Most prologues don’t need to exist. The ones that do earn their place by doing something chapter one can’t: showing a moment chapter one isn’t allowed to show yet.
The test every prologue must pass
Ask yourself: does this information change how the reader experiences chapter one, or am I just excited about my own lore? If cutting it and starting at chapter one loses nothing, cut it.
What a prologue is actually good for
A different POV or time period that sets up dramatic irony (the reader knows something the leads don’t), an inciting incident the leads weren’t present for, or a flash-forward moment of stakes that recontextualizes the slow build to come.
What kills a prologue
Worldbuilding dumped before the reader has anyone to care about. A history lesson with no emotional hook. A prologue that could just be chapter one with a label change.
Length and voice
Keep it short. A prologue that runs as long as a chapter is a chapter; call it one. Voice can shift (different POV, different era) but should still feel like it belongs to the same book, not a separate short story bolted on.
The one-line rule
If you can’t say in one sentence what the prologue does that chapter one can’t, you don’t have a prologue yet. You have a placeholder.
From a self-pub + traditionally published author
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