Glossary

Vignetta Syndicate Publishing Glossary

A

Accordion fold— Parallel folds which open in a pleated fashion, like an accordion. Also known as a concertina fold.

Acetate — Transparent plastic sheet with images, sometimes in layers; also placed over artwork or originals to protect them and allow designer to write instructions and\or indicate a second color for placement.

Acid-free paper — Paper made from pulp containing little or no acid so it resists age-related yellowing and/or deterioration. Also called: alkaline paper, archival paper, neutral pH paper, permanent paper, and thesis paper.

Acquisition editor — The person at a publishing company in charge of reviewing and rating incoming manuscripts for possible publication and then supervise the publication process.

Addendum — Additional material normally printed at the start of main text.

Advance copies — A pre-publication edition of the book, generally used to generate reviews and publicity; also known as ARCs (advance review/reader copies).

Advance — Money paid to the author in before book is written that allows them to cover expenses through the writing and publishing process; it is paid in anticipation of royalty earnings and offset against any royalties the book will earn.

Agent — Person or organization representing an author to the publisher who negotiates the contract, sells their work, and acts as a liaison through the entire publishing process.

Align— To line up type or graphics.

Alteration — Any change in copy, artwork, or specifications made by the author/client in the proofing stages, after copy or artwork has been turned over to the printer; usually made at additional cost to the client.

American Booksellers Association (ABA) — A nonprofit trade organization devoted to meeting the needs of its core members – independently owned bookstores with store front locations – through advocacy, education, research, and information dissemination.

Appendix — Supplementary materials printed at the end of the general text.

Artwork — All original copy — including type, photos, and illustrations — intended for printing. Also called art.

Ascender— The portion of a lower case letter that appears in the upper half of the vertical row of a letter; letters with ascenders are b, d, f, h, k, l, and t.

Audience — The group most likely to be interested in the subject matter of the book.

Authorized — Written with the subject’s consent.

B

Back matter — The section following the body of the text; may include such things as endnotes, index, bibliography, author biography, appendix, etc.; also known as end pages.

Back up — (1) To print on the second side of a sheet already printed on one side; (2) To adjust an image on one side of a sheet so that it aligns back-to-back with an image on the other side.

Backlist — Books in print that have not been published recently.

Banding — Using rubber or paper bands to bind a stack of books, magazines, or newspapers.

Banner — A title extending across page width.

Bar code — A system of stripes and bars printed on the back cover of a book. Used universally in the book industry for automated ordering and inventory systems.

Baseline— Imaginary straight line on which letters and words lie.

Basic size — The standard size of sheets of paper used to calculate basis weight in the United States and Canada.

Basis weight — In the United States and Canada, the weight, in pounds, of a ream (500 sheets) of paper cut to the basic size. In countries using ISO paper sizes, the weight, in grams, of one square meter of paper.

Bind — The joining of leafs or signatures together with wire, glue, or other means.

Bindery — Usually a department within a printing company responsible for collating, folding, and trimming various printing projects.

Binding — The process if affixing pages together in a single bound book.

Bleed — Printing that extends beyond the trim marks on a sheet or page; pictures “bleed” if they reach to the edge of the page. This technique often is employed intentionally.

Blind folio — An unprinted page.

Block — Bound pages of a book

Blocking — Occurs when printed sheets stick together and cause damage when the surfaces are separated.

Blow up — An enlargement, usually used with graphic images or photographs.

Blueline — The proof sheet of a book, revealed in bluish ink that shows exactly how the pages or cover of a book will look when it is printed; marks with special pencil on the proof that do not show up on printing plates

Blurb — Abbreviated, positive review of the book content or author, often positioned on the back cover or contained in the front matter; often an endorsement of the book by a well-known writer or celebrity.

Board — General term for paper heavier than 110# index, 80# cover or 200 gsm (grams per square meter) that is commonly used for products like file folders, displays, and postcards; also called paperboard.

Body size — The height of the type, normally measured in points.

Body — The main text of the work, not including the headlines.

Boiler plate — Blocks of repetitive type used and copied over and over again, similar to a template.

Book — A bound publication of 49 or more pages that is not a magazine or periodical.

Book block — Folded signatures gathered, sewn, and trimmed, but not yet covered.

Book doctor — Someone hired by the author or publishing house to improve a manuscript.

Book paper — Category of paper suitable for books, magazines, catalogs, advertising, and general printing needs. Book paper is divided into uncoated paper (also called offset paper), coated paper (also called art paper, enamel paper, gloss paper and slick paper), and text paper.

Book Expo America (BEA) — Formerly known as the American Booksellers Association Convention & Trade Exhibit, BEA is an education forum, a center of rights activity and the meeting place for the entire publishing industry; generally occurs every June and rotates between Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, and New York City.

Books in Print — A database managed by R. R. Bowker of books in print or about to be printed, based on the ISBN numbers issued by them to the publishers.

Border — Decorative design or rule surrounding textual or graphical printing on a page.

Bounce — (1) a repeating registration problem in the printing stage of production; (2) a customer unhappy with the results of a printing project who refuses to accept the project.

