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How do I create a "frontmatter" section in my book, displayed with Roman numerals in the Table of Contents? Can I create a "backmatter" section at the end of the book too?
How do I create a "frontmatter" section in my book, displayed with Roman numerals in the Table of Contents? Can I create a "backmatter" section at the end of the book too?

Keywords: frontmatter, mainmatter, backmatter, appendix, chapter numbering

Leanpub Support avatar
Written by Leanpub Support
Updated over a week ago

In a Leanpub book, you can distinguish between "frontmatter" text files, which will appear with Roman numerals in the Table of Contents, and "mainmatter" text files, which will appear with ordinary numbers in the Table of Contents.

To indicate the beginning of a sequence of files that you want to be "frontmatter", type this on a line by itself at the top of the first file in the sequence:

{frontmatter}

Then, to indicate the beginning of a sequence of files that you want to be "mainmatter", type this on a line by itself at the top of the first file in the sequence:

{mainmatter}

For example, you would do this at the top of the first file you wanted to appear in the Table of Contents with Roman numerals, at the beginning of a book:

{frontmatter}

# Foreword

It was the best of times

Then, you would do this at the top of the first file that you wanted to appear in the Table of Contents with ordinary numbers:

{mainmatter}

# Chapter One

It was the worst of times.

The next time you create a preview, you will see how this looks in the book. Here's the table of contents from the example book we created for this article:

To be clear, {frontmatter} and {mainmatter} do not go in the Book.txt file (or the Sample.txt file, if you're using Leanpub-Flavored Markdown instead of Markua).

So, you should not do this in the Book.txt file:

{frontmatter}
Foreword.txt
{mainmatter}
chapter1.txt
chapter2.txt
chapter3.txt

You can also add a {backmatter} directive in a text file, like this:

{backmatter}

If you have selected automatic chapter numbering for your Table of Contents, then page numbers will not be added to any frontmatter chapters, or any chapters after the backmatter directive.

Here's an example, showing a fronttmatter chapter with no numbering, a mainmater chapter with the automatic number applied, and a backmatter chapter with no numbering:


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