The UK's official graduate careers website

Login to My Prospects

Not a member yet? Join now
 
 

Publishing : Jargon buster

More in this section

  1. Overview
  2. Job roles
  3. Entry and progression
  4. Typical employers
  5. Opportunities abroad
  6. Future trends
  7. Jargon buster

Print all pages in this section

Case studies

  • AI - 'advance information' sheet on a product. This typically lists key details such as price, title, authors and main selling points.
  • B2B - business-to-business - information shared between businesses.
  • B2C - business-to-consumer - information or commerce from business to consumer.
  • Backlist - titles that are being published for the second time or more.
  • Buying calendar - the points in the year where retailers decide what to buy from publishers.
  • Copy-editing - the process of reading through text and improving style, content and accuracy.
  • Cross-selling - using one product to promote another from a different sales channel.
  • Digitisation - taking the format of hard copy (on paper) and turning it into digital content that can be used online and via mobile phones.
  • Disk date - when the digital files are submitted to the printers.
  • DRM - digital rights management.
  • DTP - desktop publishing.
  • E-books - books that can be downloaded to an e-book reader or personal computer.
  • Emerging markets - markets that have yet to be exploited. Currently, Eastern Europe and China are seen as emerging markets within publishing.
  • Extent - total pages in a book.
  • Flat plan - a document that shows how the pages will fall into place.
  • Frontlist - titles that are being created from scratch.
  • Front matter - sections at the start before roman numbering starts.
  • Imprint page - the page at the front of a book listing the ISBN, date of publication, publisher and copyright holder.
  • ISBN - international standard book number - a unique numeric commercial book identifier.
  • Jacket - or dust jacket/cover - the outer wrapping of a book, usually a hardback.
  • List - titles being worked on.
  • Loss leader - a bestseller title that the publisher discounts to the bookseller, enabling the publisher to negotiate the sale of other books, including newer authors, which otherwise the bookseller might not be prepared to buy.
  • Masthead - details of publisher and editorial staff, generally printed on the title page of a publication.
  • Media sales - the selling of advertising space within a magazine, newspaper, journal or website.
  • Open access (OA) - open access text is freely accessible online with no charge attached.
  • Pagination - page numbers.
  • PDF - portable document format.
  • Print on demand (POD) - the system where copies of the book are only printed as and when they are ordered.
  • Print run - the number of copies of the product to be printed.
  • Proofread - reading to detect and mark errors in a document to be corrected prior to printing.
  • RAP date - ready at printers.
  • Repro - reprographics - getting images and content ready for print.
  • Sale or return - when the retailer makes a deal with the publisher to return books they haven't sold.
  • Slicing and dicing - the manipulation of content in electronic form in order to allow the user to select and pay only for the information they need.
  • Slush pile - the collection of unsolicited manuscripts sent to a publisher.
  • STM - scientific, technical, medical.
  • Trade - products sold to the general public via high street stores or general websites.
  • Typescript - a typewritten document, as opposed to handwritten or printed.
  • Typesetting - the point at which the text and images are laid out on the page as they will appear in the final product.
 
 
 
AGCAS
Written by Rosie Alexander, University of the Highlands and Islands
Date: 
October 2011
© Copyright AGCAS & Graduate Prospects Ltd | Disclaimer
 
 
 

This website is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with CSS enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets if you are able to do so.