Book Publishing Glossary
To accommodate the new comment from BR, I’m moving the following post from my old blog, Frozen Coagulated Culture, over here. This provides a place for people to leave comments.
***
Originally posted May 07, 2006
New at rightreading.com, a glossary of book publishing terms.
A few sample entries:
BOOK REVIEW: A recycled press release offered to publishers by newspaper and magazine sales departments as an inducement to advertising.
DEADLINE: An item that exists to be renegotiated and revised. In his famous paradox, the Greek philosopher Zeno proved that deadlines can never be met.
FOREIGN MARKET: The part of the country outside New York City.
FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR: An annual international exhibition of artwork on paper.
LINE EDITOR: An escort charged with limiting an author’s consumption of cocaine.
MAINSTREAM FICTION: The pretense that there is a group of readers who can be reached through writing that is sufficiently unspecific as to exclude no one.
etc.
Posted: March 14th, 2007 under publishing.
Comments: 9
Comments
Comment from howard
Time: March 7, 2006, 7:28 pm
It’s funny. even if it’s true.
Comment from PB
Time: March 7, 2006, 7:31 pm
It’s great! I’m going to link to it, I was going to
create a tutorial on the publishing process to deflect
all those questions I get, but this is better!
Comment from BR
Time: March 14, 2007, 8:40 pm
I loved your glossary! Having worked in the publishing industry for eight years, I found this to be a breath of fresh air.
May I just have a gripe about the word ‘Unputdownable’? This “Word” often gets thrown about by people supposedly literary. However, it is an abomination.
Can something be ‘Putdownable’? Or would we just call that sort of book ‘Crap’? (See Kevin Lewis’ ‘Kaitlyn’ as an example.)
So, ‘Unputdownable’ actually means ‘Uncrap’.
It pained me even more when a book recently had a quote from Lee Child on the front saying it was “Literally unputdownable”.
GAH! “Literally”? Why? Was it made from helium?
OK rant over. I’m actually not insane nor terminally bitter and angry. I just thought you’d appreciate my issue.
Cheers!
Comment from xensen
Time: March 14, 2007, 8:44 pm
Thanks, I do appreciate it. I would never put it down.
Literally.
Comment from Splodinvark
Time: March 14, 2007, 9:49 pm
I started reading your glossary, but I’ll have to come back to it later—I’m working on a chapter-by-chapter breakdown.
Comment from xensen
Time: March 15, 2007, 7:34 pm
Splodin, vark?
Comment from Nicole
Time: March 20, 2007, 1:59 pm
I’m issuing a challenge to come up with the glossary explanation of a blad. Mainly because I haven’t come up with a perfect one yet.
Comment from xensen
Time: March 20, 2007, 6:27 pm
BLAD: A preproduction edition of a book from which all of the tedious bits have been excised; used in promotion.
(See also this Glossary of Book Trade Terminology.)
Comment from Bill Sheil
Time: January 4, 2008, 9:52 am
Your “top ten” list is both helpful and witty. Thank you for sharing it.
Write a comment