Publication Glossary


Glossary Used by Insights Publisher 


A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W 


A


Acknowledgments

Recognition or honor given to people who have influenced the book being published or who have made a difference in the life of the author.

Appendix

Part of book that follows a chapter (end-of-chapter appendix) or, more commonly, that comes after all the chapters (end-of-book appendix). An appendix contains supplemental material, such as tables or source material, which does not conveniently fit into a chapter.

Author Copies

Additional copies sold to the author at their discounted rate.

Author Review

The phase in which the author will review cover and galley proofs and either approve for print or make revisions.

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B


Back Matter

Counterpart of front matter. Any material, such as appendixes, notes, references, glossary or index, coming after the chapters of a book.

Banner

Box extending across a book's page. It's usually filled with text to draw emphasis.

Bar code

Machine readable code printed on products; contains ISBN and price.

Bind/Binding

The joining of pages in a book, holding them together in a variety of methods

BISAC

Book category, often found in the upper left corner of the back cover

Bleed

To bleed means to extend outside the normal trim area of a book's page. A bleed is a bar, illustration, rule or other element that extends outside the trim area. Such elements have ink that is visible on the edge of the page in the bound book.

Blurb

A short description of a book/author on a book jacket.

Book Block

PDF files that comprise all book content except the cover.

Book Consultant (BC)

Author’s book sales representative; assists author with all book orders.

Book Pricing

Retail pricing based on trim size, page count and interior layout (black and white versus color).

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C


Caption

Text identifying a picture or illustration.

Case Bound

Hardcover book with no flaps or dust jacket - much like a text book.

Character Count

The number of characters; i.e. letters, figures, signs or spaces in a piece of copy.

Check-In Coordinator (CIC)

Representative whose job it is to evaluate all submitted materials to determine if it meets Insights Publisher qualifications. Helps author to prepare publishing materials for production and design team.

CMYK

Initialism that refers to a system of color specification that uses four basic colors: cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y) and black (K) as subtractive (rather than additive) elements. RGB colors do not conform to CMYK specifications.

Color Balance

The global adjustment of the intensities of the colors (typically red, green and blue).

Content Editor

The person who edits the content (subject matter) of a book, in addition to its form (sentence structure). A content editor often recommends substantive corrections to a manuscript, such as those affecting presentation, veracity, relevance and so forth.

Content Evaluation

Analysis of book's content to ensure the originality of content. The content is also evaluated for any libel issues.

Contrast

A measure of tones in an image ranging from light to dark.

Copy Editor (CE)

Person who edits or redacts copy (manuscript material) submitted by an author. Such editing has the goal of correcting grammar irregularities and inconsistencies and of correcting punctuation, spelling, usage and style.

Copyright (Copyright Page, Copyright Notice)

Ownership of intellectual property such as printed matter, protected by law. The right to copy, repurpose or publish content of the copyrighted medium.

Cover Copy Polish

A service that molds the cover text that the author provides into marketable material, editing text for the hardcover flaps, back cover, author biography, and keynote statement.

Cover Design

Aesthetic layout on the covers of a book, usually intended to be attractive or alluring to the eye.

Cover Sign Off

A form the author signs attesting that the cover of the book is complete and authorized to send to the printer exactly as it appears in the eProofs.

Credit Line

Line of text that assigns credit to the owner of the copyright of the material it refers to.

Crop Marks

Printed lines that show post production where to cut the final edges of a book.

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D


Dedication

A dedication page is a page in a book that precedes the text, in which the author names the person or people for whom he/she has written the book.

Design (Book and Cover)

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

Developmental Editor

Person who deals with the overall organization of a book’s manuscript rather than with changes such as wording of sentences within paragraphs. A developmental editor also addresses reordering entire blocks of text and such an edit may extend to reordering entire chapters. The edit may also address tone, voice, addition or deletion of material, complexity of material and transitions among paragraphs and sections of the book. Compare to Book Doctor.

Discount (short discount, deep discount, industry-standard discount)

Reduced book price offered by self-publishers to authors who prepay for copies in bulk.

Domain Name

Registered Web address or URL of a particular party. Registration often requires a small fee that prevents other parties from registering the same domain.

Company, group or individual who sells products or services to retailers instead of to consumers.

Dot Gain

Growth or Spread of ink, usually in type, that distorts the look of the content.

Dots per Inch (DPI)

Convention expressing graphic resolution of a graphic file, resolution of a computer monitor or potential printing density of a computer printer.

