You finished the manuscript. You polished the ending. You might even have the cover ready. Then you reach the pages after the story and wonder: What am I supposed to put here?
Book back matter is easy to treat as an afterthought. I’ve been revisiting older book files at WhistlePig Publishing, including work on Aster the Spirit Talker, and one lesson keeps coming up: the pages surrounding a story deserve a deliberate look, too. They’re part of the reader’s experience, not just somewhere to park a biography.
Good back matter can answer a question, help someone find another book, or provide useful context. Bad back matter can feel like a stack of advertisements after a satisfying ending. And if you’re publishing a Kindle ebook, some of the links authors commonly recommend are actually prohibited by Amazon’s current guidelines.
Here’s how I’d approach book back matter for fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books—with examples you can adapt and one particularly important KDP rule to check before uploading.
What is book back matter?
Back matter (sometimes called end matter) is the material after the main text and before the back cover. Depending on the book, it might contain acknowledgments, an author biography, notes, discussion questions, an index, or a list of other titles.
That’s different from front matter, which generally includes the title and copyright pages and sometimes a dedication or table of contents. An epilogue is usually still part of the story, even though it appears near the end.
There isn’t one universal arrangement. A 90,000-word novel, a nonfiction handbook, and a 32-page picture book have very different needs. Reedsy’s guide to the parts of a book gives a useful overview of the options, but you don’t need to include every possible section.
What should you include in the back matter of a self-published book?
1. A short “more books” page
If someone enjoyed your book enough to reach the end, helping them find another relevant title is a reasonable courtesy. For a series, the next book is the most obvious choice. For a standalone, point to another book with a similar reading experience.
Keep it specific. “Read the next book in the series” is more helpful than a giant catalog of everything you’ve ever published. If the next book isn’t available, don’t make it look as though it is. You can identify it as forthcoming, but avoid promising a date you haven’t committed to.
Amazon’s Kindle Create tutorial even includes a Books by Author back-matter feature that lets you add book titles and Amazon links. You don’t need that particular software to create a books page, but it’s a useful indication that this is a normal part of book production.
2. An “about the author” paragraph
An author bio doesn’t have to sound like an award ceremony. Tell readers a little about the person behind the book and, if appropriate, where they can find more information about your work.
If you publish under more than one pen name, check that the biography matches the audience. At WhistlePig, for example, K.A. Wirtz is used for adult fiction and Allie Compeau for children’s books. A romance reader and a parent reading a silly picture book probably don’t need the same introduction.
Three to five natural sentences are often plenty. A longer biography isn’t automatically a better one.
3. Acknowledgments or an author’s note
Thank the people who genuinely contributed, explain a research decision, or clarify a historical detail that readers might otherwise misunderstand. In fiction, an author’s note can be especially helpful when you’ve adapted real places or events.
Just be mindful of the ending. If your novel closes on an emotional moment, a loud sales pitch on the very next line may break the mood. A clean page break gives the story room to finish.
4. Extras that fit the actual book
Book-club questions can work for literary fiction or discussion-heavy nonfiction. A glossary or bibliography may be essential for a specialized nonfiction book. A short excerpt from another novel might interest fiction readers. A printable activity can make sense for a children’s title.
Ask one question before adding an extra: Does this help the reader who just finished this particular book? If the answer is no, leave it out.
5. A polite review request, if you want one
A simple thank-you and an optional invitation to leave an honest review is enough. Don’t ask for a positive rating, imply that readers owe you one, or offer a reward for a favorable review. You want genuine reader feedback, not pressure.
Book back matter examples you can adapt
These are illustrative templates, not text taken from an existing published book. Replace the bracketed material with accurate details.
Example: a novel in a series
Thank you for reading!
If you enjoyed spending time in [fictional town or story world], you can continue the series with [Next Book Title].
More books by [Author Name]
[Book One Title]
[Book Two Title]About the author
[Author Name] writes [brief, accurate description of genre or themes]. Learn more about the books at [relevant author information page, if permitted by your retailer].
If Book Two isn’t out yet, change the wording. “Coming soon” is not the same as “Available now.” And if you’re creating a Kindle edition, review the link rules below before making that last line clickable.
Example: a children’s picture book
More questions? More giggles!
Discover other adventures with [character name] in [another published title].
About the author
[Two short sentences appropriate for parents, caregivers, and young readers.]
For a short illustrated book, that might be all you need. Extra pages affect the book’s layout and potentially its production economics, so don’t add three pages of marketing just because a template tells you to. Our picture-book page-count guide can help with that decision.
Important: KDP’s Kindle hyperlink rules are stricter than some marketing advice suggests
This is the part I would check twice before publishing.
