Do I have to write an introduction for my book?

The body of the manuscript is, of course, the most important part of your upcoming book. That is where the years of writing, rewriting, and revising were spent. By the time it is complete, many authors have had enough of writing and just want to publish without having to work on the manuscript anymore. Lacking any enthusiasm to write more material, they naturally seek to avoid laboring over an introduction. Is it really that important after all?

The resounding answer is yes. It is very important to write a good introduction.

To understand why, we need to first understand exactly what the purpose of an introduction is. How is it different from the preface, acknowledgments, and foreword – all parts of what publishers call the front matter?

Introduction and Preface

Wikipedia defines an introduction as follows (emphasis mine – EM):

In an essay, article, or book, an introduction . . . is a beginning section which states the purpose and goals of the following writing. This is generally followed by the body and conclusion.

The introduction typically describes the scope of the document and gives the brief explanation or summary of the document. It may also explain certain elements that are important to the essay if explanations are not part of the main text. The readers can have an idea about the following text before they actually start reading it.

So, for example, if you were writing a book about the Yom Kippur War, you might include in the introduction the reason you are writing this book (e.g., revealing recently declassified documents), what areas of the war you will cover (e.g., the outset of the war), and some background information (e.g., history of the Israel-Arab conflict).

However, the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), the style book most respected by professional publishers, has a different way of defining an introduction. According to CMOS section 1.41, only background information should be included in the introduction, while the rest of the details belong in the preface. The preface is where you explain why you wrote the book and what the book encompasses. The introduction is where you begin to actually set the scene for the body of the book.

Interestingly, Wikipedia contradicts itself by agreeing to CMOS’s definition of a preface. This is what Wikipedia has to say:

A preface generally covers the story of how the book came into being, or how the idea for the book was developed; this is often followed by thanks and acknowledgments to people who were helpful to the author during the time of writing.

One interesting issue regarding the preface is whether the author should sign it. Wikipedia says he should; CMOS says it is not necessary because we all know that the author, whose name appears on the cover and title page, wrote the preface.

Acknowledgments

Where should the author show his gratitude to all of the people who helped him reach the milestone of publishing this book?

If the list of thanks is short, it can go in the preface. But if it is long, it should be in its own section called the “acknowledgments.”

By the way, one common error of poorly prepared DIY self-publishers can often be seen in this section. Many amateurs spell the word with an e after the g, as in “acknowledge,” but the preferred spelling leaves out that e.

On the other hand, I once received a book as a gift and saw acknowledgments spelled with an e. I had a feeling that the publisher wasn’t an amateur and that there was some sort of explanation of what I saw. Upon further inspection, I noticed that the publisher was Canadian, so I looked up the spelling of the word in the Oxford dictionary. Lo and behold, the British – whose style the Canadians follow – spell it with an e.

Foreword

Now we are left to define the nature of a foreword. (Another commonly misspelled word – many poorly edited books incorrectly spell it like its homonym, “forward.”)

Here is how CMOS 1.40 defines this section:

The term foreword should be reserved for prefatory remarks by someone other than the author – including those of an editor or compiler, especially if a work already includes an author’s preface.

After stating that a foreword is usually written by someone other than the author, Wikipedia allows the author to write the foreword and “cover the story of how the book came into being or how the idea for the book was developed, and may include thanks and acknowledgments to people who were helpful to the author during the time of writing.” As mentioned above, CMOS considers these items relevant to the preface, not the foreword.

As we’ve seen, there are different styles in publishing. If you go to your bookshelf and check what various publishers include in the preface, introduction, and foreword of their books, you will probably find that most follow CMOS, though a few didn’t. I don’t have a personal preference, but I can tell you that if you want to impress the critics, you should follow CMOS for your style.

Practical Advice

As I explained, the introduction is really part and parcel of the book and should be written together with the book. The preface is the story behind the book. It whets the reader’s appetite to delve into the book by explaining the scope and importance of the book, as well as how it came about.

Now we can understand why the front matter is so important. When a potential reader sees your book, the first thing that he will notice is the cover. If the cover succeeds in attracting his attention, the next thing he will do is read the front matter. If he is impressed with the preface, he will likely buy the book. If the preface is boring or poorly written, he probably won’t buy the book. A good preface will make an everlasting impression, even on someone who doesn’t buy your book.

Therefore, I highly recommend to all authors that they invest time and energy into writing a really good preface and introduction. Not only that, I recommend ensuring that the copy editor do a very thorough edit – a developmental edit – on them. It costs a little more but is definitely worth it to ensure the book is a resounding success.