The best time to sell your next book is when your reader has just finished your last book. A book’s “end matter,” the pages that follow “The End,” can become a billboard for your brand and your books.
End (or back) matter is one of three main sections in your to-be-uploaded document which include front matter (table of contents, copyright page, etc.) and the actual manuscript. Adding certain material to the back of the book can help keep sales momentum high by personalizing your brand, helping you stay in contact with readers between book releases, leading the reader directly to other buying opportunities, and introducing readers to pre-orders or other books in your backlist.
There are five types of back matter content we recommend:
An author’s note
Add an author’s note to establish more of a connection between you and the reader. This is the place to share if you were inspired by some weird real-life event to write your book, to wax poetic about the historical underpinnings of a scene, etc.
Social media information
Include hyperlinks to your website, your social media accounts, your newsletter and/or your author email address. Not only does this continue to build that bond we mentioned above, but it also reminds your readers to visit your online world in between books and sets them up to be contacted by you for future promotion.
An excerpt from an upcoming release
Get your reader excited about the next release while they are coming off the high of the book they’ve just finished by adding an excerpt that includes a link to the book on your website (particularly if it is the next book in the series). If your next release is available for pre-order, make sure you include buy links.
Important: Some retailers will not sell books that contain links to competing retail sites. The solution is to link to a neutral page such as a page on your website or a page generated by your indie distributor such as Pronoun’s book page solution.
Information about previously released titles
Include links to a complete and updated book list on your author website. Similar to including an excerpt, this gets your reader excited about other material you have for sale. What other books have you written? Are they in the same series as this book, or in another series? What genre are they in? If you have a series, list the series in order. Make sure the buy links on your site are up-to-date and list everywhere the book can be purchased.
Author information
Add a bio. Share basic details about your life—your city, your family status, your alma mater—and/or whimsical details that will help the reader feel connected to you. Don’t use it as a resume—you don’t have to put every detail about yourself here. Just the interesting details that you believe readers would enjoy.
2 comments
Great ideas, Liz.
The back-matter in novels is something I’ve been studying as I read. Some authors do it well, other do it poorly, or not at all. Then there is the trend of splitting a complete novel into two incomplete works and using back matter to tie it all together.
For example: The novel ends without the author tying up all the loose threads and promises made within the chapters, then the first chapters of the following book is provided free with a link to purchase this second novel. Generally, I won’t buy the second book, but will read the free chapters.
As a writer, I’ve been keeping track of the best back-matter, and would have to say, those personal author notes are a great way to build reader loyalty, and click thrus to purchase the next-stand-alone (after a solid ending) is the best way to provide immediate satisfaction to readers, while they are eager to immerse themselves in the current style and genre they just finished.
Thanks Cheryl! Do you have an example of an author who you think has the best back matter? (Why does that sound so dirty?!) I’d love to put some examples up there, if you do.