Whether you work in book publishing, for any organisation that publishes print or online publications, or you want to self publish a book, understanding the key publishing terms can help you negotiate your way through the publishing world. Here are just some of the publishing jargon you may encounter along the way. For professional editing and proofreading, call Susie Stevens from Bold Type (Sydney) for a obligation free quote: 0410 037 635 or email Susie with your editing/proofreading requirements.
A series
This is a system of paper sizes including A2, A3, A4, A5 and so forth
AA, AC
Author’s alteration, author’s correction
A/W
Abbreviation for artwork
Acetate
Transparent plastic sheet with images sometimes in layers or placed over artwork to protect and allow a graphic designer to write instructions
Acknowledgments
Usually positioned in the preliminary pages of a publication, an acknowledgments page is where special permissions are listed
Acid-free
Paper that resists yellowing from age – it is made from pulp containing little or no acid
Advance
Money paid to the writer at the signing of a contract that provides living expenses while the book is written and published and which is then taken out of royalties from book sales
Advance copies
These are the books sent by the printer before publication date
Ampersand
Is the sign used instead of ‘and’ – & – not usually used in the body of a text
Angle brackets
The < > characters
Annotate
Refers to additional comments or explanations to a text
Appendix, appendices
Supplementary material to a text that follows the main text at the end of a book
Arabic numerals
The widely used numbering system – 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (see Roman numerals)
Artwork
Original photos and illustrations including copy; abbreviation A/W
Ascender
For any lower-case letter, this is the upper half of the vertical in letters such as b or d
Author’s copies
Complimentary copies given to an author on publication – normally six
Bar code
The system of bars printed on the back cover of a book with the ISBN; used around the world in the book industry for automated ordering and inventory purposes
Binding
The process of affixing pages together in a single-bound book
Blueline
The proof sheets of a book that show how the pages and/or cover will look when printed
Blurb
Short comments that endorse the book and/or author that appear on the back cover or in preliminary pages (front matter)
Book
A bound publication of at least 49 pages that is not a periodical or other form of magazine
Books in print
A database managed by Thorpe-Bowker of books in print, or about to be printed, based on the ISBN numbers issued by Thorpe-Bowker to publishers
Camera ready
Final artwork including typesetting (desktop publishing) and graphics, usually prepared in a publishing program such as InDesign, that is ready for the final production processes including the final print
CiP
Stands for Cataloguing in Publication; is the bibliographic information supplied by the National Library of Australia and printed on the imprint page in the preliminary pages of a book
Content edit
An edit of a book that checks the flow of the text, its organisation, continuity and content; also known as structural edit or substantive edit (see substantive edit below)
Copy edit
An edit that checks for grammar, spelling, punctuation and other ‘typos’ – copy editing is usually done after the pages have been typeset ready for printing – read more about copy editing
Copyright
Legal protection is given to intellectual property, for example, for written and published works in a variety of forms including books, artwork, music, Internet content and software programs
Cover art
The design of the book’s jacket
Descender
For any lower-case letter, this is the lower half of the vertical in letters such as ‘g’ or ‘y’
Design
The page layout of a publication and other graphic imagery used to enhance the text of the publication; the artistic process of creating images, illustrations and other graphic elements and incorporating them with the words in camera-ready format
Desktop publishing
Book design, layout and production completed on a computer using publishing software such as InDesign; the preferred computer system in many publishing houses, art studios and design departments is Apple Macintosh
Distributor
A company that buys books from from other distributors or publishers and resells them to retail accounts
eBook
The abbreviated term used for an electronic book, that is, published in electronic formats, such as PDF, that can be downloaded to computers or mobile devices
Editing
Changes and corrections to the content of a book to polish the raw material of a manuscript, to improve the structure, fix grammar and spelling; may also involve managing the process as in the work of a Production Editor which involves working with authors, graphic designers, desktop publishers and others to see the book through to print-ready stage; see also substantive editing and copy editing
Em rule
Is double the length of an en rule and used by some to define a change of context, introduce an amplification or set apart parenthetic elements such as ‘the paint on the wall was dry—and after only 10 seconds
En rule
Double the length of a hyphen, the en rule is used to separate text such as a span of figures, to show an association between two things or to join compound adjectives, or sometimes to set apart parenthetic elements such as 128–130, Australian–French relations or ‘It was said – and I couldn’t quite believe it – that the election was rigged’; sometimes referred to as an en-dash
Endmatter
The last part of a book that follows the last chapter or the last part of the body of the text; may include appendices, endnotes, bibliography and index
Epilogue
Additional text at the end of the book that provides the reader with additional information on the book, topic or author
Final draft
The final proof after all the editing and proofreading processes have been completed
Font
Designates a specific characteristic within a typeface family such as roman, italic and boldface fonts that may belong to the typeface (see typeface below)
Foreign rights
Rights granted or sold that allow a book to be printed and sold in other countries
Four-colour process
