Books all have a certain “sameness” to them when it comes to the way in which they are designed. The content from book to book will be wildly different, but manner in which they are laid out is going to be very similar. They will have the same type of book front matter and back matter, and they will be located in the same places from book to book.
Not all elements of the book front matter are in all books. However, the following are some of the most common that you will run across and ones that you might want to include in your book.
The title page will include the title of the book as well as the name of the author. The copyright page will contain all the necessary copyright information, as well as the ISBN number. This page will often also have the name and possibly the logo of the publisher. The acknowledgements page is where the author can thank those who help make the book possible, including peers and those who may have been instrumental in helping with the book.
The dedication page is where the author cites the names of people important in their lives (often loved ones) for whom they wrote the book. The foreword, written by someone other than the author, details why the book or author is important and what the to book offers.
The preface, written by the author, tells how the book came to be, and the introduction is usually an overview of what is to come in the book. Most nonfiction titles will have an introduction, and it is usually included in the table of contents. The table of contents includes the chapter titles and the page numbers of where to find the start of each chapter.
Nonfiction and fiction books will all have some type of book front matter. As stated before, they will vary from book to book. If you are self-publishing, it is a good idea to examine other books in your field or genre and see how they handle the front matter. You can emulate what they do and adapt it to your own book.
Hope that helps you understand a little more about something that may now be a mystery to you, writer!