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Publishing
glossary

The words you will hear from editors, designers and printers, explained in plain English.

ABCDEFGHIKLMPRSTVW
A
Advance
Money a traditional publisher pays an author before publication, recovered from future royalties.
ARC
Advance reader copy. An early copy sent to reviewers and readers before release.
B
Back matter
Pages after the main text, such as acknowledgments, author bio and index.
Beta reader
A reader who gives feedback on a manuscript before publication.
Bleed
Artwork that extends past the trim line so there are no white edges after cutting.
Blurb
The short description on the back cover and retailer page.
C
Copy editing
Editing for grammar, punctuation, consistency and accuracy.
D
Developmental editing
Big-picture editing of structure, plot, pacing and argument.
Distribution
Getting a book to retailers, wholesalers and libraries.
E
Earn out
When royalties from sales exceed the advance and the author starts receiving payments.
EPUB
The standard file format for most eBook stores.
F
Front matter
Pages before the main text, such as title page, copyright and contents.
G
Ghostwriter
A professional writer who writes a book published under someone else’s name.
H
Hybrid publisher
A publisher that charges for services but offers editorial standards and distribution.
I
ISBN
A unique 13-digit number identifying one format of one edition of a book.
K
KDP
Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon’s self-publishing platform for eBooks and print.
L
LCCN
Library of Congress Control Number, used by libraries to catalog a book.
Line editing
Sentence-level editing for voice, rhythm and clarity.
M
Metadata
Information about a book, such as title, categories, keywords and description, used by retailers.
P
Print on demand
Printing copies only when they are ordered, so no inventory is needed.
Proofreading
A final check for typos and layout errors after typesetting.
R
Royalty
The author’s share of each sale.
S
Self-publishing
Publishing independently, keeping rights and control, and funding production.
Spine
The edge of the book that faces out on a shelf. Its width depends on page count.
T
Trim size
The final dimensions of a printed book, such as 6 × 9 inches.
Typesetting
Laying out the text and images of a book for print and eBook.
V
Vanity press
A company that charges authors to publish, often keeping rights or royalties.
W
Widow and orphan
Single lines stranded at the top or bottom of a page, avoided in professional typesetting.
Word count
The total number of words in a manuscript, used to plan length and price editing.