Hi everyone,
Awhile back, asked me to define “upmarket”: “I wrote a 2nd book and have been looking for an agent. When I read their profiles on their submission pages, sometimes they say, ‘I am looking for upmarket speculative fiction about laundry’ and my first impression was, oh, they want supermarket books. Then I looked up the word and it said, no, they want smart books (about dumb things?) Maybe something about the code words agents use in finding writers to represent?”
Around the same time I received Darrah’s question I was meeting with editors and fielding terms that were new to me even after 40+ years in the business! So I thought I’d offer a brief glossary of publishing terms that might be a little fuzzy for you, too. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it is representative of the book business.
P.S. As an added bonus, here’s a great and reliable guide to agents currently accepting new authors, complete with some of their past authors: blog.reedsy.com/literary-agents/
The language of publishing is changing as the book industry merges with big business. New terminology reflects the escalating role of corporate ownership, internet marketing and social media, globalization, and independent and self-publishing. At the same time, old terminology is taking on new meaning in the evolving media landscape.
The alphabetical glossary below is meant to help you navigate this landscape as you seek out an agent, publisher, and book contract. I’ve tried to include only shorthand whose meaning is not self-evident. Also, the definitions here are not “official” but reflect my own understanding of these terms, so I apologize in advance for any errors, and I invite corrections!
One term you won’t find here is “genre.” I started to describe all the many categories that editors and agents are using for books these days, and the list started taking over the post, so I pulled the discussion of genre for another time.
I hope you find this little glossary useful.
A+ content: This is an Amazon term for brief quotes or data points that your publisher can combine with graphics to highlight a great review or prize or sales milestone on your book’s Amazon page. My publisher just asked me to select some 1-liners from my starred reviews as A+ content for my last novel.
Advance: While aspiring authors often think of the advance as a flat payment for their book, it’s technically more of a loan against future royalties [see below]. And it’s almost never paid in a lump sum up front but in increments, or payouts, over time [see HERE for more on payments]. Most authors whose final manuscripts are accepted and published by reputable houses will eventually receive their full advance, and if their sales “earn out” the advance, they’ll start to receive additional royalties. But if the publisher rejects the final draft and does not publish, the author won’t receive further payments and might be required to repay any portion of the advance they have received.
ARC/ Bound galley: ARC stands for Advance Reading Copy, usually a bound paperback edition of the uncorrected galley (see below), which is sent to reviewers, high level bloggers, and booksellers about six months before publication. Response to the ARCs will determine the size of the first printing, advance sales, media buzz, and how many reviews the book is likely to receive. It may also prompt the publisher to adjust marketing around the title.
Acquisitions editor: In most publishing houses, the acquisitions editor is the person you’ll think of as the editor who “buys” your book: who champions it through the intake process and then edits and sees your manuscript through to publication. Rarely, acquisitions editors focus solely on finding and negotiating contracts for new projects, letting other editors tend the books through release.
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