Publishing Terms and Definitions

Whether you're a rookie writer or a veteran author, you'll need to know the language of the business. Chances are you've heard industry professionals use their insider vernacular, and much of it's been over your head. Well don't worry. This guide can serve as a handy primer for understanding the publishing industry.

Below are some more terms that you're likely to run across as you dive into the publishing waters. It's by no means an exhaustive list, but it's a pretty good start.

Acknowledgments
A term for the section, typically in the front of a book, in which an author will recognize or honor those that have played an important part in the completion of the book.

Acquisitions Board
The group, typically within a traditional publisher, that determines what books that publisher will acquire.

Advance Print Run
The printing of a quantity of copies undertaken prior to a book's launch date.

Appendix
Typically contained at the end of the book, an appendix includes additional material, such as tables or source material, that otherwise doesn't fit into a particular chapter.

Blog/Blogging
Short for Web Log, a blog is an online journal. Blogging is act of writing or updating one's blog.

Book Block
A file, typically in PDF format, that contains the entirety of a book's contents, sans the cover.

Brick-and-Mortar Retailer
The most traditional form of retail - think Barnes & Noble. Typical "brick-and-mortar" book retailers also sell books through online bookstores.

Content Editor
An editor hired to edit both the content (subject matter) of a book, as well as its form (e.g. sentence structure).

Copyeditor (CE, Copy Editor)
Person who edits copy with the goal of correcting grammar irregularities and inconsistencies and of correcting punctuation, spelling, usage and style.

Copyright (Copyright Page, Copyright Notice)
The legal ownership of intellectual property such as printed material. The right to copy, repurpose or publish content of the copyrighted medium.

Cover Design
Aesthetic layout of a book cover.

Credit Line
Text line within a book that assigns credit to the owner of the copyright of the material it refers to.

Design (Book and Cover)
Layout, selection of font and font size and typesetting of a book. See Cover Design.

Developmental Editor
An editor who refines the organization of a manuscript rather than changing specific sentence or paragraph structure. A developmental editor also reorders blocks of text, including and up to reordering entire chapters. Developmental editors may also address tone, voice, addition or deletion of material, complexity of material and transitions among paragraphs and sections of the book.

Distributor
In publishing, a distributor sells products or services to retailers, rather than selling directly to consumers.

Domain Name
Registered Web address or URL that often requires a small fee to prevent other parties from registering the same domain.

DPI (Dots per Inch)
Measurement of the graphic resolution of a graphic file, resolution of a computer monitor or potential printing density of a computer printer.

eBook
Electronic file format to which books may be published.

Endorsement (Blurb)
Promotional statement by someone recommending a book, often found on the dust cover or near the front of the book.

Footnote (FN, Endnote)
Footnotes reference citations and supplementary information and generally appear at the bottom of the page. Superscript characters are used to draw the reader's attention to a footnote. An endnote takes the same form as a footnote and is typically contained at the end of a book or chapter.

Formatting
1) Process by which a design team lays out a manuscript to create book pages. 2) Text effect applied to characters to make them appear bold, italic, sheared or otherwise.

Genre
Broad category or kind of book, based on a book's subject matter. Examples genres include romance, fantasy, sci-fi, self-help and biographical.

Ghostwriter
A professional writer contracted by an author or publisher to write or cow rite a book. Typically the works of ghostwriters are unattributed in the final publication.

Index
Listing of topics or subjects of words at the end of a book that guides a reader to the specific pages on which subjects they appear within the main text.

Interior graphics
Pictures, illustrations, diagrams or other graphics contained within the interior of a book.

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)
A unique 13-digit number (10 or 13 digits prior to 2007) that identifies a book to retailers and other interested parties. The barcode.

Line Editor
An editor that performs a more stringent edit than a typical copy edit. Line editors critique a book's voice, tone and phrasing; and in the case of fictional works, the story's pacing, character development, handling of details and vocabulary of the period and place where the novel is set all for accuracy. A line editor also focuses on errors in grammar, punctuation and writing style.

Literary Agent
An intermediary between author in and traditional publisher.

Manuscript
Complete text version of a book (often as an electronic text file) as submitted by the author. It encompasses both text and graphic contents of the book.

Marketing
Promotional, publicity and advertising methods used to sell a book.

Mass-Market Paperback
A smaller, more economical version of a book. Usually printed well after the hardcover and trade paperback versions, mass-market paperbacks are often sold in grocery stores and airports.

Nonexclusive Contract
Legal agreement in which the publisher does not possess exclusive rights over the materials published in the author's book.

Offset Printing
Common printing technology that applies layers one at a time. A reverse image of each color interfaces with the page via a roller. The roller presses against the paper applying the proper color of ink.

Off-the-Book-Page Attention
Mention made of a book in the media outside the context of a book review, for instance, a celebrity plugging a book on a talk show.

Online Bookseller (Online Retailer)
Bookstore on the Web, like Amazon or BN.com, which sells books and other publications to the customer at retail or discounted prices.

Online Marketing
Advertising, selling or dispensing products through the Internet.

Out of Print (OOP)
Book no longer in a publisher's book inventory (and for which there are no republication plans).

Page Proofs
Printed samples that look just like the final book pages. In page proofs, figures and other displays accurately represent their appearance in the final copy.

Pay-per-Click Advertising
Arrangement between a Web site host and an advertiser in which the advertiser pays the host a set amount per click on that ad.

PDF (Portable Document Format)
Adobe Systems file format that can be precisely reproduced on different systems. PDF files are often sent to a printer.

Podcast
Audio broadcast available for free downloading through the Web for play on a digital player or computer. Compatibility is not limited exclusively to Apple iPods, despite its name.

Print-on-Demand (POD)
Publishing methods which permit for the printing of books in qualities as few as one.

Print-Ready
Final PDF or image files of a book that have been are ready to go to the printer.

Proofreading
Final reading of typeset material to ensure that content matches the book's manuscript. Grammar, punctuation, spelling or usage issues are brought to the attention of the editor at this time.

Publication Date
Official date when a book is to be released to the public.

Publicist
A professional who promotes a book, often by working with media. A public or media relations professional.

Publicity Tour
A series of public appearances, including but not limited to media interviews and book signings, made by an author to promote the impending or recent release of a book.

Remainder
Books that are returned to the publisher after not having sold, often offered for later sale at a discounted price.

Return on Investment (ROI)
Amount of profit made after investment costs and other costs have been recouped.

Return
Book returned to and refunded by the publisher after failing to sell on the bookstore shelf. Only the front covers of mass-market paperbacks need be returned to qualify for the refund.

Royalty
Payment made to a book's author. Usually based on industry standard percentages of sales revenue.

Running Head
Text at the top of a standard book page that usually contains book, chapter or section title information. A recto (right-hand page) running head usually differs in content from that of the verso (left-hand page).

Sell Sheet
Brief, one-page document or brochure that provides details and/or images from a particular book.

Slush Pile
Unsolicited manuscripts submitted to publishing houses.

Small Press
Smaller publishing house that releases books often intended for specialized audiences.

Style Sheet
Document prepared during a copyedit, which enforces the standards and consistency of how numbers, abbreviations, word usage and punctuation are to be handled.

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
Compressed-file format for graphic images. The filename extension is .tif.

Trade Paperback
A trade paperback is bound with a paper or heavy stock cover, usually with a larger trim size than that of a mass-market paperback. Compare Mass-Market Paperback.

University Press
Publishing house owned and operated by a university. Such presses typically issue academic material, often including the works of professors at the institution.

Wholesaler
Company, group or individual who purchases high volumes of books from a publisher at deep discounts and sells them to retailers at midlevel discount.