On SOL, I've seen it labeled as Prologue or Foreword and maybe other names. Some of them appear to be part of the story and some of them appear to be author's notes that are not a part of the story.
can somebody explain the differences among the various labels that are used before Chapter One and, specifically,which ones are and are not a part of the story.
The Prologue is part of the story. The others aren't.
Actually, the Prologue gives information to understand the story. For example, in Spider-Man, the Prologue could be the killing of his uncle which explains why Spider-Man is the way he is. The Prologue should not be an info dump.
[EDIT] Changed Batman to Spider-Man after someone pointed out my mistake.
The Prologue is part of the story. The others aren't.
Although less common, a Prelude is similar to a Prologue and some regard the two terms are interchangeable.
AJ
(Generally speaking, it was Batman's parents who were killed as the formative experience. Spider-Man had the dead uncle.)
Each structure has a specific meaning. Sometimes the difference in definition is small, such as who wrote it. Other times it is larger.
The names are often used interchangeably without regard to definition or content.
A "Foreword" is not part of the story. Typically it a a brief (couple of paragraphs, although I have read ten pages or more in some large tomes) synopsis of information that is key to the main body of writing.
Common subjects are citing a source or sources if your story is going to be significantly diferent from previous works.
For example, in the non-fiction book: Myth of the Great War, the author cited access to Soviet Archives that had not been used in any previous publication. These were original first source documents, and were contrary to speculation by second or third party sources in most well known books about WWI.
Or, as I recall, in the fictional story: Old Friend of the Family, the Foreword was supposedly by Dracula, and though only a paragraph, was supposed to alleviate a lot of confusion, if you didn't know the point of view character was Dracula (as the story was set in the 1960's).
Also, in a Foreword, an author might thank people who assisted him, or inspired him or her. Could be a researcher, librarian, family member, or a particular veteran, or group of veterans if it is a war story, for example.
Also, in a Foreword, an author might thank people
And a Foreword could be written by someone other than the author praising the author.
Actually, that's typical, as the publisher often hires someone fairy prestigious to write the foreword to better promote the story. Sometimes even the biggest names need a boost in readership numbers simply to get noticed.
Strangely, the more 'literary stories' aren't nearly as popular as the simple straightforward genre stories, yet they're the ones most often used to promote others works. Sometimes publishing isn't terribly logical.
I have a forward in my print version that explains the book, then a prologue which is a brief part of the story that happens in the current day which sets the tone before flashing back for the bulk of the story. Then a brief epilogue.