BookbndrPlain-language definitions of the words you'll meet in Bookbndr. Many entries link to a longer explainer.
EPUB
The standard file format for e-books. One .epub file holds your whole book and works on most e-readers, phones and tablets. → What is an EPUB?
Manuscript
Your book as you wrote it in Word — the text, headings and images, before it's turned into an e-book.
Metadata
The information about your book rather than its content: title, author, language, ISBN, publisher and so on. Retailers use it to list and search your book.
ISBN
A unique product number for a book (like a barcode). Print and e-book editions usually each get their own ISBN. It's optional in Bookbndr.
Cover image
The picture shown on the front of your book in shops and on a reader's bookshelf.
Front matter
The pages that come before your story starts — title page, copyright page, dedication, and so on. → What is front matter & back matter?
Back matter
The pages that come after your story ends — acknowledgements, about-the-author, an index, and so on. → What is front matter & back matter?
Chapter
A main division of your book. In Bookbndr, a Word Heading 1 normally becomes a chapter. → Chapters, parts & sections
Part
A grouping of several chapters (for example "Part One"). → Chapters, parts & sections
Section
A smaller heading inside a chapter, or a standalone piece that isn't a full chapter. → Chapters, parts & sections
Zone
Bookbndr's label for what a heading is — a chapter, a part, a section, front matter, back matter, or excluded. You can change any heading's zone. → Chapters, parts & sections
Theme
A ready-made visual design for your book — fonts, spacing, chapter styling and page layout — that you can apply in one click and then tweak. → Theme vs project
Project
A reusable recipe that remembers your theme, your book details and your chapter choices, so you can apply the same setup to another document. → Theme vs project
Copyright page
The page near the front of a book carrying the copyright notice, edition, ISBN and any legal disclaimers. → What is a copyright page?
Table of contents
The list of chapters with links, built automatically from your headings, so readers can jump around the e-book.
Trim size
The finished width × height of a printed page (for example 5″ × 8″). It only matters for the print PDF, not the e-book. → What is trim size?
Margin
The blank space around the text on a page. The inner margin (next to the spine) is called the gutter. → Margins, the gutter, recto & verso
Gutter
The inner margin of a page — the blank strip next to the spine, where the binding is. Print books need a wider gutter so text isn't lost in the fold. → Margins, the gutter, recto & verso
Recto & verso
The two sides of an open book: recto is the right-hand page, verso is the left-hand page. Chapters traditionally start on a recto. → Margins, the gutter, recto & verso
Drop cap
A large decorative first letter at the start of a chapter that drops down across the first few lines of text. → What is a drop cap?
Scene break
A small marker — blank space, asterisks (* * *) or an ornament — that signals a jump in time or place within a chapter. → What is a scene break?
Ornament
A small decorative symbol (such as ❧ or ✦) used as a scene break or flourish between passages. → What is a scene break?
Running head
The small repeating line at the top of each printed page, usually showing the book or chapter title. → Running heads & page numbers
Widows & orphans
Stranded lines at a page break: a lone last line pushed to the top of the next page (a widow), or a lone first line left at the bottom of a page (an orphan). Bookbndr can avoid them. → What are widows & orphans?
Footnote & endnote
A note linked to a point in the text. A footnote sits at the bottom of the same page; an endnote is collected at the end of the chapter or book. → Footnotes vs endnotes
Index
An alphabetical list of topics and the pages they appear on, at the back of a book. Bookbndr builds it from index entries you mark in Word. → What is an index?
Block quote
A passage of quoted text set apart from the body — usually indented and sometimes italic — rather than run inline with quote marks.
Verse
Poetry or song lyrics, laid out with their own line breaks and indentation preserved rather than flowing as ordinary paragraphs.
Justified text
Text spaced so both the left and right edges line up flush, giving a clean rectangular block — the traditional look for novels.
Hyphenation
Automatically splitting long words across line breaks with a hyphen, so justified text has fewer awkward gaps.
Smart punctuation
Curly "typographer's" quotes, proper em dashes (—) and ellipses (…) in place of straight quotes and double hyphens. → What is smart punctuation?
Pre-flight
A quick automatic check Bookbndr runs before export to confirm the essentials (title, author, language, cover) are in place.