An "also by the author" page lists the writer's other published books, and it belongs in the front matter, on page ii, facing the title page. Most advice puts it at the back of the book. The Chicago Manual of Style's own front matter sequence puts it at the front, before the reader has reached the title.
Where It Actually Goes
The Chicago Manual of Style's front matter order runs:
- Book half title
- Series title, other works, frontispiece, or blank
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Table of contents
"Other works" in that second slot is the "also by the author" page. It occupies the verso of the half title leaf, which is page ii, and it is one of four things that can sit there. The manual's own section titles confirm the position independently: the 17th edition has a section titled "Series title or frontispiece" and the 18th has "Series title", both placed between the half title and the title page.
This is a trade publishing convention rather than a scholarly one. Neither Yale University Press nor Columbia University Press includes an "also by" page in its front matter list at all, which fits: academic monographs rarely have a backlist to advertise, and scholarly presses use page ii for a frontispiece callout instead.
For the surrounding sequence and what sits on which page, see ordering front matter and back matter and half title page vs title page.
Why the Front Rather Than the Back
Pick up almost any traditionally published novel by an established author and the list is there before you reach the title. There is a commercial logic to it that survives into self publishing.
A reader who has just finished your book and is looking for more will go and search for your name. A reader browsing in a shop, or reading a sample on a retailer's site, will see the first few pages and nothing else. Retailer previews typically start at the beginning of the file, which means a front matter list of your other books appears inside the free sample and a back matter one does not.
That is the practical argument, and it is mine rather than a style authority's. The sourced claim is simply that Chicago puts it at the front.
What Goes On It
Keep it plain. The page is a list, not a marketing page.
- Just the titles, usually centred, one per line, in publication order or series order.
- Series grouped together, with the series name as a heading and the books beneath it in reading order rather than publication order if the two differ.
- No cover images, no blurbs, no prices, no links. Prices and links date, and a printed book cannot update them.
- A heading, conventionally "Also by [Author Name]" or "Books by [Author Name]". If you write under more than one name, the list should match the name on the cover.
If the list is long, some books use "Also by the author" for a selection and add "For a complete list, visit..." at the foot. That is acceptable in a printed book and more useful in an ebook, where the link works.
The Related Pages People Confuse It With
Three different pages get conflated here, and they do different jobs:
"Also by the author" lists books that already exist. Front matter, page ii.
"Coming next", sometimes called a teaser or a sneak peek, promotes the next book, often with a sample chapter. This is genuinely back matter, and it goes after the story ends because that is when the reader wants it.
Praise or blurb pages carry quoted reviews. Chicago's Q&A places these "on the opening pages, before the half-title page", noting they are "generally unnumbered, but they count in the overall roman-numeral pagination at the beginning of the book". So praise comes before the half title, and the "also by" list comes after it.
What Deckle Does
Deckle has an Also by the Author document type, created from the Binder's add menu.
One thing to know: Deckle lists it under Back Matter in that menu, alongside About the Author, Acknowledgments, Coming Next, Book Club Questions and Glossary. The menu grouping is a convenience, not a placement instruction. The page ends up wherever you position it in the Binder, and the export follows your order.
So if you want the conventional placement, create the page from the Back Matter menu and then drag it to the front of your manuscript, after the title page area and before your first chapter. If you would rather have it at the back, leave it where it lands. Both export correctly, because Deckle's compile order is the order you see in the Binder.
Deckle also has a separate Coming Next type for the promotional page described above, so you do not need to combine the two into one document.
For the full back matter set, see what is back matter in a book, and for what belongs at the front, what is front matter in a book.
Common Mistakes
- Putting it at the back because a template did. Chicago's front matter outline places it on page ii.
- Merging it with the "coming next" page. One lists what exists, the other promotes what does not yet.
- Adding prices or retailer links in a print edition. They date immediately and cannot be corrected.
- Listing series books in publication order. Reading order is what a new reader needs.
- Using a different author name than the cover. The list should match the name the reader just bought.
- Including it in your first book. A page listing one book, the one in the reader's hands, is not a selling tool.
FAQ
Q: Front or back? A: Front, on page ii, per Chicago's front matter sequence. Back is common in self publishing but is not the convention.
Q: What if I only have one other book? A: One title is still a list worth having. Skip the page entirely for a debut.
Q: Should I include short stories and novellas? A: Yes, if they are published and purchasable. Group them separately if the list gets crowded.
Q: Does the page get a page number? A: It is part of the roman numeral front matter sequence and counts in it, though page ii is conventionally not printed.
Q: Can I have one at the front and a fuller one at the back? A: Yes, and some books do exactly that, with the short list at the front and a complete backlist at the back.