An afterword is a closing section that comments on the book from outside the story: how it came about, what is true in it, what changed between editions, or how to read it. It may be written by the author or by someone else.
That "may" is doing real work. Most guidance tells you an afterword is by definition written by another hand. The dictionaries that define the word decline to say so.
What the Definitions Actually Say
Three major dictionaries treat afterword as a straight synonym for epilogue. Merriam-Webster defines it as ": epilogue sense 1", where that sense reads ": a concluding section that rounds out the design of a literary work". The American Heritage Dictionary's whole entry is "See epilogue." Collins gives "an epilogue or postscript in a book, etc".
Two introduce authorship, and both hedge. Oxford Learner's Dictionaries gives "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".
Compare that with how the same Oxford dictionary handles foreword: "a short introduction at the beginning of a book, usually by a person other than the author." The lexicographers state the rule firmly where it holds and soften it here. That contrast is better evidence than either entry alone.
So: an afterword written by the author is completely normal, and an afterword written by a critic, translator or scholar is also completely normal. Neither is the "correct" one.
What an Afterword Is For
The defining feature is not who wrote it but where the reader is standing. In an epilogue the reader is still inside the story. In an afterword they have stepped outside it and are being spoken to about the book.
Common jobs:
- The historical note. In historical fiction, separating what happened from what you invented. This is close to an obligation in the genre, and readers look for it.
- The origin story. How the book came to be written, what prompted it, what it cost.
- The edition note. What changed in this edition, why it was reissued, what was restored or cut.
- The critical essay. In a classic reissue, a scholar's placement of the work in context. This is the case where someone else almost always writes it.
- The translator's note. Choices made, untranslatable things, what was lost.
A useful discipline: an afterword should give the reader something they could not get from the story. If it only restates the themes, it is telling them they did not understand the book.
Placement and Numbering
The Chicago Manual of Style places the afterword with the text, not with the reference apparatus. It appears in the run of sections about the text, several sections before back matter begins with acknowledgments and appendixes, and Chicago does not separate it from the epilogue, covering both under one heading titled "Epilogue or afterword".
Page numbering runs continuously. Chicago's rule is titled "Arabic numerals for text and back matter", so there is no restart and no change of numeral style after the last chapter. Only front matter uses roman numerals.
Where a book has both, the epilogue comes first and the afterword follows it. The story finishes, then the commentary begins.
If someone else writes the afterword, their name conventionally appears with it, usually at the end and sometimes with a place and date. That is the same convention a foreword follows.
What Deckle Does
Deckle has no dedicated afterword document type, and does not need one, because an afterword is an ordinary document with a title.
Create a document after your final chapter, title it "Afterword", and position it in the Binder where you want it, since export order follows Binder order.
Two things worth setting deliberately:
- Chapter numbering off, so the heading reads "Afterword" rather than continuing the chapter sequence.
- A different style, if you want one. The Styler works per document, so an afterword set slightly smaller, or in a different face from the novel, signals the change of register without needing a label. This is a common treatment for critical afterwords in reissues.
Deckle's dedicated back matter types are About the Author, Acknowledgments, Also by the Author, Coming Next, Book Club Questions and Glossary. An afterword is not among them because Chicago groups it with the text rather than the back matter.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming it must be written by someone else. Dictionaries hedge this deliberately.
- Explaining the book's themes. If the novel needed that, the novel has a problem.
- Defending the book. Commentary is welcome, defensiveness reads badly.
- Confusing it with an epilogue. An epilogue continues the story. An afterword steps outside it.
- Treating it as back matter. It belongs with the text and shares the text's numbering.
- Omitting the historical note in historical fiction. Readers of the genre expect it.
FAQ
Q: Can I write my own afterword? A: Yes. Dictionaries say it "may be" or "often" is by someone else, which leaves author-written afterwords entirely standard.
Q: Afterword or author's note? A: They overlap heavily. "Author's note" makes the authorship explicit and is common in historical fiction.
Q: Where does it go relative to the epilogue? A: After it. Story first, commentary second.
Q: Does it need a page number? A: It continues the same arabic sequence as the text.
Q: Should it be signed? A: If someone else wrote it, yes, conventionally with a name and sometimes a date.