In practice, an epilogue closes the story from inside it, and an afterword steps outside the story to comment on the book. That is the working distinction, and it is a good one.
It is also not a rule anybody published. The reference works either treat the two words as synonyms or decline to separate them, and the Chicago Manual of Style covers both in a single section titled "Epilogue or afterword".
What the Reference Works Actually Say
Three major dictionaries collapse the distinction entirely.
Merriam-Webster defines afterword as ": epilogue sense 1", and that sense of epilogue as ": a concluding section that rounds out the design of a literary work". The American Heritage Dictionary's entry for afterword is two words: "See epilogue." Collins English Dictionary gives "an epilogue or postscript in a book, etc".
Two others introduce authorship, and both hedge it. Oxford Learner's Dictionaries gives afterword as "a section at the end of a book that says something about the main text, and may be written by a different author". Webster's New World College Dictionary gives "an epilogue, often one consisting of a critical or interpretive commentary by someone other than the author".
Epilogue never carries an authorship claim in any of them. Oxford's is "a speech, etc. at the end of a play, book, or film that comments on or acts as a conclusion to what has happened".
The Tell
Here is the piece of evidence that makes this more than an absence.
The same Oxford dictionary states the authorship rule categorically where it genuinely holds. Its entry for foreword reads: "a short introduction at the beginning of a book, usually by a person other than the author."
So the same lexicographers, in the same dictionary, say "usually by a person other than the author" for foreword and downgrade to "may be" for afterword. They know how to state the rule when it holds. They decline to state it here.
That is much stronger than silence. It suggests the authorship distinction for afterword is a tendency rather than a definition, which matches how the word is actually used.
What Chicago Does
The Chicago Manual of Style does not treat these as two elements. It has one section, numbered 1.60 in the 18th edition and 1.54 in the 17th, and in both editions it is titled "Epilogue or afterword".
Its position is informative too. It sits between "Conclusion" and "Subheads", inside the run of sections about the text, and well before back matter begins several sections later with acknowledgments and appendixes. On Chicago's own arrangement, both belong with the text rather than with the reference apparatus.
Three Claims You Will Read That Are Not Sourced
"An afterword is written by someone else, an epilogue by the author." Two dictionaries hedge this and three do not mention it. It is a tendency, not a rule.
"Epilogue is fiction, afterword is non-fiction." No source of any kind says this. It reflects where each word is most often used, nothing more.
"An epilogue is part of the text and an afterword is back matter, so they are numbered differently." This one is wrong twice over. Chicago groups both with the text, and its numbering section is titled "Arabic numerals for text and back matter", so continuous arabic numbering cannot distinguish them anyway. See why front matter uses roman numerals.
So How Should You Decide
Use the working distinction at the top of this page, because it is useful even though it is not official.
Write an epilogue when the thing you want to add is story: a scene set later, a fate revealed, a last image. It is in the same voice and world as the rest of the novel, and the reader experiences it as part of the book.
Write an afterword when the thing you want to add is commentary: how the book came about, what is historically true in it, what changed between editions. The voice steps outside the fiction, and the reader knows they have left the story.
The reader's experience is the real test. If they are still inside the world, it is an epilogue. If they are being spoken to about the book, it is an afterword.
For each individually, see what is an epilogue in a novel and what is an afterword in a book.
What Deckle Does
Deckle has no special page type for either, and that is the right answer given everything above.
An epilogue is a chapter. Create it as an ordinary chapter, title it "Epilogue", and it exports like any other, carrying the same running headers and continuing the same page sequence. If you do not want it numbered as a chapter, turn off the chapter numbering for that document.
An afterword is also just a document, placed after your final chapter. Since it is commentary rather than story, some authors set it in a slightly different style, which the Styler can do per document.
Deckle's dedicated back matter types are About the Author, Acknowledgments, Also by the Author, Coming Next, Book Club Questions and Glossary. Anything outside that list, including both elements on this page, is an ordinary document positioned where you want it, because export order follows Binder order.
Common Mistakes
- Treating the authorship rule as fixed. Dictionaries hedge it deliberately.
- Assuming they are numbered differently. Chicago puts text and back matter in the same arabic sequence.
- Calling a final chapter an epilogue to avoid ending properly. If the story needs it, it is a chapter.
- Writing an afterword that argues with the book. Commentary is fine, defensiveness reads badly.
- Using both for the same content. Pick the one that matches whether the reader is inside the story or outside it.
FAQ
Q: Can a book have both? A: Yes, and many do. The epilogue closes the story, the afterword discusses the book.
Q: Which comes first? A: Epilogue, then afterword. The story finishes before the commentary begins.
Q: Is an afterword always by someone else? A: No. Dictionaries say it "may be" or "often" is. Author-written afterwords are entirely normal.
Q: Does the epilogue get a chapter number? A: Usually not. It is conventionally titled "Epilogue" rather than numbered, though nothing forbids a number.
Q: Is a postscript the same thing? A: Collins lists postscript in its afterword definition, so the words overlap. Postscript is rarer in books.