Broadside — Term used to indicate work printed on one side of a large sheet of paper.

Bulk — Thickness of paper, measured in thousandths of an inch or number of pages per in, relative to its basic weight.

Bullet — A dot or similar marking used to present text in a list format.

Burn — To make a permanent copy of a digital file on a CD or DVD.

Burst perfect bind — To bind by forcing glue into notches along the spines of gathered signatures before affixing a paper cover. Also called burst bind, notch bind and slotted bind.

Butt register — Register where ink colors meet precisely without overlapping or allowing space between, as compared to lap register; also called kiss register.

C

Caliper — (1) Thickness of paper expressed in thousandths of an inch (mils or points), pages per inch (ppi), thousandths of a millimeter (microns), or pages per centimeter (ppc); (2) device on a sheet-fed press that detects double sheets or on a binding machine that detects missing signatures or inserts.

Camera-ready copy (CRC) — Mechanicals, photographs, and artwork — including typesetting — that is fully prepared for reproduction according to the technical requirements of the printing process being used. Also called finished art and reproduction copy.

Cap line — An imaginary line across the top of capital letters.

Caption — Text identifying a picture or illustration.

Caret mark — A mark on the text indicating the omission of a space or a character that requires an insertion.

Case bind — To bind using glue to hold signatures to a case made of binder board covered with fabric, plastic, or leather. Also called cloth bind, edition bind, hard bind, and hard cover.

Case — Covers and spine that, as a unit, enclose the pages of a case bound book.

Cast off — A typographic calculation to determine the amount of space copy will take up.

Catalog paper — Coated paper rated #4 or #5 with a basis weight between 35# and 50#, commonly used for catalogs and magazines.

Cataloging in publication — The bibliographic information supplied by the Library of Congress and printed on the copyright page.

Catch line — A temporary headline to identify a proof.

Character count — The number of characters (i.e., letters, figures, signs, or spaces) in a piece of copy.

Check copy — (1) Production copy of a publication verified by the customer as printed, finished, and correctly bound; (2) one set of gathered book signatures approved by the customer as ready for binding.

Chrome — Strength of a color, as compared to how close it seems to neutral gray; also called depth, intensity, purity, or saturation.

Clipart — Generic graphics that can be “clipped out” and used for illustrations; many clipart options are available on the Internet for no charge. However, you must watch the resolution if you plan to use these images for a printed product.

Clips — Copies of published writings samples.

Close up — A mark used to indicate a space that needs to be closed between characters or words in a piece of copy, usually used in the proofing phase.

CMYK — Abbreviation for cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black), the colors used in the four-color process.

Coated paper — Paper with a coating of clay or other substances that improves reflectivity and ink holdout; mills produce coated paper in four major categories: cast, gloss, dull, and matte.

Collate — To organize printed matter in a specifically requested order.

Collating marks — Specific marks on the back of signatures indicating their exact position in the collating stage.

Color balance — Amounts of each of the four process colors needed to simulate the colors of the original image.

Color blanks — Press sheets printed with photos or illustrations, but without type; also called shells.

Color break — In multicolor printing, the point, line, or space at which one ink color stops and another begins.

Color cast — Unwanted color affecting an entire image or portion of an image.

Color control bar — Strip of small blocks of color on a proof or press sheet to help evaluate features such as density and dot gain; also called color bar, color guide, and standard offset color bar.

Color correct — To adjust the process colors to achieve desirable color in the finished product.

Color gamut — The entire range of hues possible for reproduction using a given device, such as a computer screen, or a system, such as four-color process printing.

Color sequence — Order in which inks are printed.

Column inch — Measure that is one column wide by one inch deep; used to measure area in newspapers and magazines to calculate the cost of display advertising.

Column rule — A light vertical line used to separate columns of type.

Comb bind — To bind a stack of paper by inserting the teeth of a flexible plastic comb through holes punched along the edge of the pages.

Commercial printer — A printer who produces a wide range of products, such as announcements, brochures, posters, booklets, stationery, business forms, books, and magazines.

Composition — (1) In typography, the assembly of typographic elements, such as words and paragraphs, into pages ready for printing; (2) in graphic design, the arrangement of type, graphics, and other elements on the page.

Comprehensive dummy — Simulation of a printed piece, complete with type, graphics, and colors.

Concertina fold — See Accordion fold.

Condensed — A style of typeface in which the characters have an elongated appearance.

Content edit — An edit of a book that checks the flow of the text, its organization, continuity, and content.

Copy edit — An edit that checks for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other typos, as well as checking facts for accuracy and consistency.

Copy — All material used in the production of a printed product.

Copyright — Author’s legal right to ownership of a written or published work in a variety of forms such as books, audio, and software, under federal copyright laws; protects the originator of the material from unauthorized use and/or distribution.

Corner marks — Marks printed on a sheet to indicate the trim or register marks.

Cover — Thick paper that protects a publication and advertises its title. Parts of covers are often described as follows: (1) outside front; (2) inside front (3) inside back; and (4) outside back.

