Last Updated on January 16, 2023
Are you looking for how to write an appendix in a book? Then this guide is for you.
An appendix is a section in the back of a nonfiction book where you can give supplementary or additional information not provided in the main text.
The information in an appendix is not essential to understanding the rest of the book, but rather gives interested readers a more in-depth look at a particular topic.
Table of Contents
How to Write an Appendix
There are no real rules for formatting appendices; the type size and style should match the rest of your book.
If you have more than one appendix, they should be labeled Appendix A, Appendix B, etc. (if you’re using Chicago style, you can also label them Appendix 1, Appendix 2, etc.), and should also be given titles to make clear their contents. For example:
If you put your appendices in the back of the book, they should appear in the order they’re referenced in the main text.
Book Appendix Examples
Here are a couple of example appendices:
For research-based works, you may want to include the questionnaires or surveys you used in your study.
In a memoir, autobiography, or biography, you may want to include an appendix with relevant photographs.
Make sure to include appendices (with their full labels and titles) in your table of contents (if you have one).
Does Your Book Need an Appendix?
Appendices usually appear in nonfiction books. Not every book needs an appendix, but it might be helpful if you would like to:
- Offer more explanation and elaboration on a specific subject, which would otherwise interrupt the flow of the main text or would not be interesting to all readers
- Provide recommendations for further reading
- Provide more information about your sources, tools, or instruments you used in your research, or interview transcripts
- Include visuals such as maps, photos, letters, figures, graphs, or drawings
- Include detailed statistics or data
- Include lengthy, detailed lists or tables
- Provide a detailed chronology of events (that is not essential to understanding the rest of the book)
What Should Be Included in an Appendix?
Make sure you don’t include vital information only in an appendix without telling readers that it is there.
You can include more than one appendix if you need to. Ideally, each item referred to in the main text should have its own appendix, though some can be grouped by category as long as they are clearly labeled.
Referencing an Appendix
In the main text, it is preferable to refer to the appendices by their labels, not by their page numbers. You can do this in parentheses, as in (See Appendix A), or in footnotes.