Quirky Publishing Terms

Much of the language of publishing can be confusing to those new to the industry. Abbreviations and intialisms abound. Additionally, many of the industry terms are founded in outdated, obsolete, or antiquated technology. It can be helpful not only to understand what these terms mean, but why they are called what they are.

Take, for example, the terms uppercase and lowercase. Most everybody understands that and uppercase letter is a capital letter, or big letter, and that a lowercase letter is a small letter.
Big a: A
Little a: a
But, where did these terms originate? These are examples of terms dating back centuries to when type for printing presses was set by hand. Each individual letter was formed on the end of a piece of metal. These pieces of metal, or type sets, were stored in cases where the typesetter would assemble each page. The small letters were stored in the case on the bottom—the lower case. Thus, these letters became known as lowercase letters. Likewise, the big letters were stored in the upper case, thus uppercase letters.

Another publishing-industry term originated in this same era. Leading, pronounced led-ing, is the amount of space between lines, including the height of the characters. For example, 14 point type on 16 point leading results in two points of blank space between the characters in one line and the characters in the lines above and below it. When type was hand set, the way the spacing between lines was created was by adding thin strips of lead above or below the type, and the spacing became known as leading.

A more modern example of a term based on obsolete technology is blue line. This refers to a type of proof that was used to review and approve one- and two-color printed products before the actual printing. What you would see as black on the printed page appeared as a blue on the proof, and what would be a second color would be a shade of the same blue. The “paper” itself was a yellowish, vellum-like sheet. These proofs were often called by the trade name Dylux. Today, this type of proof is usually electronic, either in PDF or a proprietary soft-proofing system, but in some cases may be printed on plain paper from a laser or inkjet primer. However, the term blue line is still bantered about in the industry, especially among veterans of the industry.

Tin Whiskers Publisher is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). IBPA’s mission is “to lead and serve the independent publishing community by providing advocacy, education, and tools for success.” IBPA is a not-for-profit membership organization serving and leading the independent publishing community. Founded in 1983, it is the largest publishing trade organization in the United States. IBPA members pledge to uphold the organization’s code of ethics.

Basics of E-Books

There is no question that electronic publishing—e-pub or ePub—has changed the publishing industry. Depending which area of publishing is being discussed, e-pub has had an entirely transformative effect, only a slight impact, or somewhere in-between. For example, the newspaper industry has been transformed so drastically that “paper” is almost secondary. On the other hand, the impact of e-pub on educational publishing has been, to this point, minimal. Setting all of that aside, what exactly is e-pub?

E-pub in its broadest sense is, quite simply, publishing information in electronic (or digital) format. The most basic form of e-pub is a simple word-processing document that is distributed as a file, whether posted on the Internet for reading or download, e-mailed, or made available for sale. A web page itself is a form of e-pub in this broadest sense of the term.

However, in the publishing industry, there is a generally accepted format for e-pub that is based on compatibility with e-book readers. Doling out PDFs and DOCs to the end uses is not really e-pub by industry standards. The publishing industry considers e-pub as an electronic publication that adheres to the EPUB format. This is an industry standard published by the International Digital Publishing Forum. The EPUB format consists of a markup language similar to that used for web pages, and, in fact, is partially derived from XHTML and CSS among other languages. Amazon’s MOBI format is a derivative of the EPUB format.

The sales of e-books climbed dramatically in the first part of the 21st century. However, sales have leveled off. Industry wide, e-books sales generally account for between 20 and 30 percent of total sales. Soft cover books generally account for another 20 to 30 percent, and hardcover accounts for the remainder. For the most part, the increase in e-book sales has not been at the expense of sales of soft and hardcover formats. In other words, e-book sales have increased the total sales for the industry.

So, where does the industry go from here? In terms of sales, it seems as if the industry has reached a stasis; as a whole, that is. In the short term, it seems likely that print books, soft and hardcover combined, will continue to dominate the overall market, but e-books can represent a significant source of revenue for publishers and authors. Certain segments of the industry will see higher e-book sales, but other segments will see lower e-book sales, perhaps virtually none. Coffee table books, for example, will likely be sold almost entirely in print. On the other hand, Amazon pushes e-book sales with relentless energy. As a result, Amazon sees a significantly higher percentage of book sales in e-book format than the rest of the industry. There are so many different segments of the publishing industry, painting with a wide brush to describe the state of the industry is imperfect at best. E-books are here to stay; but, so are print books.

Tin Whiskers Publisher is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). IBPA’s mission is “to lead and serve the independent publishing community by providing advocacy, education, and tools for success.” IBPA is a not-for-profit membership organization serving and leading the independent publishing community. Founded in 1983, it is the largest publishing trade organization in the United States. IBPA members pledge to uphold the organization’s code of ethics.

