In publishing lingo, a book usually contains three major sections: front matter (also called preliminary matter or “prelims” for short), the text, and back matter (or end matter). There are long-standing conventions for content, sequence, and numbering within each section. The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), now in its 16th edition, is the industry source of authority for matters of manuscript preparation and book anatomy. CMOS provides a level of detail I won’t even try to match in a single … Read More »