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Publishing glossary
Widows and orphans: the stray lines of page breaks.
A widow is a last line stranded on a new page; an orphan is a first line left behind.
Checked:
✓Widow: last line alone at the top✓Orphan: first line alone at the bottom✓Both read as formatting errors
Why readers notice them
Stray lines interrupt the rhythm of a page and make a book look amateur. Professional typesetting suppresses them with keep rules.
- Keep headings with the next paragraph
- Avoid a single line at page top
- Check after every edit pass
Catching them before upload
The three-page preview renders your real layout, so you can flip pages and see where breaks land before KDP does.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a widow and an orphan?
A widow is the last line of a paragraph sitting alone at the top of the next page. An orphan is the first line stranded at the bottom of the previous page.
Do reflowable ebooks have widows and orphans?
Less so, because the reader reflows text. Print books are where the rules matter.
Put the definition to work for free.
Run your manuscript through the matching free check and see how the term applies to your own book.