Lars Eighner's Homepage Writers' Workshop FAQ: Q. What parts of a book does the author provide?

Q. What parts of a book does the author provide?

A. The parts of a manuscript which the author provides are:

Title Page (mandatory)
Acknowledgments (mandatory if applicable)
Dedication (optional)
Card Page (optional)
Contents (mandatory, but may not appear in finished book)
Preface (optional and not common in novels)
Epigraph (optional)
Text (mandatory, obviously)
Afterword (optional and uncommon)
Glossary (optional and uncommon in fiction)
Bibliography or Endnotes (optional, very uncommon in fiction)

Other possible parts are extremely rare in a work of fiction. An Introduction is written by someone other than the author and often is commissioned by the publisher. An Index is often contracted to a specialist, but when an Index is called for, the author may do it if he or she has the specialized skills required. (If you do not understand that an index cannot be submitted with the manuscript, you have missed a major point. The index can only be made from page proofs -- because only then are the page numbers for the entries known. It is pointless to index the manuscript because the manuscript is not the final form of the work.) For present purposes, prologues and epilogues are considered part of the text.

The author does not provide a half-title, cover sheet, or binder. The author does not indicate the running heads.

Although not a part of the manuscript, properly executed permissions are the author's the responsibility (for parts of the work under copyright by someone other than the author). Permissions are not required for "fair use" quotations from other works, but even brief quotations from short works such as poems and songs require permissions.

Publishers do not encourage authors to provide illustrations, not even in children's works where illustrations are common. While occasionally exceptions are made for author-illustrators, husband-and-wife teams, and so forth, publishers much prefer to commission the illustrations separately. In no event do publishers want finished art with a manuscript, but sketches and roughs may be acceptable if there is some essential of the desired illustration that cannot be described in words.

At some point in the production process, the publisher's publicity department will want a photograph of the author and a biographic sketch. This material, however, should not be included with the manuscript. Biographic information pertinent to the marketability of the book should be mentioned in the cover letter.