As of October 26, 2026, Amazon’s official Kindle hyperlink guidelines say external links should directly enhance the reader’s experience and the content of the book. Examples Amazon allows include links to previous or subsequent books in a series and directly related supplemental material.
Amazon also explicitly lists links to web forms requesting customer information—including email addresses—as prohibited. That matters because older author-marketing tutorials often recommend placing a direct newsletter signup link in the back of every ebook. A tactic appearing in a marketing article doesn’t override the retailer’s rules.
For a Kindle edition, don’t insert a direct link to an email-collection form, and don’t disguise that destination with a redirect. A general author website isn’t an automatic loophole, either: Amazon still evaluates whether an external link directly enhances the reader’s experience.
Other details worth checking in the same official guidance:
- Use descriptive link text so readers know where a link leads.
- Test every external link and remove or correct broken ones.
- Don’t link to competing commercial ebook stores from a Kindle ebook.
- Don’t assume clickable external links will work on every device or in every format; Amazon notes limitations for fixed-layout books on e-readers.
If growing an email list is part of your author business, build a useful website and a clear, voluntary signup experience there. Just keep your Kindle manuscript compliant instead of treating the back of the ebook as an unrestricted email-capture page. The rules for a printed paperback and those of other distributors may differ, so review the requirements for each edition.
Where should the back matter go?
For a novel, I generally prefer this order:
- Finish the story (including any epilogue).
- Start the back matter on a clean new page or section.
- Offer a relevant next read, if there is one.
- Add acknowledgments or an author’s note if needed.
- Close with a concise author biography.
That’s a working preference, not a rule. Nonfiction often needs its references, notes, or index in a different order. For picture books, page planning may matter more than a formal sequence of sections.
How to format and check back matter before publishing
Don’t simply paste a block of promotional text after the last paragraph and call it done. Use consistent heading styles and proper page or section breaks. Check that your ebook navigation works, especially if you have notes or an appendix.
Amazon’s Kindle content-quality guidance flags broken or prohibited links, incorrect internal navigation, and confusing placement of content. For ebooks, inspect the file with the available preview tools. For print, review the final pages in a physical proof, not just on a monitor.
I’ve learned from preparing and checking our own WhistlePig books that a file can look fine on screen and still surprise you in print. Our KDP proof-copy checklist covers what to examine before approving a printed edition.
A practical book back matter checklist
Before uploading your finished files, work through these questions:
- Does the story or main text end cleanly before the extra material begins?
- Is each section useful to the intended reader?
- Are the author name, pen name, titles, and series order correct?
- Do you clearly distinguish published books from forthcoming ones?
- Are all links accurate, descriptive, working, and permitted by that retailer?
- Does the ebook navigation behave correctly?
- Do the final print pages look right in the proof copy?
- Have you removed placeholders, old dates, and references to books or offers that no longer exist?
You can copy this checklist into your publishing notes. It is an on-page resource, not a separate downloadable PDF. We’re also evaluating which practical publishing checklists would be worth turning into printable resources, based on what authors actually need.
Frequently asked questions about book back matter
Do all self-published books need back matter?
No. Some books need substantial notes and references; others benefit from only a brief author bio or list of related books. Include what’s useful rather than filling space.
Does the copyright page belong in the back?
It’s usually front matter, although some layouts handle it differently. If you’re publishing a picture book, see our children’s book copyright-page guide for examples and common mistakes.
Can I link directly to my newsletter signup form in a Kindle ebook?
Under Amazon’s current hyperlink guidelines, no: links to web forms requesting customer information such as email addresses are prohibited. Check the official policy again when you prepare your files, because retailer rules can change.
Can I update the back matter of a book that’s already published?
KDP allows authors to submit updated manuscript files for existing ebooks, subject to review. Keep in mind that publishing an updated file doesn’t guarantee every past buyer immediately sees the new marketing pages. Review KDP’s ebook update guidance before relying on an update to reach previous customers.
The last pages should still feel like part of your book
I don’t think back matter needs to be clever. It needs to be accurate, easy to navigate, and considerate of the person who just spent hours with your words.
For WhistlePig, that’s the standard I want to apply as we revisit older titles and prepare new ones: give readers something genuinely helpful, make it easy to find the next appropriate book, and don’t let marketing clutter up the ending.
If you’re working through the rest of the publishing process, visit our Author Resources library. It includes practical guides and the existing free Children’s Book Formatting Starter Kit for picture-book creators.
Policy sources reviewed October 26, 2026: Amazon KDP Hyperlink Guidelines, Kindle Content Quality, and Kindle Create Tutorial.