Copyright

There often is confusion and even at times mystery surrounding the topic of copyright. In reality, the concept is pretty straightforward. However, as is often the case with law, there can be some areas of copyright that are a bit murky. It is also important to understand that the United States has copyright laws and other countries have copyright laws, and they do not always concur. However, most countries, including the United States, adhere to the Bern Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization of the United Nations.

Copyright is quite simply the legal ownership of an artistic creation. For authors, this means the legal ownership of their written work. For artists and illustrators, the same is true for their visual creations; for musicians, their music; and so on. Under current copyright law, an artistic creation is automatically copyrighted and the copyright held by its creator as soon as the work is in tangible form. In other words, an idea cannot be copyrighted, but as soon as the idea can be read, viewed, or heard, the artistic work is copyrighted. So, as soon as the words you are now reading were typed, this work was automatically copyrighted.

The copyright for an artistic work can be registered, but it does not have to be registered. If you wish to register a copyright in the United States, this is done through the US Copyright Office, which is part of the Library of Congress. Not registering a copyright in no way minimizes or forfeits legal ownership of the work. Likewise, most publishers include a copyright statement, such as Copyright 2017, or the copyright symbol, such as ©2017, but omitting this does not affect legal ownership of the work, nor does a work lacking this statement mean the work is not copyrighted. If you are reading it, hearing it, or looking at it, the artistic work is most likely copyrighted (even if it is on the Internet).

Copyright is a legal issue, and copyright law can be very complex. When seeking advice and recommendations, consult a licensed attorney who specializes in copyright law. A licensed attorney is the only person who can provide legal advice.

Tin Whiskers Publisher is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). IBPA’s mission is “to lead and serve the independent publishing community by providing advocacy, education, and tools for success.” IBPA is a not-for-profit membership organization serving and leading the independent publishing community. Founded in 1983, it is the largest publishing trade organization in the United States. IBPA members pledge to uphold the organization’s code of ethics.

Submissions

When everything is said and done, when the author has dotted the last I and crossed the last T, when he or she has finally laid down the editing pen, it is time to send the manuscript out. This process is called submission. No, this is not—despite what some authors may feel—because the author must become submissive to the publisher. This process is giving the manuscript to a publisher—submitting it—for acceptance. This process can be both intimidating and mysterious for the new author.

There are many so-called rules for submitting a manuscript. For example, some publishers do not accept agented submissions, while other publishers only accept agented submissions. Do the rules for submitting to an agent differ from those for submitting to a publisher? The truth is, there is no consistency in the so-called rules anywhere, be it between publishers or agents. One thing that is generally true, however, is most publishers and agents post their own rules for submitting. If the process is not outlined on their website, then contact them and request a submission document or template. Information on the submission process for Tin Whiskers Publisher can be found on our For Authors page.

How strictly do you have to adhere to the submission rules or process outlined by a publisher? Again, there is no consistency. Some publisher are very strict and use any variance as a reason to reject a manuscript. “We said submit five pages, and you gave us six; sorry, but we cannot accept your project.” In reality, most publishers are flexible. If they ask for five pages, but your story has a natural break on page six, then give them six pages. However, do not give them a dozen pages. If they want to see more, they will ask to see more.

One rule that is strictly enforced pretty much across the board is adherence to a submission period. If a publisher or agent states they are not accepting submissions, then don’t send a submission. Your manuscript will be returned unopened, if it is returned at all. Many publishers have a submission season, which is tied to the market. Publishing is a complex business, but it has a fairly set schedule. Books for sale to consumers in the fall are actually sold to distributors in the spring, which means they need to be rolled out the previous fall. If a publisher has a submission period, that will be outlined in its submission process or document.

Tin Whiskers Publisher is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). IBPA’s mission is “to lead and serve the independent publishing community by providing advocacy, education, and tools for success.” IBPA is a not-for-profit membership organization serving and leading the independent publishing community. Founded in 1983, it is the largest publishing trade organization in the United States. IBPA members pledge to uphold the organization’s code of ethics.

What Is CIP Data?

What is CIP data? CIP stands for cataloging in publication. The CIP data is found on the verso of the title page for a book, which is usually known as the copyright page as it contains copyright information, print codes, and a credits list if used. The CIP data usually appears at the bottom of this page and is surrounded by a rule (box). Collectively, the data and this rule are known as the CIP data block.

So what is the purpose of CIP data? CIP data is issued by the Library of Congress. There are really two meanings for the term CIP data. It can mean either the printed data found on the copyright page of a book or the bibliographic record created by the Library of Congress. The former is an abbreviated version of the latter. The purpose of CIP data is to help libraries throughout the United States catalog books. The bibliographic record includes the author name and dates of birth and death; primary, secondary, and sometimes tertiary subject areas covered by the book, and a cataloging number issued by the LOC.