CMYK colours – cyan, magenta, yellow and black (key) – to produce illustrations, photographs and other elements in the full-colour range
Foreword
A commentary about the book or an endorsement by a high-profile person; included in the preliminary pages
Freelance
An independent contractor hired to work on a specific project: book, magazine, report, thesis, or on a particular part of the publishing process: writing, design, editing, proofreading, typesetting
Front matter
See preliminary pages
Galley proofs
Pre-print copies of a book or publication that may be uncut and unbound and used in the copy editing and proofreading stages of the print production process; may also be used to promote and/or preview the publication; also sent to the author for the final review
Genre
A specific category of literature marked by a distinctive style form or content such as crime fiction, children’s literature, biographical, historical non-fiction
Graphics
Elements of a book such as drawings, illustrations, photographs, charts, maps that are used to enhance the text content of a publication
Hard copy
A printout of the manuscript or galley proof in contrast to an electronic version of the same thing
House style
Many publishing organisations have a well-developed house style that provides guidelines for different textual and graphic elements: maps, tables, graphs; spelling, capitalisation and hyphenation standards; and a range of other publishing conventions that provide consistency across publications and in terms of corporate branding
Imprint
The name of the publishing company on the imprint page or title page
ISBN
Stands for International Standard Book Number or the 13-digit identifying number code uniquely assigned to a book – ISBN Agency Australia is responsible for the allocation of ISBNs in Australia
Kerning
The adjustment of spacing between letters in a font; the space between letters can be adjusted to improve the overall appearance of the text
Leading
Pronounced ‘ledding’, this refers to the space between the highest ascender of one line of text and the lowest descender of the previous line; leading that is not spaced enough makes it difficult for the eye to track from one line to the next and hinders readability (and looks very unattractive too); also known as ‘line spacing’
List price
The sales price printed on your book or the retail sales price
Logo
The identification mark or symbol used by a publishing house or organisation such as BT for Bold Type
Manuscript
The publication in pre-typeset format usually produced in a word-processing format such as Microsoft Word
Mass-market edition
A small format paperback edition usually sold in airports, supermarkets, newsagencies and post offices
Mid-list
Refers to a title (or the author) that does not become a bestseller
Out of print
A title no longer listed in the publisher’s catalogue
Preface
Text that explains why the book was written or what the book is about; included in the prelim pages
Prelim pages
Also called front matter, preliminary pages appear before the body of the text; numbered in Roman numerals: i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi and so on
Proofread
The final check of the typeset publication after the substantive and copy editing processes; the purpose is to identify any last minute corrections that need to be made before printing
Photolibrary
A stock library of images for use in publications now readily availalble on the Internet at minimal cost; Stockxpert and Dreamstime are two examples of photolibraries on the Internet
Proofreading marks
Are universally recognised publishing marks used to indicate corrections required for a manuscript; made in both text and the margin
Publication date
The date that the book is available for purchase by the public/target audience
Publisher
The person or company responsible for the process of producing books; includes overseeing the writing, editing, design, production, printing and marketing of a book or publication
Pull quote
A quotation or excerpt from a page of text that is set in a larger typeface and designed to capture the attention of readers and lead them to read the rest of the text
Roman numerals
A numbering system that come from ancient Roman times and which are based on the letters of the alphabet: traditionally used to number preliminary pages of a book or other publication
Royalties
Percentage of the sales price earned by a writer, illustrator or designer
Spine
The bound area on the side of a book that usually has the author’s name, title of the book and publisher’s logo
Structural editing
See substantive edit and content edit
Subsidiary rights
Additional rights including foreign, television, movie and/or serial that enable a publication to be published or produced in a different form
Substantive edit
The art of checking a manuscript for overall structure and cohesion such as the heading hierarchy, linkages between headings and body text, and the language level for intended audience – read more about substantive editing, sometimes called structural editing
Title
Name of a book or other publication
Trim marks
The typesetter’s marks that identify for the printer where to trim the pages; ‘trim’ is the final dimension of a book after the printer has cut it to size
Typesetting
A term that originally referred to the setting of lead type for printing presses or phototypesetting; with advancing technology nearly all ‘typesetting’ is now done on the computer
Typeface
Is a set of fonts such as roman, bold and italic, within a family such as Helvetica, Arial and Verdana; usually includes all the letters of the alphabet, numerals and punctuation marks
Typography
The art of arranging type, type design and design elements to create a cohesive layout for a publication; involves selecting typefaces, point sizes for headings, body text, bullet points, caption titles and other text styles, establishing a suitable line length, determining the appropriate leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters (tracking) and defining the space between pairs of letters (kerning)
Website
A collection of web pages on the Internet that is accessed by using a unique address (URL) of an individual, company, community or other entity; see web glossary
Need a professional editor to work on your next publishing project? Contact Sue Stevens today.