Cover art — Book jacket or cover design.

Cover paper — Category of thick paper used for products such as posters, menus, folders, and covers of perfect bound (paperback) books.

Cover quote — See Blurb.

CRC — Camera-ready copy

Creep — Unwelcome phenomenon of middle pages of a folded signature to extend slightly beyond the outside pages; also called feathering, outpush, push out, and thrust.

Crop — To cut off parts of a picture or image in reproduction.

Crop marks— Short vertical and horizontal lines near the edges of an image or page that indicate the border where an illustration or page can be trimmed; also called cut marks and tic marks.

Cross head — Functions like a headline, but is set within the body of the text.

Cross collateralization — A contract provision that allows the publisher to charge unearned advances on a book against another title.

Crossover— Type or art that continues from one page of a book or magazine across the gutter to the opposite page; also called bridge, gutter bleed, or gutter jump.

Cure — To dry inks, varnishes, or other coatings after printing to ensure good adhesion and prevent setoff.

Cursive — Typeface that resembles handwriting.

Customer service representative (CSR) —  Employee of a printer, service bureau, separator, or other business who coordinates the projects and keeps customers informed about the process.

Cut flush — A method of trimming a book after the cover has been attached.

Cutting die — A custom-ordered tool for trimming specific and unusual sized printing projects.

Cutting machine — A machine that cuts stacks of paper to desired sizes; the machine can also be used for scoring or creasing.

Cyan — One of the four process colors; also known as process blue.

D

Dagger (also, double dagger) — Symbols used as reference marks for footnotes.

Data compression — Technique of reducing the amount of storage required to hold a digital file to increase available disk space and allow the file to be processed or transmitted more quickly.

Deckle edge — Edge of paper left ragged as it comes from the papermaking machine, rather than being cleanly cut; also called feather edge.

Density — (1) Regarding ink, the relative thickness of a layer of printed ink; (2) regarding color, the relative ability of a color to absorb light reflected from it or block light passing through it; (3) regarding paper, the relative tightness or looseness of fibers.

Density range — Difference between the darkest and lightest areas of copy; also called contrast ratio, copy range, and tonal range.

Descender: — The portion of a lower case letter that appears below the baseline in the vertical row of a letter; letters with descenders are: g, j, p, q, and y.

Design — Artistic process involving placing images and/or words into camera-ready copy.

Desktop publishing — Assembling of type and graphics, page layout, book design and production completed on a personal computer, followed by laser printing to output the assembled pages onto paper, film, or printing plate.

Die — Device for cutting, scoring, stamping, and embossing.

Die cut — To cut irregular shapes in paper or paperboard using a die.

Digital proofing — Page proofs produced through electronic memory transferred onto paper via laser or ink-jet.

Display type — Type normally appearing in 18 point or larger.

Distributor — A company that buys books from a publisher or other distributors and resells them to retail outlets.

DOI® (Digital Object Identifier) — A name (not a location) for an entity on digital networks. It provides a system for persistent and actionable identification and interoperable exchange of managed information on digital networks.

Dots-per-inch (DPI) — Measure of the resolution of graphic or text via input devices such as scanners, display devices such as monitors, and output devices such as laser printers; most popular counts are 72 (used in exclusively electronic images), 300 (minimum required for quality paper printing), and 1200, respectively.

Double bump — To print a single image twice to give it two layers of ink.

Double page spread (DPS) — Textual material beginning on the left page that continues across to the right page.

Doubling printing — Defect appearing as the blurring or shadowing of an image; may be caused by problems with the paper, cylinder alignment, blanket pressures, or dirty cylinders.

Drill — To bore a whole into printed material.

DRM (Digital Rights Management) — Provides software locks for information distributed digitally to prevent unauthorized copying and distribution.

Drop cap — A large initial letter at the start of a piece of text that drops into the line or lines of the text below.

Dropout — Part of a piece of artwork that does not print.

Dry back — Phenomenon of printed ink colors becoming less dense as the ink dries.

Dull finish flat — Non-glossy finish on coated paper; slightly smoother than matte; also called suede finish, velour finish, and velvet finish.

Dummy — Simulation of the final product at finished size; also called mockup.

Duplicator — Offset press made for quick printing.

E

Earn out — Selling enough copies of one’s book to cover the agreed upon publisher’s advance against royalties.

eBook (electronic book) — Book published in electronic form, with no printed pages, that can be downloaded to computers or handheld devices.

Editing — Changing, correcting, or polishing a manuscript in order to improve the contents of the book or to fit a specific format.

EIN (Employer Identification Number) —  Issued by the federal government to businesses for tax purposes. A Social Security Number may be used as an EIN for sole proprietors.

Electronic publishing — Publishing via website, blog, or other electronic medium, as compared to materials printed on paper.

Emboss — To press an image into paper so it lies above the surface to create a relief; also called cameo and tool.

End pages — See: Back matter.

End papers/sheets — The four pages that attach the inside pages of a case bound book to its cover; also called pastedown.

Engraving — Printing method using a plate, also called a die, with an image cut into its surface.

