A Glossary of Publishing Terms, Grouped by Where You Meet Them

Writing and manuscripts

• Manuscript. The text of your book before it becomes a designed object. Usually shortened to MS, or MSS for the plural. A manuscript is what you submit; a book is what a manuscript becomes.
• Standard manuscript format. The conventional presentation agents and editors expect: double spaced, twelve point serif, indented paragraphs, running head with your surname and the title, one file. It exists so that readers can compare submissions without being distracted by design.
• Word count. The industry's measure of length for everything: quotes, contracts, submissions. Novels commonly run 70,000 to 90,000 words and nonfiction 40,000 to 60,000. Page counts are a production output, not a submission measure.
• Front matter. Everything before chapter one: title page, copyright page, dedication, contents, epigraph. Traditionally numbered in roman numerals.
• Back matter. Everything after the last chapter: acknowledgements, author biography, appendices, index, and for independent authors, the note asking for a review.
• Comps, or comparable titles. Recently published books similar enough to yours that a bookseller would shelve them nearby. Used to tell agents and retailers which readers your book is for.
• Logline. The one sentence summary of a book: who wants what, and what stands in the way. If you cannot write one, the idea has usually not resolved yet.

Editing

• Developmental editing. The structural edit, also called substantive or content editing. Deals with the whole book as a machine: plot, pacing, argument, chapter order. The most expensive and most transformative pass, and the first one chronologically.
• Line editing. A sentence by sentence pass for rhythm, clarity and voice. Not concerned with whether the plot works, which is assumed settled by this point.
• Copy editing. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, consistency and adherence to a style guide. The copy editor builds the style sheet.
• Proofreading. The final check, performed on typeset pages rather than a manuscript, catching what survived earlier passes plus errors introduced by layout. Done by a fresh reader, never the copy editor.
• Manuscript assessment. An editorial report rather than an edit: a professional reads the book and writes several pages on what is working and what is not, with no changes to the text. Considerably cheaper than a developmental edit and often the right first purchase.
• Style sheet. The record of every decision made about your book: spellings, character names, hyphenation, number style, timeline. Built during copy editing and handed back with the manuscript. It is what keeps book two consistent with book one.
• Sensitivity read. A read by someone with lived experience of a community represented in the book, checking for inaccuracy and unintended harm. Advisory, not a veto.

Our guide to the types of book editing covers what each pass costs and how to tell which one a manuscript needs.

Production and print

• Typesetting, or interior layout. Turning the manuscript into designed pages at a specific trim size. The final page count comes out of this step, and the cover spine cannot be drawn until it does.
• Trim size. The finished dimensions of the printed book, given width by height in inches. Six by nine is the most common for trade paperbacks in the US.
• Bleed. The margin of artwork extending beyond the trim line, so that no white edge appears if the cut moves slightly. Usually an eighth of an inch.
• Gutter. The inner margin, next to the spine, which has to be wider than the outer margin because binding swallows part of it. Print on demand houses set minimums that scale with page count.
• Recto and verso. The right hand page and the left hand page. Chapters conventionally open on a recto, which is why blank left hand pages appear in printed books.
• Galley, or proof. A pre-publication copy. A physical proof is what you order to check colour and spine alignment before approving a print run; a galley is what goes to trade reviewers months before publication.
• Print on demand. Printing each copy as it is ordered, with no upfront cost and no inventory. The alternative, offset printing, has a much lower per-copy cost and requires paying for a whole run in advance.

Our free spine width calculator turns a page count and paper stock into the spine and full wrap dimensions these terms describe.

