Like many trades, publishing has its own language that can often be confusing to a newcomer. I’ve collected some of the most common terms used as an aid to our members:
Advance: The amount of money that the publisher pays up front to an author before the book is published. The advance is an advance on all future earnings, which means that the author has to earn back all of the advance before receiving additional payment in the form of royalties. Advances are generally not returnable, even if the book does not earn itself out.
ARCS: Advance Review Copies. Not the final book, these are advance and unfinalized copies of the book that are sent to reviewers.
Auction: If you are really lucky (and have written an excellent book) sometimes the sale of your novel will turn into an auction. Just like the word implies, this is when multiple publishers bid on your book and ultimately, the one who offers the most lucrative deal wins.
BEA: BookExpo America is the largest book rights fair in the United States. This is where publishers from all over the world gather to share rights information, sell book rights, and flaunt their new, upcoming titles.
Cover Letter: Short and sweet, this is the letter that should accompany any material you send to an agent or an editor. A cover letter should remind the agent that the material has been requested, where you met if indeed you have, and the same basic information that is in your query letter—title, genre, a short yet enticing blurb of your book, and bio information if you have any.
Full: A full manuscript
Genre: The classification of books. Examples of genre in fiction include mystery, romance, science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Hardcover: A book printed with a hard cover.
Imprint: The name within the publishing house that the book is published under. Usually done as a way to market certain types of books. For example, Pocket Books is an imprint of Simon & Schuster. It is still an S&S book, but by publishing under Pocket you are branding the book part of S&S’s mass market paperback line.
Literary Agent: A literary agent works on behalf of the author to sell her book and negotiate with publishers. A literary agent will also sometimes help with career planning and development. Very rarely will they do any editing, though some do.
Marketing: Marketing is advertising that is paid for, including ads in magazines, display units in stores, and things like postcards or posters.
Mass Market: Also called “rack size,” these are paperback books originally designed to fit in rotating book racks in non-bookstore outlets (like grocery stores and drugstores). Mass market paperbacks are roughly 4” x 7” in size.
North American Rights: These are the type of rights licensed to the publisher, allowing the publisher only to handle and represent book rights in North America. This means that the author and the author’s agent are responsible for selling/licensing rights anywhere outside of North America (and usually a designated set of territories).
Preempt: When a publisher makes an advance and royalty offer high enough to take the book off the auction table. In other words, a publisher offers enough money that the author and agent agree that they will sell the book without asking for bids from other publishers.
Proofs/Page proofs: This is the last stage of editing that a book goes through. They are a copy of the designed pages, and the author is given one last chance to review the typesetter’s “proofs” to check for typos or other small errors. Proofs are also what are used to make review copies for reviewers and sometimes rights sales.
Proposal/Partial: A proposal or a partial is frequently what an agent will ask for when taking a book under consideration. For fiction and narrative nonfiction a proposal usually includes a cover letter, a designated number of chapters from the book, and a synopsis. For non-narrative nonfiction a proposal usually contains an extended author bio, an overview of the book, an expanded table of contents, detailed marketing and competitive information, and of course sample writing material (usually a chapter or two).
Publicity: Advertising that is free. Publicity includes magazine and newspaper articles, radio and television interviews, and of course web-based promotion.
Query: A one-page letter sent to agents or editors in an attempt to gain representation. A query letter should include all of the author’s contact information—name, address, phone, email, and Web site—as well as the title of the book, genre, author bio if applicable, and a short, enticing blurb of the book.
Royalties: The percentage of the sales (monetary) an author receives for each copy of the book sold. These are only received after the author has earned back his or her advance.
Sell-Through: This is the most important number in publishing. It’s the percentage of books shipped that have actually sold. For example, if your publisher shipped 100,000 books (great number!) but only sold 40,000, your sell-through is 40%. Not so great. However, if your publisher shipped 50,000 books, and sold 40,000, your sell-through would be 80%. A fantastic number.
Slush/Slush Pile: Any material sent to an agent or an editor that has not been requested.
Synopsis: A detailed, multi-page description of the book that includes all major plot points as well as the conclusion.
Trade: To make it easy, trade is the shortened name for trade paperback books and is basically any size that is not mass market.
Vanity Press: A publisher that publishes the author’s work at the author’s expense (not a recommended way to seek publication by most agents or editors).
World Rights: When World Rights are sold/licensed to the publisher the publisher has the ability to represent the book on the author’s behalf and sell foreign translation rights anywhere in the world. Keep in mind that the author does get a piece of the pie no matter where the book is published.
