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June 09, 2026

Some things that don't belong in the beginning of ebooks

I'm a linear reader, I go from cover, publishing info/copyrights/credits, the content list, dedication, to the first chapter, right toward the back cover which often do not exist. I don't skip any page even if I don't read them thoroughly because you don't really read a book if you don't at least look at all the pages. I read mostly ebooks (borrowed from my local library) and like paper books, they have mostly the same things in the beginning but on an ereader, it's slightly different. Here are things I think shouldn't be in the beginning of ebooks and one that just needs a little styling (#3). (Note: Not all ebooks have these things but many of them do.)

01 - Praises or reviews of the book — I'm already reading it so why do I have to read reviews and praises before I start the book? Only the book can convince me to read it.

02 - Author's bio & back list — Back in the days, the author bio and their back list is at the end of the book and I have always preferred that. After I finished a book, it's like a treat to read the author's bio and sometimes back list when you want to read more of the author's other books. I never read an author's bio if I didn't finish the book. 

03 - Long chapter titles for content list page — Long chapters titles are a problem with ebooks because you tap or press the screen to turn the page and if you hit one of these chapter list (which are links), you go directly to that chapter. Long chapter titles meant no space around the screen to tap/press an empty area to go to the next page (see example A below). So maybe I can just go click on, for example, Chapter 1 and start reading but I like to see all the content list. 
    I'm not against long chapter titles, I actually like them but maybe they need to be smaller than the chapter number (see example B) or put them inside the book and simply just used Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc (example C). Also flush left text is better than center text but that's a preference.


04 - A preview (usually a future scene)
— This just confuses me as sometimes I thought was I starting the book but it was a preview which is also in the book. I think any future scenes shouldn't start the book even if it might peak a reader's interest because it gives readers expectations that takes (sometimes) a long time to meet. If you know you have to read 300 pages of boring stuff to get to that preview, would you even start the book?

05 - An introduction — older books (such as classics) often had introductions which I'm willing to read but sometimes they give spoilers and assumes the readers already read the book - isn't that a good reason to put it at the end of the book? 
    And then there are these introductions by famous authors or famous people which are like love letters to the book or author and they give no new or interesting insights so what's the point? Why should I care about some famous person's opinion about another famous person or their book?

06 - Web link that took up almost an entire page — Once there was a book (two actually) with a page (I think it was about signing up for news or something from the publisher of the book) that kept asking to go to a website when I pressed/tapped to go to the next page and I kept pressing down on the screen at every possible place and it kept asking to go to the website. I experienced this before I learned to navigate my ereader so I must have restarted my ereader at least three or four times just to get out of that page. And I didn't read either book because I was too mad.  
    Only later, did I learn to pressed the very, very bottom corner edge of the screen to get out of such pages. Why would you make an entire page a web link? I have no reason to go to any web link on my ereader, not even to sign up for a free book - it's just something I don't do.

07- Acknowledgements — Acknowledgements is not the dedication but it's like the dedication but extended. So yes, readers might skip this even if it's at the end of the book but readers still can skip this even at the beginning so it might as well be at the end. I think acknowledgements at the end makes more sense because then I cared enough to read those names unlike the beginning of the book where I really had no such care.

What things do you not want in the beginning of books?

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