CIP data is not an indication of copyright. There is no connection between copyright and CIP data. A book containing lacking CIP data does not necessarily lack a copyright; almost all published material is copyrighted. A copyright is automatically assigned when a creative work is in tangible form, even if the copyright is not registered with the US Copyright Office.

CIP data can only be issued to books prior to publication. Once a book is published, it is ineligible for submission for CIP data. Additionally, some categories of books are not eligible for CIP data, including high school textbooks, print-on-demand (POD) books, books from publishers with fewer than three titles published, and self-published books. There are several other restrictions. Even though there is no cost associated with obtaining CIP data, a publisher may choose to forego obtaining it even if the book qualifies. The intent of CIP data is to assist libraries, so if the book is not something most libraries would acquire, there is little benefit to obtaining CIP data for it.

Tin Whiskers Publisher is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). IBPA’s mission is “to lead and serve the independent publishing community by providing advocacy, education, and tools for success.” IBPA is a not-for-profit membership organization serving and leading the independent publishing community. Founded in 1983, it is the largest publishing trade organization in the United States. IBPA members pledge to uphold the organization’s code of ethics.

Details of Time Facts

In historical fiction, the setting becomes a character in the story. All aspects of the story should contain vivid details, and this is no different when it comes to the time and place. Readers of historical fiction expect rich descriptions of the time and place in which the story takes place. The goal of providing details about the facts of time is to transport the reader into the setting of the story. However, there is a fine line to walk between providing enough details of the “time facts” and providing too much information.

Determining how much detail to provide about the facts of time and place to provide is as much an art form as constructing the story itself. The first thing to remember is readers are in the here and now, not in the past. There is a collective body of knowledge among readers simply due to them existing in current society. For example, today everybody knows what a cell phone is. However, consider a pay phone. If the reader is under age 30, he or she probably has never seen a pay phone, let alone used one. So, if a character in your story uses a pay phone, it may be appropriate to provide details describing not only how the phone is used, but what it looks like, where it is located, and perhaps even how the bifold doors on phone booths never seemed to work.

Olfactory stimulation can be a powerful vehicle, so don’t overlook the details of smells. Yes, the smells of places can differ throughout history. For example, not so long ago, smoking was very common. The first smell a person experienced walking into a restaurant, or even an office, may have been cigarette smoke. Again, for younger readers who have grown up in virtually smoke-free environments, this is likely a completely foreign concept. Don’t overlook the detail of how the smoke smells. There are many people today who have never even smelled cigarette smoke, so to provide details about the acrid wisps meandering around a room may allow the reader to place him- or herself directly in the room.

Tin Whiskers Publisher is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). IBPA’s mission is “to lead and serve the independent publishing community by providing advocacy, education, and tools for success.” IBPA is a not-for-profit membership organization serving and leading the independent publishing community. Founded in 1983, it is the largest publishing trade organization in the United States. IBPA members pledge to uphold the organization’s code of ethics.

Discovering Character Voice

Characters are as important to the success of a story as the plot; quite often, more important. If a great plot is married with weak characters, the entire story can be rendered lifeless. Creating great characters goes far beyond determining the role the character plays—the archetype, if you are using these—t involves developing each character’s voice and history.

The reader will only know a small portion of each character’s history, or character biography. An even smaller portion will actually be written on the page; much of a character’s history will be communicated through context and actions. However, as a writer, you should develop a full biography for each character. Even secondary and tertiary characters should have fully developed biographies. The character biography will give you insight into how the character would react in any situation. Just as with a real person, the character’s history is a combination of events, incidents, experiences, thoughts, and feelings that culminates in who the character is today (“today” being the story). The character history is the window to the driving forces behind the character.

Another critical aspect of great characters is the character’s voice. The character’s voice it the outward persona that other characters and the reader sees. It is both what the character says and how the character says it. Which words would the character use? Would he or she say “confused” or “flumoxed”? Or, would the character say anything at all in a given situation? Sometimes an author can determine a character’s voice, but just as often the character will, over the course of writing, take control and determine his or her own voice for the author. One of the best ways to discover a character’s voice is to allow the character to dictate his or her biography to you. Ask questions of the character, and allow the character to respond. For example, you may begin by asking, where were you born? When the character answers, is it simply with the town, or does the character describe the town? Is there a tinge of a Southern drawl in the response, or does the character reply in perfect English? By the time you have fully developed the character biography, you should be able to hear the character speak whenever you talk to him or her.

Tin Whiskers Publisher is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). IBPA’s mission is “to lead and serve the independent publishing community by providing advocacy, education, and tools for success.” IBPA is a not-for-profit membership organization serving and leading the independent publishing community. Founded in 1983, it is the largest publishing trade organization in the United States. IBPA members pledge to uphold the organization’s code of ethics.