Epilogue — Text at the end of the book following the main body that provides readers with additional information on the subject; in fiction, it can be used to tie up story details.

Epistolary — Written in the form of letters.

Equivalent paper — Paper that is not the brand specified, but looks, prints and may cost the same; also called comparable stock.

Errors and Omissions — Insurance available to authors concerned about possible lawsuits resulting from their work.

Escalators — Bonuses paid to the author based by the publishing company when the work meets certain goals set out in the writer’s contract

Estimate — States of the approximate cost of a job; also called a bid or quote.

Eurobind — A patented method of binding perfect bound books so they will stay open.

Extent — A book’s page count.

F

Face — Edge of a bound publication opposite the spine; also, an abbreviation for typeface, referring to a family of a general style.

Fast color — Inks with colors that retain their density and resist fading.

Fiction — Imaginative narration, especially in prose form, that is invented by the author; includes novels, short stories, fables, etc.

Fifth color — Ink color used in addition to the four needed by four-color process.

Film laminate — Thin sheet of plastic bonded to a printed product for protection or increased gloss.

Final draft — The final proof after all proofing and editing steps have been completed.

Finish — (1) Surface characteristics of paper; (2) general term for trimming, folding, binding, and all other post-press operations.

Finished size — Size of product after production is complete, as compared to its flat size; also called trim size.

First pass — An early printed edition of the manuscript, which is reviewed for accuracy by the author and copy editor before publication.

First serial rights — The right to excerpt a work in a periodical.

Fixed costs — Costs that remain the same regardless of how many pieces are printed; copyrighting, photography, and design are examples of fixed costs.

Flap copy — Synopses of the story, blurbs, review quotes, or other information designed to help sell the book.

Flat color — (1) Any color created by printing only one ink, as compared to a color created by using the four-color process; also called block color and spot color; (2) color that appears weak or lifeless.

Flat plan — Diagram of the flats for a publication showing imposition and indicating colors.

Flat size — Size of product after printing and trimming, but before folding, as compared to finished size.

Flop — The reverse side of an image

Flush cover — Cover trimmed to the same size as inside pages, as compared to overhang cover; also called cut flush.

Flush left — Copy aligned with the left margin.

Flush right — Copy aligned with the right margin.

Flyer — Cheaply produced circular for promotional distribution.

Flyleaf — Leaf, at the front and back of a case bound book, that is the side of the end paper not glued to the case.

Foil blocking/embossing/stamping — A process for stamping a design on a book cover without ink by using a colored foil with pressure from a heated die or block; also called block print or heat stamping.

Fold marks — In printed matter, markings indicating where a fold is to occur, usually located at the top edges.

Folder — A bindery machine used to fold printed materials.

Foldout — Gatefold sheet bound into a publication, often used for a map or chart; also called a gatefold or pullout.

Folio — The actual page number in a publication.

Font — A set of characters in a typeface.

For position only (FPO) — Refers to inexpensive copies of photos or art used on text to indicate placement and scaling, but not intended for reproduction.

Foreign rights — Rights granted or sold allowing books to be printed and sold in other countries.

Form — Each side of a signature.

Format fee — Payable as a part of an option, if the idea or concept of a work is re-used.

Format — Size, style, shape, layout, or organization of a printed product.

Forwarding — The binding process for case bound books which involves folding, rounding, backing, headbanding, and reinforcing.

Four-color process — Printing technique that uses black, magenta, cyan, and yellow to simulate full-color images; also called color process printing, full-color printing and process printing.

Foxed — Book pages discolored with brownish marks.

Freelance — An independent contractor hired to work on an article, book, design or marketing plan.

French flaps — The folded over extensions to the covers of paperbacks that can give the book a more elegant, expensive look.

French fold — A printed sheet, printed on one side only, folded with two right angle folds to form a four page uncut section.

Front Matter — The pages that appear before the main body of a book’s text.

Full measure — A line set to the entire line length.

Full point — A full stop.

G

Galley — Pre-publication copies of a book for final proofreading, review, and publicity purposes.

Gathering — The operation of inserting printed pages; assembling signatures next to each other in the proper sequence for binding, as compared to nested; also called stacking.

General publishing — Publishing intended for the general consumer market; also known as trade publishing.

Generation — First generation of original copy; should yield the best quality.

Genre — Sales and marketing category into which a title falls (e.g. mystery, suspense, horror, how-to, self-help).

Ghostwriter — An author who writes under someone else’s name, with their consent. In a ghostwritten book, the author on the cover is not the actual writer. Generally, the ghostwriter is not acknowledged as an author or contributor.

Gilding — Metallic leafing on the page edges of a case bound book.

Gloss — A shiny look reflecting light that is achieved with ink that dries without penetration.

Glossary — A list of defined terms pertaining to the work.

Golden ratio — Proportion of height to width thought to produce the most pleasing result.

Gothic — Typefaces without serifs and with broad, even strokes.

Grade — General term used to distinguish between or among printing papers, but whose specific meaning depends on the context. Grade can refer to the category, class, rating, finish, or brand of paper.

