
(PA Barnabas Chiboboka ?2024)
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