Jargon buster
Here is our very popular guide to the (often confusing) terminology used in the publishing industry.
Barcode – this can be generated by barcode software (which we have) from the ISBN number. It allows tills etc to scan the book for selling, stock level and ordering purposes, and any product which is to be sold via any retailer must have one
Blurb – the words on the back of a book designed to describe what it is about in a way that encourages people to buy it
Book specifications – these are the exact details of the book, including number of pages, page size, printing and binding, cover type etc etc. These need to be broadly decided upon before a realistic price can be given, and finalised before the design of the page layout commences
Book trade – this includes any retail outlet which sells books for a profit, including high street bookshops, of course, but also supermarkets, tourist outlets, book wholesalers, online booksellers, newsagents, libraries etc etc. In all cases they will require a discount off the cover price of the book in order to make a profit, and this discount can vary enormously
Conventional or ‘Litho’ printing – high quality printing for print runs over 300-400, especially those with photos. ‘Litho’ refers to the lithographic process used in ‘Offset’ printing – read more about this
Copy editing – close reading of the text to check for incorrect grammar, word usage, punctuation, without altering the content or order of the text
[different from Editing, below]
Cover – the printed card outer on paperback books. It can be anything from one colour (i.e. black and white) to full colour.
Digital printing – lower quality printing which is ideal for print runs below 300, mainly for books without photos or illustrations
Editing – a thorough reading of the text which can involve some cutting, restructuring, rewriting or suggestions for additional material. This will not happen to your book unless you ask us to do it
[see also copy editing and proof reading]
Font – the style of the letters used, eg Times Roman, Arial, sometimes called typeface. We have a huge range of fonts and will usually suggest the most appropriate ones for the internal layout and the cover/jacket design, although your own ideas are of course welcome
Galleys – pages of continuous un-typeset text supplied by us for editing or picture placement purposes. An author would return the galleys to us with notes indicating where images should be placed
Hardback (‘Case’) binding – a stiff book with thick cardboard outsides, with or without a jacket. Can be bound in cloth, leather, or the cover can be printed directly onto the hard outer case
Imprint – an umbrella name (not a separate company) under which books are published. A publisher may have a large number of imprints under which titles of different genres are published
ISBN – International Standard Book Number. This is a 13-digit number which identifies the publisher of a book, together with all the relevant information about the book itself. Each book has its own unique number, the spacing between which must be followed exactly
Jacket – the loose cover, with flaps that fold inside the book, put on hardback books. It can be anything from one colour to full colour
Lamination – the coating, glossy or matt, given to a cover or jacket to protect it. We can advise you on the best choice of lamination for your book
New Edition – a new print run with some changes (usually corrections and/or updates to the previous print run)
Page design – this includes choosing the typeface (font), type size, heading styles, and ‘pretty bits’ (!) on the pages of the book. See our online Gallery for some examples from past clients.
Page proofs – the laser print outs of the designed pages of the book laid out with any pictures in situ. Proofs are supplied for authors to check that everything is where it should be, and they also provide an opportunity for any last minute minor alterations/corrections
Paperback (‘Limp’) binding – a bendable book with cover. A paperback book can be stapled (if it is very short), wiro bound (like a spiral), but is most commonly bound with a spine, like a standard paperback novel (although usually more securely)
Print run – the number of books printed at a time. When considering how many books you should have printed, it is imporant to bear in mind your budget but also that the price per book falls as the number of copies you print increases
Proofreading – word for word reading of the text to pick up incorrect spellings, extra spaces, missing letters, numbers or punctuation
[see also editing and copyediting]
Reprint – a new print run, exactly like the first but some time afterwards
[thus, not a new edition]
Retouching – computerised tidying up and improvement of scanned images
Run on – the extra books printed in addition to the number initially priced for but printed with the first print run. A run on price gives a figure for each extra 100, 250, 500 etc printed
Sample pages – samples of the initial page design for your comments
Scans – these are images stored on computer which have been scanned from photos, slides, drawings etc. We have a range of sophisticted scanning equipment in-house that can reproduce your images in excellent quality
Text – generally, the written words comprising the body of your book. Consider also that well-illustrated books may need extensive captions; very detailed books may need an index
Typesetting – the process of laying out the book to the agreed page design, including any pictures, tables, maps, diagrams etc
Voucher proofs – the last set of proofs sent to you. These show the book as it will be printed (though not as high quality) and you will be asked to check them finally and then confirm that you want us to go ahead and print