Terms to Know: Alphabetically

 

This is not an exhaustive list. It's evolving, and is meant to be a basic starting place. 

Advance: The money a publisher pays you based on their best guess about how much your book will earn. 

Agency Agreement: A contract between you and your agent, outlining the terms of your partnership.
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Agent: A literary agent represents you and your work in the publishing industry. They pitch your book to editors, make sure you get the best deal possible, fight for your rights, and answer any questions you have.

Board Book: Books intended for infants or very small children. They're made of thick, cardboard material,  for durability.

Boiler Plate: The template contract around which your agent will work to adjust your publishing contract to suit your needs. 

Chapter Book: Books for intermediate readers, easing away from pictures and leaning more on prose.

Comp Titles: (Comparison titles) Relatively recent books, of the same genre or style as your manuscript, to which you compare your manuscript in your query letter. 

Critique Partner: Trusted person who will read your work and give constructive feedback.

Editor: The person who acquires your book for their publishing house, and works with you to make it the best it can be.

Fiction: A genre category referring to any story about things that didn't really happen. It can be anything from a story about an imaginary person living in contemporary New York, to a story about vampires set 300 years ago. 

Genre: A marketing tool used to divide the types of stories, like Science Fiction, Romance, or Fantasy.  Sometimes used synonymously/interchangeably with those categories (Example: Her genre fiction is about wizards.)

Imprint: A sub-section of a larger publishing house that works on books with a specific focus or style. (Example: Harper Children is an imprint of Harper Collins.) It's like a little publisher inside a bigger one. 

Literary: Tends to mean writing that's more thoughtful, intellectual, or stylistic - but what that means, and why, is subject to opinion. 

Middle Grade (MG): A sales category used to market books for about ages 7-12. Themes in MG books tend to focus on children starting to question ideas in the larger world around them - "What makes a good friend?" or "How do I find courage?" for example. 

New Adult: A sales category used to market books for readers in their upper teens and early twenties. These stories might focus on starting college, or leaving home for the first time. 

Nonfiction: Writing about things which actually happened, like memoirs, biographies, and essays.

Picture Book:  Books for young children,  in which much of the story is told through illustrations. 

Publicist: Spreads the word about your book by organizing  free, word-of-mouth events like interviews or articles.

Publishing House: A company that buys the right to publish and sell your book.

Query Letter: A letter, following certain guidelines, designed to interest agents in your manuscript and demonstrate your professionalism.

Rights: Ownership of various ways your book might be published and marketed. 

Rounds: The number of editors to which your agent submits your manuscript within a given timeframe. 

Royalties: Money from sales of your book. You don't get royalties until after your book earns out your advance. 

Self-Publishing: Publishing a book yourself, using your own resources. 

SFF: Science Fiction and Fantasy

Speculative: Writing that asks 'what if' questions in its storytelling, like SFF and Horror.

Submission: Going on submission is when your agent sends your manuscript to editors. 

Subsidiary Rights: (Sub-rights) The rights to publish other versions of your manuscript, besides print, that publishers will offer to buy,  like audio, e-book,  or graphic novel rights. 

Synopsis: A brief (one or two single-spaced pages) outline of the major events in your book, including how it ends. Some agents and editors require them, some don't.

Traditional Publishing: (Sometimes called Tradpub) Publishing a book through a publishing house, which sells and markets it. 

Upmarket: Think literary, yet popular and sellable. 

Young Adult (YA): A sales category used to market books for teen readers. These stories are often about children questioning their place in society and learning who they are as individuals.