Graphic arts — The crafts, industries, and professions related to designing and printing on paper and other surfaces.

Graphic design — Arrangement of type and visual elements along with specifications for paper, ink colors, and printing processes that, when combined, convey a visual message.

Graphics — Visual elements of a book such as drawings, illustrations, photographs, charts, etc. that are used to supplement the type and enhance the content of a book.

Gray scale — Range of gray values, from white to black.

Grind off — The approximately 1/8 inch (3 mm) along the spine that is ground off gathered signatures before perfect binding.

Grippers — Metal pins on a printing press that move the paper through the press

GSM (grams per square meter) — The unit of measurement for paper weight.

Gutter — The inside margins of a book or the binding edges.

H

Hairline — A very thin line or gap.

Hanging punctuation — Punctuation outside the margins of the text.

Hard copy — A printout of the manuscript.

Head(er) — The margin at the top of the page.

Hickey — Spot or imperfection in printing, most visible in areas with heavy ink coverage, caused by dirt on the plate or blanket.

High-fidelity color — Color reproduced using six, eight, or 12 separations, as compared to the four-color process.

Hinged cover — Perfect bound cover scored 1/8 inch (3mm) from the spine so it folds at the hinge instead of along the edge of the spine.

HLS — Abbreviation for hue, lightness, and saturation, one of the color-control options often found in graphics and design software.

House style — Copy editing rules for spelling, punctuation, etc used by a particular publishing house or publication.

Hue — A specific color, such as yellow or green.

I

Image area — The actual area on the page which can be printed.

Imposition — Arrangement of pages so they will appear in proper sequence when press sheets are folded, cut, and bound.

Impression — Putting an image on paper.

Imprint (verb) — To print new copy on a previously printed sheet, such as imprinting an employee’s name on business cards.

Imprint (noun) — The name and location of the publisher and printer, normally required on a book by law.

In-plant printer — Department of an agency, business, or association that does printing for a parent organization; also called captive printer or in-house printer.

Insert — An additional item positioned loosely (i.e., not bound in) within a publication.

Instant book  — A book rushed into print because it deals with a current or trendy topic.

Interleaves — Printed pages loosely inserted in a publication.

ISBN (International Standard Book Number) — Issued by the RR Bowker company, this unique identifying number is assigned to a published work, and usually found either on the title page or the back of the title page.

Italic —  Type with slanted or sloping letters. This writing is in italics.

Ivory board — A smooth board used for business cards.

J

Jacket — A loose paper sheet that covers a case bound book.

Job lot paper — Paper that didn’t meet specifications when produced, has been discontinued, or for other reasons is no longer considered first-quality.

Job number — A number assigned to a specific printing project in a printing company for use in tracking and record keeping.

Job ticket — Form used by service bureaus, separators, and printers to specify the production schedule of a job and the required materials; also called docket, production order, and work order.

Jobber — A type of distributor that works on a smaller scale than wholesalers and provides mass-market titles to places like airports, grocery stores, drug stores, etc.

Justify — Alignment of text with both margins.

K

Kerning — Adjustment of spacing between certain letter pairs.

Kill fee — Pre-negotiated amount paid to the author of an article which has been assigned, but is not slated for publication.

Knock out — To mask out an image.

Kraft paper — Tough brown paper used for wrapping and packing, and to make grocery bags and large envelopes.

L

Laid — Paper with a watermark pattern showing the wire marks used in paper making.

Laminate — A thin transparent plastic coating applied to a thick stock (covers, post cards, etc.) providing protection against liquid and heavy use; usually accents existing color, providing a glossy effect.

Landscape — Layout style where width is greater than height (portrait is the opposite).

Lap register —  Register where ink colors overlap slightly, as compared to butt register.

Laser printer — High quality image printing using a laser beam to transfer dry powder to paper

Laser-imprintable ink  — Ink that will not fade or blister as the paper on which it is printed is used in a laser printer.

Lateral reversal — Image transposed, left to right, as a reflection of the original.

Lay flat bind — Method of perfect binding that allows a publication to lie fully open.

Layout — A sketch or rough drawing of the original showing the positions needed/ desired for copy and graphics.

Leading — Amount of space between lines of type.

Leaf — One sheet of paper in a publication; each side of a leaf is one page.

Legend — Directions about a specific illustration and how to position it; with specific regard to maps and tables, used to describe the key explaining signs and symbols incorporated into the map.

Library of Congress — The national library of the United States, located in Washington D.C.

Linen finish — Embossed finish on paper that simulates the pattern of linen cloth.

List position — Place in the publisher’s pecking order that a title ranks; a lead title will have a larger print run and bigger publicity budget than books lower on the list.

List price — The sales price printed on a book or the retail sales price.

Literary agent — See: Agent.

Logo — A company, partnership, or corporate design that used as an identification mark to denote a unique entity.

Loose leaf — Method of binding which allows the insertion and removal of pages into a publication.

Lower case — Small letters in any line of type.

M

M weight — Weight of 1,000 sheets of paper in any specific size.

Machine glazed — Paper holding a high-gloss finish only on one side.