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E


e-book

Electronic file format to which books may be published. Although dedicated devices may be used to read e-books, they may be read on other platforms such as PDAs and personal computers as well.

Editorial Consultant (EC)

Author’s editorial sales representative. Assists author with all editorial services that will help you make your book the best it can be.

Editorial Evaluation (EE)

A broad assessment, a one-of-a-kind service that provides authors with constructive feedback from independent publishing professionals on what works and what doesn’t. The EE is a high-view assessment, not a line-by-line edit.

Editorial Review

Sections of an author's manuscript are evaluated for its editorial quality and publishing readiness.

Endorsement (Blurb)

Written statement promoting the author or book. Usually listed on the cover or the front matter of the book.

Epilogue

This piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or drama is usually used to bring closure to the work.

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F


Final Quality Assurance (FQA)

The last step of the design process when the price and page count is updated, and the book is prepared for printer.

Footnote (FN, Endnote)

A footnote is a reference citations and supplementary information that appears at the bottom of a book page. A reader's attention is usually directed to a footnote through the use of a superscript character. An endnote takes the same form as a footnote but appears at the end of the chapter or book.

Foreword

Often, a foreword will tell of some interaction between the writer of the foreword and the story or the writer of the story. A foreword to later editions of a work often explains in what respects that edition differs from previous ones.

Front Matter

Any material preceding the beginning chapters of the book including the table of contents, dedication, acknowledgements, introduction, and foreword.

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G


Galley

A pre-publication copy of a book that is sent out to the author for review. Galleys have lower production values than finished books -- they are almost always paperbacks and usually don't feature cover art. Can be printed or electronic.

Genre

Broad category or kind of book, generally denoted by the book's subject matter. Some examples of book genres include romance, sci-fi, self-help and true crime.

Ghostwriter

Person contracted by an author or publisher to write or co-write a book. A ghostwriter's work often goes unaccredited upon publication.

Glyph

A symbol or stylized figure, such as an arrow, that imparts information non-verbally.

Grayscale

Refers to images (which may originally have been represented in color) that are composed only of black and white and the gray shades in-between.

Gutter

The central blank area between left and right pages in newsprint. With books, it is the inside margins toward the binding edge.

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H


Halftone

Refers to a method of representing the colors of an image with dots of varying sizes. If the dots are small enough, the colors of the image appear continuous. Halftones are created to prepare photographic images for reproduction across various print media.

Hard Return

Occurs when the “enter” or “return” key is used at the end of a line of text rather than allowing the natural wraparound of the text to the next line.

Headers

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).

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I


Index

List of words at the end of a book that guides a reader to the specific pages on which subjects appear in the main body of the text.

Ink Balance/Saturation

Relationship of the densities and dot gains of process inks to each other and to a standard density of neutral grey. The percentage of CMYK in an image.

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

Unique 13-digit number (10 or 13 digits prior to 2007) that identifies a version of a book.

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J


Justification

In a paragraph, all lines are equal in length. Last line may be aligned left or centered.

Justified All Lines

In a paragraph, all lines are equal in length with no ragged edges.

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K


Kerning

Adjustment of spacing between certain letter pairs.

Keyword

Important word or phrase that is input to conduct searches on online search engines and databases to find all related results.

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L


Landscape

Format in which width is greater than height. Opposite of Portrait.

Layout

The arrangement and style treatment of elements (content) on a page.

Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN)

The publisher will apply for this with the Library of Congress on the author’s behalf and include on the copyright page of book if the service is purchased.

Line Editor

Person who performs an edit that is heavier than a typical copy edit and who considers a book’s voice, tone and phrasing. Fiction line editing considers the story’s pacing, character development, handling of details and vocabulary of the period and place where the novel is set and the naturalness and effectiveness of dialogue. A line editor also focuses on correcting errors in grammar, punctuation and writing style.

Literary Agent

Person who functions as intermediary for an author in transactions with the publisher.

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M


Manuscript

Complete version of a book (must be an electronic text file) as prepared by the author. The term manuscript refers to both textual and graphic elements of the book. Editors and authors make preproduction book alterations to the manuscript. The finalized manuscript is used to produce a set of book pages.

Margins

Non-printing areas.

Marketing

Promotional and advertising efforts to sell books.

Marketing Consultant (MC)

An author’s representative in the marketing department who will assist author with the understanding and purchase of marketing services. The MC helps an author determine which marketing services will suit their book and publishing package best.

Mass-Market Paperback

Smaller, less expensive version of a book that is usually printed well after the hardcover and trade paperback versions have been made available. Mass-market paperbacks are often sold in grocery stores and airports.

