Epub format

[Cyberseeker]

In a conventional book, it starts with a title page, copyright page, dedication, table of contents, preface etc.

Does an Epub follow the same format? If so, should the 'automatic' TOC include these things, or should it simply start with 'chapter one'?

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Cyberseeker

In a conventional book, it starts with a title page, copyright page, dedication, table of contents, preface etc.

Does an Epub follow the same format? If so, should the 'automatic' TOC include these things, or should it simply start with 'chapter one'?

It's entirely up to you, none of those things are required or prohibited by the ePub format itself. But if you plan to sell the book then there might be additional rules or guidelines set by the retailer.

The ones I've bought usually open at the cover page and follow the same format as the paper edition of the book, except that they often include a table of contents even when the paper book doesn't have one.

[dwig]

Originally Posted by Cyberseeker

In a conventional book, it starts with a title page, copyright page, dedication, table of contents, preface etc.

Does an Epub follow the same format? If so, should the 'automatic' TOC include these things, or should it simply start with 'chapter one'?

While it is up to you, and perhaps your reseller if a commercial book, I would highly recommend that any Dedication, Foreword, Preface, Afterword, ... be listed in the ToC. I also like the title page to be listed but don't see a need for the copyright page following it to have a separate ToC listing. If you do include an HTML ToC and/or List of Illustrations then I would suggest including them in the ePub's ToC as well.

I personally don't find the need for an HTML ToC in most cases, particularily with novels, but some people like them and they are desirable when reading them before reading the text helps explain the book's construction (example: John Brunner's Sheep Look Up).

[Notjohn]

I put the copyright page at the back of the book, and if I have a dedication, I put it at the top of the copyright page. If I have a preface, I rewrite the book so that it is part of chapter one or (more likely) also goes at the back.

Moving stuff to the back increases the depth of Amazon's Look Inside sample. And since by default the Look Inside sample -- and the ebook itself -- wants to open at page one, chapter one, all that stuff gets skipped by most readers anyhow.

So I go: title page, TOC, Chapter One (which is indeed the first item in most of my TOCs).

[dwig]

Originally Posted by Notjohn

...If I have a preface, I rewrite the book so that it is part of chapter one or (more likely) also goes at the back.

Moving stuff to the back increases the depth of Amazon's Look Inside sample. ...

When dealing with Amazon, moving any ancillary stuff-and-nonsense to the back is a good move, though if you move a "Preface" to the back it gives the books an "idiot publisher" look if you don't also rename it "Afterword", or similar. If it contains material that should be read before reading Chapter One it should stay in the front.

[Notjohn]

Quite right. I wasn't clear. What I'm really saying is that I don't use Preface, Acknowledgements, or any such hemming and hawing at all any longer, in ebooks or in print.

I had a book published in 2007 that, ever since Look Inside came to live with us (2010?), gave me fits, knowing that everyone was going to get bored with the Preface/Acknowledgements before ever getting into the meat of the thing. Luckily for my self-respect if not for my sales, the publisher gave it back to me in January last year, and I could publish a new edition that moved all that stuff to where it really belonged (or eliminated it altogether).