Magenta — One of the four process colors.

Makeready — (1) All activities required to prepare a press or other machine to function for a specific printing or bindery job, as compared to production run; also called setup; (2) paper used in the makeready process at any stage in production; makeready paper is part of waste or spoilage.

Managing editor — Editor in charge of overseeing the production of the book.

Manilla — Tough brown paper

Manuscript  — An author’s original copy of his or her work (hand written, typed, or on CD) submitted for publication; also the book in printed form, as opposed to in electronic format.

Margin — Nonprinting areas around the edge of the printed material.

Mark up — Copy prepared with typesetting instructions.

Mass market — Small format paperback edition, usually sold in airports, grocery stores, and drug stores.

Masthead — Publisher’s contact information and details.

Matt finish — Non-glossy paper or ink finish.

Mechanical bind — To bind using a comb, coil, ring binder, post or any other technique not requiring gluing, sewing or stitching.

Mechanical — Camera-ready assembly of type, graphics, and other copy, complete with instructions to the printer. A hard mechanical consists of paper and/or acetate and is made using paste-up techniques; may also be called an artboard, board, or paste-up. A soft mechanical, also called an electronic mechanical, exists as a computer file containing the same.

Memoir — A true, autobiographical personal reflection or account.

Metadata — Information attached to digital data to enhance its searchability, but generally not visible to the user/reader.

Metallic paper — Paper coated with a thin film of plastic or pigment whose color and gloss simulate metal.

Middle/mid-tones — Tones in a photograph that are approximately half as dark as the shadow area.

Mid-list — Used to denote titles or authors that do not become bestsellers.

Mock-up — See Dummy.

Modern —  Type styles dating from end of the 19th century, such as Times Roman.

Monospace — A font where all characters occupy the same width, such as Courier.

Montage — An assemblage of several images.

Mull — A specific type of glue used for book binding.

Multicolor printing — Printing in more than one ink color that is not four-color process.

N

Nested — Signatures assembled inside one another in the proper sequence for binding, as compared to gathered; also called inset.

Nipping — Stage in the book binding process where sheets are pressed to expel air at the sewing stage.

Nonfiction — Writing that is based on fact, truth, or reality.

Nonreproducing blue — Light blue that does not record on graphic arts film, and therefore may be used to preprint layout grids and write instructions on mechanicals; also called blue pencil, drop-out blue, fade-out blue, and nonrepro blue.

Novel — A book-length fictional work.

Novelty printing — Printing on products such as coasters, pencils, balloons, golf balls and ashtrays; known as promotional products.

O

Offprint — Reprint of an article previously published in a magazine.

Offset printing — Printing technique that transfers ink from a plate to a blanket to paper instead of directly from plate to paper.

Opacity — Characteristic of paper or other surface that prevents printing on one side from showing through to the other side.

Open prepress interface — Hardware and software that link desktop publishing systems with color electronic prepress systems.

Option — The negotiated right in a book contract stipulating that the publisher has the exclusive right to consider and make an offer on the author’s next book. However, the publisher is not obligated to publish the book, and in most variations of the clause the author may, under certain circumstances, opt to publish elsewhere.

Orphan — One line of a paragraph left on its own at the top or bottom of a page.

Out of print — A title no longer maintained in a publisher’s catalogue or inventory.

Over run — Copies of printed matter beyond the count requested in the order, often to compensate for spoilage; overage policies vary in the printing industry. Ask before you place your order!

P

P & L (profit and loss) statement — The balance sheet on a title, measuring costs — including author advance, production, and publicity — against sales and subsidiary earnings.

Packager — A broker who puts together a book idea with the elements (writer, illustrator, experts, etc.) needed to bring the concept to fruition.

Page count — Total number of pages a publication contains, including blank pages; also called extent.

Page — One side of a leaf in a publication.

Page proof — Stage following the galley proofs with type and graphics laid out as they will look on the finished page, complete with elements such as headings, rules, and folios.

Pagination — The numbering of pages.

Paste up — To paste copy and/or graphics to mounting boards so it is assembled as camera-ready artwork.

PDF (portable document format) — A file format that has captured all the elements of a printed document as an electronic image one can view, navigate, print, or forward to someone else. PDF files are especially useful for documents such as magazine articles, product brochures, or flyers in which you want to preserve the original graphic appearance online.

PE — Proofreader mark meaning printer error and showing a mistake by a typesetter, prepress service, or printer, as compared to an error by the customer.

Perf marks — Indications on a dummy that mark where a perforation is to occur.

Perfect bind — To bind sheets that have been ground at the spine and are held to the cover by glue; common technique used for binding paperback books.

Perforating — Creation on a press or binding machine a line of small dotted holes for the purpose of tearing-off a part of a printed matter.

Pica — A unit of measure in typesetting; one pica equal 1/6 of an inch; there are 12 points to a pica.

Pickup art — Artwork, used in a previous job that is to be incorporated in a current job.

Pinholing — Small unwanted holes appearing in printed materials for a variety of reasons.

