Find definitions from A to G!

~~~~~~~~~~~ A ~~~~~~~~~~~

About the Author –
usually a few paragraphs on a page describing the author. Written in the 3rd person. It is used for books, book proposals, and sometimes articles.

Advantage –
The amount of money a publisher pays a writer before a book is published. The amount varies depending on a variety of factors such as: the publisher; the background of the writer; and the type of book. Advances are sometimes paid in installments as the writer works on their publication. Payments come from the book’s projected royalties.

advertorial-
An article or copy created by a writer who is being paid by an advertiser (or “advertiser-driven”). This definition can be tricky because, while they may pay well, a writer must protect themselves ethically by making sure her work is marked as publicity in some way or by making sure her name doesn’t appear on it. It’s also in your best interest to specify up front how many rewrites he’s willing to do.

Agent –
a link between a writer and his publisher or publisher. They try to sell the manuscript to a publisher or publisher and usually get a fee of 10-15% of the royalties and advance.

All rights or work for hire –
This means that the publication you are writing an article for owns your work once it is submitted to them. Unlike “First Rights”, this type of agreement prevents you from reselling your work and/or making money from it, apart from the one-time payment you receive from them.

Anthology-
a collection of short stories written by various authors, compiled into a magazine or a book, or a collection of works by one author.

Assignment –
an article that the editor or publisher has assigned to a writer for an agreed fee.

Attached files –
clips attached to an email inquiry. -(2) -research, photos, or graphics, usually attached to a nonfiction book.

~~~~~~~~~~ B~~~~~~~~~~

List background-
Books that are still in print, but will not be published during the current season.

Organic –
A short paragraph, usually less than 100 words, that tells about the writer.

Biography –
A life story from someone other than the writer.

blank verse –
Unrhymed poetry, usually written in iambic pentameter.

repetitive-
A standard contract. Most agents and/or authors make many changes to the model.

On business size –
A #10 envelope which is the standard size for sending business correspondence.

Signature-
The line (usually printed below the title of a published article) that indicates the writer’s name and gives credit for writing the article.

~~~~~~~~~~~ C ~~~~~~~~~~~

Resume or Curriculum Vitae –
In a nutshell, your resume.

CC or contributor copy –
This usually means a copy or copies of a book or magazine sent to a writer whose work appears in that publication. Publishers sometimes offer this as a form of compensation rather than monetary payment to a writer whose work they choose to publish.

Fiction Category –
Includes all kinds of fiction. See also gender.

Chapbook-
A small booklet of poetry, ballads or stories.

clean copy –
a manuscript free of wrinkles, stains, erasures and errors.

clips-
Copies of a writer’s published work, usually taken from newspapers or magazines, that serve as samples for prospective publishers.

Column Inches –
The amount of space in a column inch of newspaper typesetting.

business novels –
A general term referring to novels designed to appeal to a large audience. It is often divided into categories like romance, mystery, western, etc. See type.

copy editing –
Edit a manuscript for print style, punctuation, and grammar, but not for subject matter.

Copyright-
A means to designate ownership and protect an author’s work. Most publishers will copyright the text in the author’s name so that when the work goes out of print, all rights revert to the author and the book can be sold to another publisher.

Presentation letter –
A brief cover letter (usually one page) that is usually sent with a manuscript to remind the editor that the manuscript was requested. You can also send a cover letter with a book proposal. It is not the same as a query letter.

creative nonfiction –
First-person nonfiction, using creative language and an innovative approach to the subject.

~~~~~~~~~~ D ~~~~~~~~~~

DF-
An abbreviation for dark fiction that generally means the dark fantasy genre.

Derivative work –
An alteration of a previous work through annotations, condensations, adaptations, translations, summaries, etc. This must have the written permission of the copyright owner of the original work.

desktop publishing –
A publishing method for a personal computer that can illustrate, layout, print, design, and typeset for distribution.

Distributor-
A company that provides services to publishers such as: warehousing, fulfillment, and marketing for bookstores.

fictitious –
Model of a book that includes: page breaks; illustrations; and text

~~~~~~~~~~~ E ~~~~~~~~~~~

Eclectic-
A variety of different genres or writing styles.

Editor-
Choose articles or novels and edit the writing.

Editing service –
A company that offers to edit, rewrite, or provide similar assistance (for a fee) to writers. Many writers’ organizations provide information on the quality and legitimacy of these companies.

Electronic Rights –
The definition of electronic rights or web rights is not clear at this point. Many publishers feel they have electronic rights when they buy “First Rights.” Most freelance writers disagree. The courts are going back and forth on the definition of this term. If a publisher’s contract includes “electronic rights,” you may want to specify how long you give them permission to keep your work published on the Web and/or try to negotiate additional payment for granting them “electronic rights.”

Electronic submission –
Submission of an article or book proposal, manuscript, or similar work sent to the editor electronically (usually by email or on a computer disk).

Experimental Fiction-
A term often applied to fiction that can be defined as innovative in content or style.

Electronic magazine –
A magazine published online.

~~~~~~~~~~ F~~~~~~~~~~

fair use –
A part of copyright law that provides small passages of copyrighted material can be used without the permission of the owner.

First Rights or First American Serial Rights –
This usually means the rights you sell, even if you do a story on commission. It means that you give the publication the right to publish your piece once and then the rights go back to you. You may want to specify “First Rights” on your work, as this allows you to resell your work after initial publication.

fanzine-
Usually refers to a fan-produced publication of speculative fiction, featuring fan-written stories about characters from popular published stories.

Feature-
An article about human interests instead of news. It is used in magazines to describe a distinctive department or main article.

Filling-
A short article used to fill out a magazine or newspaper page, such as: a short humor, an anecdote, a timeless news item, or a light verse.

First person point of view –
The author relates or narrates the story from his point of view.

Flash Fiction-
Very short pieces of fiction that vary in length from 100 to 1,000 words, depending on the genre.

Flat rate –
Same as “contract work”. The illustrator or author is paid a lump sum for his work and receives no royalties.

Formulaic Fiction –
Fiction that tells a story following a preformatted formula.

First list-
Books published in the current season and shown in the publisher’s current catalog.

~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~

galleys-
The first typesetting of a manuscript before it was split.

Genre/Category –
Term used to classify a writer’s work according to its content. Some examples of different types of genres include: erotic, gothic, mystery, poetry, romance, science fiction, and western.

ghost writer –
A book, story, article, or speech that is based on someone else’s experience or ideas. No author given for the writer.

GL or Guidelines –
The publisher’s instructions that writers must follow to submit their work to that publication.

Gothic novel –
A genre or category of fiction that usually has a pretty young woman, a castle or mansion, a menace, and a hero.