Publishing Industry and Writing Terms

by Jill Williamson

Go Teen Writers has really been growing. And since there are many new readers here, I thought it might be nice to post some definitions. 

Abbreviations

ABA: American Booksellers Association

ARC: Advance reading copy

BCC: Back cover copy

BEA: BookExpo America

CBA: Christian Booksellers Association

FMC: Female main character

GTW: Go Teen Writers

ISBN: International Standard Book Number

K: Thousand, as in an 80,000-word novel or 80K novel

MC: Main character

MMC: Male main character

MS: Manuscript or Microsoft (as in MS Word)

NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month

OP: Out of print

POV: Point of view

SASE: Self-addressed stamped envelope

SCBWI: Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

WC: Word count

WIP: Work in progress

Publishing Industry Terms

Acquisitions editor: A publishing house employee who reads incoming manuscripts to seek out publishable material.

Advance: A sum of money paid to the author in anticipation of royalty earnings, often pain in increments.

Agent: A person that represents an author’s work and tries to sell it to editors.

Content editor (also known as a developmental or substantive editor): A person who edits a book for overall plot issues, character development, and continuity of the story.

Cover letter: A letter sent with a manuscript or proposal to introduce the author and his project to an editor or agent.

Fiction: Works of the imagination, made-up stories.

Independent (Indie) publisher: A small publisher. Some pay an advance, some don’t. Many are too small to get into bookstores, though some can.

Line editor: A person who goes over every sentence in a manuscript to make sure there are no errors.

Manuscript: A typed out story, article, or novel.

National Novel Writing Month: An organization that encourages participants to write at least 50,000 words in one month.

Nonfiction: Works that are not fictional.

Proofreader: A person who reads a final manuscript for errors.

Proposal: A thorough presentation of an author’s book to an editor or agent for publication.

Query letter: A letter an author writes to propose his project to an editor or agent. Usually one page long.

Self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE): An envelope that an author addresses to himself with sufficient postage that he sends along with his query letter or manuscript so that the editor or agent can mail the decision back to the author.

Self-publishing: And author pays to have his ebook or paperback book published. 

Slush pile: The imaginary and sometimes literal “pile” of manuscripts that have been sent to an agent or editor without an invitation. (You don’t want your manuscript here.)

Synopsis: A one to two page summary of the plot of a novel.

Traditional publishing: This is the standard way an author gets a book published that should get his books into bookstores. In this type of publishing, the publisher pays the author for his book.

Unsolicited: When an author sends in her work to an editor or agent without permission to do so.

Writing Craft Terms

Action tag: Action used to identify the speaker of words spoken in quotes. Ex: “Fine!” Sherry slammed the door.

Backdrop: The setting of your story.

Backstory: What happened to your characters before your story began.

Conflict: That which causes your character to struggle.

Flashback: Inserting an earlier event into the chronological structure of a story.

Narrative: When the story moves into narration, or telling, to explain what’s happening outside a character point of view.

Point of view (POV): The position of the narrator who’s telling the story at that moment.

Said tag: Used to identify the speaker of words spoken in quotes. Ex: “Do what you want,” Sherry said.

Scene: A section of a story that represents a single episode or event.

Stephanie and I will add to these over time, so let us know if we missed anything.