Pixel — Short for “picture element,” is a one-dot unit of  a larger graphic or word made by a computer, scanner, or other digital device.

Point — (1) Regarding paper, a unit of thickness equating 1/1000 inch; (2) regarding type, a unit of measure equaling 1/12 pica.

Portrait — Layout design in which the height is greater than the width (opposite of landscape).

Preface — The introductory portion of the book that usually explains why the book was written, what it is about, or how to use it.

Preprint — To print portions of sheets that will be used for later imprinting.

Prequel — A book in a series set at a time prior to the existing titles.

Press check — Event at which makeready sheets from the press are examined before authorizing full production to begin.

Press time — (1) Amount of time one printing job spends on press, including time required for makeready; (2) time of day at which a printing job goes to press.

Price break — Quantity at which unit cost of paper or printing drops.

Primary colors — Cyan, magenta, and yellow which mix to produce black or other colors.

Print run — The number of copies produced in a specific printing episode.

Print on demand (POD) — Process that enables the printing of one book at a time, literally “on demand.” The book and its cover are set up as a digital file. When an order is placed, the computer selects the proper file and gives the print-on-demand machine the command to produce it. There is a set-up cost, which covers setting up the file in the system, and a small annual fee for storing the file on the POD company’s servers. The actual cost of producing each individual book is more than the batch printing cost, per unit, but huge savings are made elsewhere. POD has substantially reduced the overall cost of producing a book.

Printing — Any process that transfers to paper or another surface an image from an original, such as a film negative or positive, electronic memory, stencil, die, or plate.

Process color  — The colors used for four-color process printing: yellow, magenta, cyan, and black.

Proof correction marks — A standard set of signs and symbols in the margin to indicate any corrections on proofs.

Proof — Test sheet made to reveal errors or flaws, predict results on a press, or record how a printing job is intended to appear when finished.

Proofreader — Checks a manuscript to make certain that the copy is correct and verified before final printing.

Proofreader marks — Standard symbols and abbreviations used to mark up manuscripts and proofs; also called correction marks.

Proportional spacing — Opposite of monotype spacing, where each character has varying width. For example, an “i” tales up less space than an “m.”

Pub (publication) date — The scheduled release date for the book, usually after actual printing of the book. Announced to let the target audience know when the book will be available. Generally a title will hit the stores two weeks to a month in advance of the date listed in the copyright.

Publisher — The person or company responsible for the entire process of producing books. This includes overseeing the writing, editing, design, production, printing, and marketing of the book.

Q

Quality — Subjective term relating to expectations by the customer, printer, and other professionals associated with a printing job, and whether the job meets those expectations.

Query — A proposal letter sent to an agent or a publisher.

Quote — Price offered by a vendor (i.e., printer, editor, graphic artist, etc.) to produce a specific job.

R

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

Ragged right — Type justified to left margin with lines lengths varying on the right.

Ream — 500 sheets of paper

Recto — Right-hand page of an open book; the normal side to start a story or chapter.

Reference marks — Symbols in text linked to a footnote or endnote.

Register — To place printing properly with regard to the edges of paper and other printing on the same sheet. Such printing is said to be “in register.“

Remaindered — Excess stock of printed unsold books that can be sold at discounted prices.

Resolution — Sharpness of an image on film, paper, computer screen, disc, or other medium, generally indicated by dots per inch (DPI). Electronic publishing requires only 72 DPI for images, while printed products require a minimum of 300 DPI for best results.

Retouching — Altering artwork to correct or improve an image.

Returns — Unsold copies returned by the bookstores or wholesalers to the publisher.

Review — A critical evaluation of a book.

Review copy — A free copy given away to be reviewed.

Revision — Indicates the stages of corrections in a manuscript.

RGB — Abbreviation for red, green, blue, the additive color primaries.

Right reading — Copy that reads correctly in the language in which it is written; also describes a photo whose orientation looks like the original scene, as compared to a flopped image.

Rough — Preliminary sketch.

Round back bind — To case bind with a rounded (convex) spine, as compared to flat back bind.

Royalties — Percentage of the sales price earned by the author on sold copies; generally charged against the advance until it is earned out.

Run on — Copies printed beyond the specified number, perhaps to be sold at a much lower price. See also: Over run.

Run — Time taken to produce a given quantity of books and often taken to mean the quantity.

Running head or footer — A line of type at the top of a page which repeats a heading .

S

Saddle stitch — To use wire thread to bind sheets together where they fold at the spine, as compared to side stitch; also called pamphlet stitch, saddle wire, or stitch bind. Saddle stitches often resemble staples.

Sans serif — A typeface that has no small strokes at the end of main stroke of the character.

SASE — Self-addressed stamped envelope; should be included with all submitted articles, proposals, and manuscripts.

Scale — To identify the percent by which photographs or art should be enlarged or reduced to achieve, the correct size for printing.

Scanner — Electronic device used to copy an printed version of image into a computer file.

Score — To compress paper along a straight line so it folds more easily and accurately; also called crease.

Script — The dialogue and instructions for a play or film.

Section mark — A character used at the beginning of a new section.

