Re: preface--request for thoughts

[Jan <janron -at- CONCENTRIC -dot- NET>]

Sean asked:  Is including such a preface before the TOC appropriate? Ought I
move the preface and its contents into the body of the book, thus creating a
regular chapter?

Sean,

Something can be after the TOC without being a regular chapter.  It?s
standard for prefaces and introductions to come _after_ the TOC; to be
listed in the TOC; and, as Elizabeth said, to have lowercase roman numerals
for page numbers (aka folios).

The last users manual I produced had two pieces of front matter (after the
TOC, listed in the TOC, lc roman numeral folios), ?About this Guide? and
?What?s New in GreatProduct Release x.x.?

I thought that calling it ?About this Guide? would help readers get to the
right information faster than using ?Preface? or ?Introduction.?  It
included three sections:  Organization (the structure of the manual);
Conventions (yes, you guessed it, typographical conventions); and Customer
Support (phone numbers and support hours).  (Thinking back, I might have
made ?Customer Support? a separate piece of front matter.)

Style manuals are a great source of information about where book elements go
and what gets placed in a given element.  Some useful style manuals are the
New York Public Library Writer?s Guide to Style and Usage (which Rebecca
quoted); the Chicago Manual of Style; Read Me First! A Style Guide for the
Computer Industry; and the Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical
Publications.  (There are lots more, but this is a useful and, if you?re
writing software documentation, relevant set.)

If you?d like, I can look up the preface/introduction question in these
books and send you the appropriate passages.  Contact me directly:
janron -at- concentric -dot- net

Regards,

Jan

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=