Publishing, being based around printing, and printing, being an old thing, has given us many terms and concepts that carry on in use today. Two of these are verso and recto, denoting the left-hand and right-pages of a two-page spread.

I remember these because verso suggests the reverse side of a page, and recto starts with “r” like right-hand page. Silly but effective.

If you had never heard, much less used, these terms before, well, now you can. Let your designer or artist or formatter know that you know what these words mean in context, saying, “The copyright page will, of course, be on the verso of the title page.” Impressive.

Most important, embrace the ageyness of publishing. You love to read because generations of printers and designers and publishers built the foundations of what we do when we self-publish and made beautiful books with verso’s and recto’s all over the place. Live it.