What is the difference between a preface, a foreword and an introduction?

The author writes the preface about the book itself. Someone else writes the foreword, usually a well-known name who vouches for the book. The introduction is about the subject and usually counts as part of the main text.

Which comes first, a foreword or a preface?

The foreword comes first, then the preface, then the introduction. ---

Preface: definition and examples

A preface is a short note by the author at the front of a book, explaining how or why the work came to be.

A preface is the author speaking directly to the reader before the book begins: why they wrote it and how. It sits in the front matter, often numbered in Roman numerals. It differs from a foreword, which someone else writes. It also differs from a prologue, which is part of the story.

Front matter, in the author's voice

The Chicago Manual of Style calls the preface "the author's own statement about a work." It can cover the reasons for writing, the research behind the book and thanks to the people who helped.

Most novelists asking about a preface actually mean a prologue. A prologue is a scene, part of the story. A preface is commentary about the book, which is why novels that carry one usually have a specific reason to.

Examples

"The artist is the creator of beautiful things."
The Preface, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
Wilde's preface is a list of provocations about art that ends "All art is quite useless." It argues with the reader before the story starts.
"And now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny go forth and prosper."
Introduction to the 1831 edition, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Shelley calls this an introduction. She notes that the 1818 preface was written by her husband: one book, two kinds of front matter.
"an autobiographical impulse should twice in my life have taken possession of me, in addressing the public."
"The Custom-House," The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hawthorne's long introductory essay frames the novel as a manuscript he found, a preface that also sets up the fiction.

Do you need one?

For most novels, no. Readers want the story. A preface delays it. If you need to set the scene, you probably want a prologue or a stronger first chapter instead.

A preface earns its place when the book needs context only you can give: a translation note, a historical frame, thanks that matter. Write it as its own chapter at the front of the manuscript. [Export](/features/export) keeps chapters in the order you set, so it lands before chapter one in every format.

Common mistakes

Spelling foreword as "forward."
The word is fore-word, the words before. It is also a different thing: someone other than the author writes a foreword.
Calling a prologue a preface
If it tells part of the story, it is a prologue.
Numbering it as chapter one
A preface is front matter. The introduction and the main text are where the regular page numbering usually begins.

Common questions

What is the difference between a preface, a foreword and an introduction?: The author writes the preface about the book itself. Someone else writes the foreword, usually a well-known name who vouches for the book. The introduction is about the subject and usually counts as part of the main text.
Which comes first, a foreword or a preface?: The foreword comes first, then the preface, then the introduction. ---

Related terms

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