Section — A printed sheet folded to make a multiple of pages

Security paper — Paper incorporating watermarks, etc.

Self cover — A publication not having a cover stock, often used in magazine printing.

Self mailer — A printed item capable of mail travel without an envelope; e.g., a postcard.

Self-published — A work written, designed, and printed by the author, rather than a traditional publisher.

Sequel — A continuation of an earlier book.

Serif — A small cross stroke at the end of the main stroke of a letter. See also, Sans serif.

Shade — Hue made darker by the addition of black, as compared to tint.

Shadows — Darkest areas of a photograph or illustration, as compared to midtones and highlights.

Sheet-fed — A printing press that prints single sheets of paper, not rolls.

Show-through — An image that can be seen on both sides of the paper.

Side stitch — To bind by stapling through sheets along one edge, as compared to saddle stitch; also called cleat stitch or side wire.

Sidebar — A column appended to an article or chapter, often boxed, that offers additional, related information; often used for case studies or as illustrations from real-life vignettes.

Signature — Printed sheet folded at least once (in half, quarters, eighths, etc.) and cut, if necessary, to create a set of pages in proper order for reading that become part of a book, magazine, or other publication. The pages included in any signature equal a number divisible by four.

Slip sheets — Separate sheets independent from the original run positioned between the copies produced in a single run for a variety of reasons.

Slurring — Smearing of the image

Slush pile — Informal term used to describe unsolicited submissions.

Small caps — Capital letters of equal size to the lowercase letters.

Soy-based inks — Inks using vegetable oils instead of petroleum products as pigment vehicles, thus making them are easier on the environment.

Specialty printer — Printer whose equipment, supplies, workflow, and marketing are targeted to a particular category of products.

Specifications — Complete and precise written description of the features of a printing job, such as desired type size, leading, paper grade, quantity, and printing or binding method.

Spine — Back or binding edge of a book or publication.

Spiral bind — To bind using a spiral of continuous wire or plastic looped through holes; also called coil bind.

Spoilage — Paper that, due to mistakes or accidents, must be thrown away instead of printed and delivered to the customer, as compared to waste.

Spread — Two pages that face each other and are designed as one visual or production unit.

Stet— Cancels a correction, i.e. indicates that editor/proofer wants the original copy to stand, unchanged.

Stock— Material, normally paper, to be printed.

Subscript— Small characters set below the normal letters.

Subsidiary rights (sub rights)— Sale of rights to a book for foreign translation, first serial, audio, electronic, film, book club, or other production.

Substrate — Any surface or material on which printing is done.

Superscript— Small characters set above the normal letters.

Swatch— A color sample.

T

Template — A printing project’s basic details in regard to its dimensions; a standard layout.

Thumbnails— Sketches or small versions of an illustration, especially on a computer.

Tints— Shade of a color.

Tip in — Adding an additional page(s) beyond the normal process as a separate insertion.

Title— The name of a book.

Trade paperback— A larger format paperback, commonly used for literary titles, but increasingly considered as a less expensive alternative to hardcover publication.

Trade publisher— Publisher of books geared for sale to the general public.

Trade shop — Service bureau, printer, or bindery working primarily for other graphic arts professionals, not for the general public.

Trim marks— Register marks indicating where to cut or trim the pages. See also Corner marks.

Trim size — The finished size of the printed material.

Typeface— A complete set of characters forming a family in a particular design or style

Typesetting— A term that originally referred to the setting of lead type for printing presses or phototypesetting; with advancing technology, nearly all “typesetting” is now done on computers.

Typo— Typographical error.

Typographer— A designer of printed matter.

U

Unauthorized— Written without the subject’s cooperation or consent.

Uncoated paper — Paper that has not been coated with clay; also called offset paper.

Under-run— Printing fewer copies than ordered.

Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) — A system to protect unique work from reproducing without the originator’s knowledge or consent. To qualify, one must register their work and publish a ©, indicating registration.

V

Vanity press— A publisher that produces books with the author paying all costs and maintaining all ownership. Vanity Presses most commonly do not allow author input other than paper color and binding style.

Verso— The left-hand page of an open book.

W

Waste — Unusable paper or paper damaged during the normal makeready process, printing, or binding operations, as compared to spoilage.

Watermark — Translucent logo in paper created during manufacturing by slight embossing while paper is still approximately 90 percent water.

Weight— Measure of paper thickness; boldness of a font.

Wholesaler— A central order location that allows bookstores and libraries to order multiple titles from multiple publishers.

Widow— The last few words of a paragraph that falls as a single line on a new page.

Window — (1) In a printed product, a die-cut hole revealing an image on the sheet behind it; (2) on a mechanical, an area that has been marked for the placement of a piece of artwork.

Word of mouth— Advertising generated by satisfied or interested readers who tell others about the book.

Word wrap— Adjustment of the words on a line to match the margins

Wrong reading — An image that is backwards when compared to the original; also called flopped or reverse reading.

WYSIWYG— What You See Is What You Get; refers to typeface appearing on a computer screen exactly the same way as it will appear in print.