The last page of your book is the only ad you will ever run to a reader who has just finished it, liked it, and is holding the device it can be bought on. Most of the manuscripts I open end with “The End,” a copyright line, and nothing else. The reader closes the app and the moment is gone.
Back matter is the two or three pages after the story ends, and the order of what goes there decides whether a satisfied reader becomes a series reader, a subscriber, a reviewer, or a stranger again. Below is the order I use, what each page says, and the Amazon rules that sit around the review ask.
Page one: the next book, and nothing else
The first thing a reader sees after the last line of your story is the next book. Its title, its cover if the file allows it, one line of hook, and a link that goes straight to the buy page. Not the newsletter, not the review ask, not your bio. The reader has just decided they like you, and the only question in their head is “is there more?” Answer it before anything else gets in the way.
If the next book is out, the link goes to its listing. If it is on pre-order, the link goes to the pre-order and the line says when it arrives. If it does not exist yet, this page still exists: “Book two is coming in spring, and the fastest way to hear about it is below,” with the newsletter link one line down. A reader who finishes book one on a Tuesday night and cannot find book two will have forgotten your name by Friday. The numbers on that gap are in what your series read-through rate tells you, and back matter is the cheapest place to move them.
One line of hook, and it should be the hook from book two’s blurb, because that line has already been written to sell. Do not summarize. “Margaret’s next case starts with a wedding cake and ends with a body in the harbor” does more than “Continue the adventure in Book Two.”
Page two: the reader magnet and the signup
Once the next book is offered, ask for the email. The pitch is one paragraph: what they get, why it is only available through the newsletter, and a link. A bonus epilogue for the couple they just watched get together, a short story about the side character everyone asks about, the deleted scene you cut for pacing. Tie it to the book they just finished. At this moment, nothing else you have written exists for them.
The magnet that fails is the generic one: “Sign up for my newsletter for updates and news.” Nobody wants updates. They want the epilogue. I wrote a whole post on why most reader magnets do not work, and the same rule applies here. The magnet is a reward for finishing, so it has to continue the thing they just enjoyed.
Use a link they can tap on a phone. A full URL printed out is fine in paperback, but in the ebook it should be a live link to a landing page, and in a KU book keep that page on your own site, because at the time of writing KDP’s content guidelines do not allow links inside a Kindle file that send readers to other ebook stores.
Page three: the review ask, inside the rules
The review ask comes third, after the reader has been offered more of you and has had the chance to take it. It is short, it is polite, and it asks for one thing. Something like: “If you enjoyed this book, a review on Amazon or Goodreads helps other readers find it, and it helps me keep writing them. Even two lines makes a difference.” Then a link that goes directly to the review form for that book, not the product page, so the reader is one tap from typing.
Amazon’s rules around this are strict and they are the reason the wording matters. At the time of writing, you may ask for a review. You may not offer anything in exchange for one, ask specifically for a positive review or a star rating, or suggest what the reader should say. “Leave a five-star review and get a free short story” is the sentence that gets reviews removed and, in the worst cases, gets authors’ accounts flagged. Ask, thank, link, stop.
The review ask belongs in every book in the series, and it belongs after the story rather than in the front matter, because a reader who has not finished has nothing to say yet. The launch-week version of this ask, with an ARC team already reading, is a different job, and I cover the post-launch version in how to get book reviews after launch week.
Page four: also by, in reading order
After the next book, the magnet, and the review ask, list everything else you have written. Series by series, in reading order, with a one-line description under each series name rather than under each book, and a link on every title. If a series can be read in any order, say so. If book three is a standalone that shares a town, say that too.
This page fails when it is a bare list of titles, because a reader who just finished your cozy mystery does not know that “Ashfall” is your dark fantasy pen name’s debut and will bounce off it confused. Group by series, name the genre where it changes, and put the series they just finished at the top. New readers cannot find where your series starts on Amazon either, which is a listing problem I go through in why new readers can’t find where your series starts. The Also By page is where you fix it for the readers you already have.
Page five: about the author
The bio goes last, and it stays short. Three or four sentences, first person or third, one detail that makes you a person (the dog, the town, the day job you left), and the links to wherever you want readers to follow you. Website first, then the one or two social accounts you use, not all of them. A reader who has just read 90,000 of your words does not need a résumé.
Everything else people put in back matter, the acknowledgments, the playlist, the author’s note about the research, goes before the Also By page if it is long and after the bio if it is short, so it does not push the next-book page further from the last line of the story.
The order, on one page
After the last line of the story: the next book with a link, the reader magnet with a link, the review ask with a link to the review form, the Also By in reading order, and the bio. Five pages, five links, and every one of them earns its place by being the thing a reader is most likely to want at that exact moment. Set it up once in your template, update the next-book page every time you release, and the last page of every book you write keeps selling the one after it.
Back matter is one of the first things I check before a launch, because a release week with the wrong page at the end of the ARC file is a week of readers finishing the book and going nowhere. It is part of the pre-release setup inside the book launch service, along with the ARC file, the listing, and the sequence of emails that goes around them.
Frequently asked questions
What should go in the back matter of a novel?
In this order: a link to the next book, a reader magnet with a newsletter signup, a short review ask with a direct link to the review form, an Also By list in reading order, and a brief author bio with your website. Acknowledgments and author notes go around those, never ahead of the next-book page.
Is it allowed to ask for reviews in a book?
Yes. At the time of writing Amazon allows a plain request for a review. It does not allow offering anything in exchange, asking for a positive review or a specific star rating, or telling readers what to write. Ask once, thank them, and link to the review form.
Should the newsletter signup come before the next book link?
No. The next book comes first, because “is there more?” is the only question a reader has at the end of a book they liked. The signup comes immediately after, tied to a bonus scene or story from the book they just finished.