Metadata

Information attached to digital data to enhance its search ability, but not normally displayed.

Mock-up

A scale or full-size model of a design or device, used for demonstrating a design idea. A mockup is a prototype and is used as an example of a desired design.

Montage

A technique used in the visual arts, where the artwork is made from an assemblage of different images creating an entirely new image. Also referred to as a collage.

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N


Networking

Expanding one’s social network or sphere of influence by initiating mutually advantageous new relationships with people.

News Wire Distribution

Circulation of a service that an organization of journalists provides for the sharing of news reports among different media outlets.

Niche

Term referring to a specialized target market characterized by a particular interest, topic or subject. Niches are usually potentially profitable, but depend on an inordinate amount on the loyalty of the audience to whom it is catering.

Non-exclusive Contract

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

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O


Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Scanning

Computer software that replicates textual scanned material by storing it in a text file.

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.

Online Bookseller (Online Retailer)

Bookstore on the Web that sells books and other publications to the customer at retail or discounted prices.

Opacity

An image's density, or the amount one is able to see through an image.

Out of Print (OOP)

Book no longer in a publisher's book inventory (and for which there are no republication plans). An online book search may turn up an available copy.

Overlay

When an element is on top of another. Can be used as a design element to cause special effects with test and images.

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P


Package Copies

Those included with the package. (Author will need to pay for shipping on these books.)

Page Count

Total number of pages in a book, including blank pages.

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.

Permission

Agreement from a copyright holder that permits the reproduction or publication of copyrighted material. 2) Process of securing agreements from copyright holder.

Plot

The events that make up a story, particularly as they relate to one another in a pattern, in a sequence, through cause and effect, how the reader views the story, or simply by coincidence.

Podcast

Audio broadcast available on the Web to the public for free downloading to a personal computer or a digital audio player. Despite its name, a podcast may be played through a variety of digital audio software and hardware. Use is not limited to the iPod brand products developed by Apple.

Point of View

Story’s narrative style. A style in which the author is first-person (tells the story as a character using “I”), third-person (portrays the feelings, thoughts and ideas of one character, but is not actually involved in the story) or omniscient (an uninvolved third-person perspective that knows everything about the characters involved and can share all things with the reader).

Portrait

An upright image or page where the height is greater than the width. Opposite of landscape layout.

Preface

A preface generally covers the story of how the book came into being, or how the idea for the book was developed; this is often followed by thanks and acknowledgments to people who were helpful to the author during the time of writing.

Prepare for Design

The Publishing Services Associate evaluates all of the submitted materials one last time to ensure that everything is in order and ready to be moved into the design phase.

Print-on-Demand (POD)

Publishing arrangement in which books are printed only as orders are placed.

Print-Ready

Final PDF file of a book that is ready to go to the printer. See also PDF (Portable Document File).

Print Space

Determines the effective area on the paper of a book, journal or other press work where elements can be printed without being cut off. It is restricted by unseen boarders and gutters set up on the underlying files.

Printer Copy

The first copy printed to verify proper printer set up. This is not a proof copy and does not require additional approval from the author for their book to be live.

Production

The process of designing the book’s interior and cover. The production team consists of an author’s account representative, book designer and cover designer. Once all production materials have been submitted and evaluated, the book will enter production.

Prologue

A prologue is an opening to a story that established the setting and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information.

Proof

A file used to check for errors before the final copy has been printed.

Proofreading

Final editorial check of typeset material to correct any missed or lingering errors. This service is only available for manuscripts that have received an editorial service.

Publication Date

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

Publicist

A press agent or professional who promotes a book, often by generating free advertising.

Publishing Consultant (PC)

An author’s representative who will help the author determine which publishing package will best meet an author’s needs.

Publishing Services Associate (PSA)

Customer service representative who acts as an author’s point of contact throughout production process. Also acts as a liaison between the author and designers.

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Q


Quality Assurance (QA)

An inspection of the book conducted by the account representative to ensure that the design of the book has been executed as closely as possible to the author’s specifications. A QA will also take place when revisions have been made to ensure they have been completed properly.

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R


Ragged Left

Type justified to the right margin with line lengths varying on the left.

Ragged Right

Type justified to left margin with line lengths varying on the right.

Register Marks

Cross-hairs used to position film, plates or paper correctly when trimming. Used for production process only and will not be seen on final copy.

Resolution

Measurement used to express image quality. Measured in dots per inch.

Resubmission

Changes made to a book after it has been sent to the printer. This service will incur fees.

