The followng words are used in the publishing business and the definitions might not known by some
novice writer's.
ALL RIGHTS: The rights contracted to a publisher permitting a manuscript's use anywhere and
in any form, including movies and book clubs sales, without additional payment to the writer.
ANTHOLOGY: A collection of selected writings by various writers.
AUCTION: Publishers sometimes bid against each other for the acquisition of a manuscript that
has excellent sales prospects.
BACKLIST: A publisher's books not
BOOK PRODUCER/PACKAGER: An organization that may develop a book for a publisher based upon
the publisher's idea or may plan all elements of a book, from its initial concept to writing and marketing strategies, and
then sell the package to a book publisher and/or movie producer.
CLIP: Sample, usually from a newspaper or magazine, of a writer's published work.
COMMERICAL: publisher whose concern is saleability, profit and sucess with a large readership.
COMTEMPARY: Material dealing with popular current trends, themes or topics.
CONTRIBUTOR'S COPY: Copy of an issue of a magazine or published book sent to an author whose
work is in included.
CO-PUBLISHING: An arrangement in which the author and publisher share costs and profits.
EXPOSITION: The portion of the storyline, usually the beginning, where background information
about character and setting is related.
FAIR USE: A provision in the copyright law that says short passages from copyright material
may be used without infringing on the owners rights.
GALLEYS: The first typeset version of a manuscript that has not yet been divided into pages.
IMPRINT: Name applied to a publisher's specific line (e.g. Owl, an imprint of Henry Holt.
INTERNATIONAL RELY COUPON (IRC): A form purchased at a post office and enclosed with
a letter or manuscript to an international publisher, to cover return postage cost.
Nom de Plume: French for "pen name" ; a pseudonym.
OFFPRINT: A copy of a story taken from a magazine before it is bound.
PROTAGONIST: The principal or leading character in a literary work.
REMINDERS: Leftover copies of an out-of-print book, sold by the publisher at a reduced price.
REPRINT RIGHTS: Permission to print an already published work whose rights have been sold
to another magazine or book publisher.
SLANT: A story's particluar approach or style, designed to appeal to the readers of a specific
magazine.
SLUSH PILE: A stack of unsolicited manuscripts in the editorial office of a publisher.
SPECULATION (or spec.): An editor's agreement to look at an author's manuscript with no promise
to purchase.
TEARSHEET: Page from a magazine containing a published story.
VIEWPOINT: The posaition or attitude of the first or third- person narrator or multiple narrators,
which determines how a story's action is seen and evaluated.
The above definitions should assist is understanding the literary jargon of the publishing industry.
