When I first started working at Bethany House almost six years ago, I remember thinking, “There are so many terms and acronyms in publishing.” If you’ve ever seen an unfamiliar word used in book circles, you know what I’m talking about. I’ve asked some of our staff members to contribute some assorted publishing vocabulary words—take a look at the list and see how many are new for you!
Advance: the non-returnable payment to authors by publishers against which the royalty earnings are offset
AE: Acquisitions editor—finds new projects and works with the author and manuscript through all stages of publishing
ARC: Advance Reader Copy—an early version of the book sent to media and endorsers
Backlist: all of the titles by an author published before their latest release
BOB: Back of Book ad—the final few pages of a book that include author information and book suggestions
Book performance review: a meeting evaluating sales a year or more after a book’s release
Book proposal: information about a book that an author sends to a publisher/agent, usually including sample chapters
Colophon: inscription at the end of a book with facts about its production; can also mean an identifying mark or logo
Comps: either “rough sketch” cover options, or, when used with “titles,” books similar to the one being discussed
Copy: the text on back covers, ads, and other promotional materials
Em dash (—): Per the Chicago Manual of Style, the “most versatile of the dashes,” used to set off material or mark a break
Leaf: a section of the book comprising both right and left pages
Perfect binding: a method where individual pages of a book are glued together as opposed to section-sewn
Positioning: a meeting where marketing, editorial, and sales find a book’s unique fit in the marketplace
Press release: a written announcement that draws media attention to an author or new book release
Proofread: the final step in the editorial process, focusing on cleaning up any small typographical errors
Pub board: a meeting where marketing, editorial, and sales discuss future book contracts
Publishers Weekly: a trade review publication used by booksellers, buyers, and other professionals
Publicist: a marketing role that focuses on creating non-paid “buzz” for a book rather than advertising, such as media interviews
Recto: right page in printing
Royalties: the percentage of profit from sales of a book that the author is paid
Running head: the text at the top of a page that usually contains book title, chapter, or author name
Signature: a portion of paper folded to create several pages, which, when sewn together, create a book
Stet: “let it stand” (Latin); dots beneath and stet in the margin indicate to disregard a marked deletion or change
Style manual: guidelines for the consistent treatment of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, numbers, and other elements in writing and publishing
Style sheet: a document used by copy editors to maintain consistency of character names, dates, and other details
Synopsis: a detailed description of the plot of a book, often given to the publisher before the book is complete
Target audience: a specific group of readers likely to be interested in a particular book
Verso: left page in printing
Which of these words or phrases did you find most interesting?
I found all these interesting. I wish I could tour a publishing house to see the process and smell the pages :=).
I am familiar with most of these terms from just hanging around the writing and reading communities. The word Colophon is definitely one that I hadn’t heard before now. We learn something new all the time.
I’m familiar with a lot of these, but some of them were new to me. Thanks for the interesting post!
Vercto and recto. That’s interesting! I always enjoy these behind the scenes posts! 🙂