Retech/Redesign

The use of a new manuscript to reformat an interior design. This service will incur fees.

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.

Review

Professional book reviewer's published opinion of a particular book in a periodical or online.

RGB

Red, Green, Blue - An additive color model in which red, green and blue light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors.

Royalty

Payment to a book's author that is usually a percentage of sales revenue.

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S


Sans Serif

A letter that does not have the small projecting features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans Serif fonts tend to have less line width variation than Serif fonts.

Self-Publishing

System of book production in which the author generally assumes the financial risk of publication. The self-publishing model circumvents the need for an author to contract with a publishing house to ensure publication of the book. A self-published book is also usually distributed and marketed by its author.

Sell Sheet

Concise, one-page document (resembling a flyer or brochure) that provides details about a book.

Serif

Small lines tailing from the edges of letters and symbols, such as when handwriting is separated into distinct units for a typewriter or typesetter.

Shelf Life

Time an unsold book remains on the shelf of a retail store before being replaced by fresh or better selling stock.

Signature

Sheets of pages which when folded become a part of a book. Formally indicated by a letter to assist correct assembly.

Short Discount

Smaller-than-typical discount on books purchased by retailers and wholesalers. Print-on-demand titles are often sold at short discount: about 25 percent to retailers and about 36 percent to wholesalers. Such a short discount can be as small as 20 percent.

Softcover

The front and back cover of the book (with no flaps). Referred to as a paperback.

Spine Width

Width of part of the book that is visible on a bookshelf. The spine connects the front and back covers.

Spread

Open page size of a book.

Submissions Representative

Representative whose job it is to evaluate all submitted materials to determine if it meets publisher qualifications. Helps author to prepare publishing materials for production and design team,

Subsidiary Rights

Rights acquired by a publisher for resale, translation into foreign languages and other reuse of a book's content.

Subsidy Publishing

A subsidy publisher shares publishing costs with the author. The publisher typically markets the book through retailers. An author must bear at least some of the cost of copy editing, typesetting, proofreading, indexing and printing the book. Some subsidy publishers required an author to purchase a large number of copies of the book.

Supported Self-Publishing

Method of self-publishing espoused by Author House, through which an author has access to many of the services found in a traditional publishing house (e.g., editorial services, marketing copywriters, Internet sales) provided through an upfront cost or available a la carte.

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T


Table of Contents

This section, usually called "Contents," appears in the book's front matter. It lists the book's chapters and their opening page numbers.

Tagged Image File Format (TIFF)

Compressed-file format for graphic images. The filename extension is .tif.

Target Audience

Specific group of people whom a book, series or genre targets. Book marketing tends to be concentrated on the target audience.

Text Box

A space outset from the normal text within the interior of the book in which text is displayed.

Thumbnail

A reduced-size version of specific elements, used to help in recognizing and organizing them.

Title Live

This represents a book's status after it has completed the production process and has been activated by the printer for sale.

Title Page

Repeats the title and author as printed on the cover or spine.

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.

This represents a book’s status after it has completed the production process and has been activated by the publisher for sale.

Trade (Mainstream, Traditional Publishing)

Traditional way of publishing a book in which an author must find a literary agent or a publisher willing to review the manuscript.

Trim

Cut product to the finished size.

Trim Marks

Register marks where to trim the final version of the book. Only used for production and will not appear on final copy.

Trim Size

Final physical dimensions of a book page after the book is bound and trimmed.

Typeface

The raised surface carrying the image of a type character cast in metal. Also used to refer to a complete set of characters forming a family in a particular design or style.

Typesetting

Formatting a book on a computer so as to result in the desired layout, font and appearance on printed page.

Typo

A typographical error (often shortened to typo) is a mistake made in the typing process (such as spelling) of printed material.

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U


Upload

Move file(s) from a computer to a server, network or the Internet. Move file(s) from a diskette, CD or memory stick to a computer. Up implies moving to a larger device.

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V


Varnish

Clear liquid applied after printing for glossy appearance and protection.

Vignette

Design or illustration that fades to white so has no border.

Virtual Book Tour (VBT)

Advertisement strategy centered on publicizing a book on the Internet, including ads on Web sites that the target audience frequents and book give-aways.

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W


Watermark

Design created inside paper surface during manufacture to prevent plagiarism or the use of unbought images/design/text.

We Transfer

Second party website used to transfer large files that are unable to be sent via email.

Webinar

Seminar broadcast on the Web. Like normal seminars, webinars are interactive.

Wholesaler

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

Word Count

The amount of words in a selection of text.

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