Rights and contracts

• Copyright. Ownership of the work, which exists automatically the moment you write it. Registration with the US Copyright Office is separate, costs $45 online in 2026, and is what lets you sue for infringement.
• ISBN. The thirteen digit product identifier for one specific format of one specific book. From Bowker in the US: $125 for one, $295 for ten as of 2026. It identifies an edition, not ownership, and each format needs its own.
• Publisher of record. Whoever is named as publisher on the ISBN record. If you take a free platform ISBN, the platform is named rather than you.
• Subsidiary rights. Everything beyond the primary edition: foreign language, audio, film and television, serial, book club. Often worth more than the book deal itself, and frequently signed away without discussion.
• Work made for hire. An arrangement where the commissioner, rather than the writer, is the legal author from the outset. The default in ghostwriting contracts, and the reason a ghostwriting agreement must say so explicitly.
• Reversion, and the out of print clause. The terms under which rights return to you. The clause sets a sales threshold below which a book counts as out of print, and in a print on demand world a book is technically never unavailable, which makes the wording of this clause one of the most valuable in the contract.
• Hybrid publishing. A model where the author contributes to costs and the publisher provides selection, production and distribution. The term is not protected, so anyone may use it, and a great many vanity operations do. Our guide to publishing scams covers how to tell the difference.

Money

• List price. The cover price of the book. A royalty calculated on list is calculated on this number regardless of what anyone actually paid.
• Net receipts. What the publisher received after the retailer or wholesaler discount, commonly forty to fifty-five percent off list. A royalty on net is worth far less than the same percentage on list, and this single distinction costs authors more money than any other term here.
• Advance. Money paid up front against royalties not yet earned, usually in instalments tied to signature, delivery and publication. Not normally repayable if the book underperforms.
• Earning out. Selling enough copies for accumulated royalties to cover the advance. Only after that point does further money reach the author.
• Reserve against returns. A portion of your earnings that a publisher withholds because booksellers may return unsold stock, released over later statement periods.
• Deep discount clause. A term that drops your royalty rate, often onto a net basis, when the publisher sells above a stated discount. It means some of your largest sales can pay the least per copy.
• Escalator. A clause raising your royalty rate after a sales threshold. Generous in appearance and rarely triggered in practice, but free to ask for.

Our guide to how book royalties work works a single book through both publishing paths using these terms.

Retail and marketing

• Metadata. Everything about your book that is not the book: title, subtitle, description, categories, keywords, price, contributor names. It is how readers find you when they are not looking for you.
• BISAC code. The standardised subject classification the book trade uses to decide which shelf, physical or virtual, a book belongs on.
• ARC, or advance reader copy. A finished, proofread copy sent free to readers before publication in exchange for an honest review. The main source of reviews on most independent books.
• Beta reader. Someone who reads an unfinished manuscript and gives feedback intended to change the book. Distinct from an ARC reader, who reads the finished book for a public review.
• Sell-through. The proportion of copies shipped to a retailer that actually sold rather than being returned. The number that determines whether a shop reorders.
• Frontlist and backlist. Frontlist is the current season's new titles; backlist is everything older. Most publishing income comes from backlist, which is why a book that keeps selling quietly for years matters more than a good launch week.
• Wholesale discount. The percentage off list you offer the trade, commonly forty to fifty-five percent. A higher discount is what persuades bookshops to stock you, and it comes directly out of your margin.

Submissions and agents

• Query letter. The one page pitch sent to a literary agent: a hook, a short pitch, the housekeeping details and a brief note about you. Usually under 350 words.
• Synopsis. A complete summary of the plot including the ending, normally one to two pages. Its job is to show that the story holds together, not to tease.
• Slush pile. The unsolicited submissions an agency or publisher receives. Also the general term for the queue your query joins.
• Partial and full request. An agent asking for the first fifty pages or so, or for the entire manuscript. A full request is a genuinely good sign and still frequently ends in a rejection.
• Revise and resubmit. An agent declining but inviting a resubmission after specified changes. No obligation on either side, and a strong signal that a professional read the book closely.
• Simultaneous submission. Querying several agents at the same time, which is standard and expected. The exception is an explicit request for exclusivity, which should always be time limited.

Frequently asked questions