Potpourri

Dictionary of Publishing Terms

Here's a brief explanation of some publishing terms:

ADVANCE:
Literally an advance on your royalties, as if you asked your boss for your pay check early. Originally it was intended to help an author live until royalties kick in, but it’s quickly becoming the main source of income for authors, since royalties take so long to kick in (anywhere from 1 to 2 years after the book is published, which means it could be as many as 4 years after the author has sold it to the publisher).
ARC (ADVANCED READING COPY):
Uncorrected proof of the book in a cheap binding and cover used for promotional purposes.
COPY-EDITED VERSION (COPY-EDITS)
Manuscript with printer’s marks and minor grammatical or typographical editing.
EARN-OUT
What’s left after deducting the advance from royalties. If there’s more royalties than the advance, then the book has earned out. If there’s less, then it hasn’t. Depending on the author's level, not earning out could be either bad or inconsequential.Earning out is always
good for the publisher, however, because it means they took less initial risk on you.
GALLEY or PAGE PROOFS:
Pages printed out as they will appear in printed book. Sent to author for minor corrections (like typos).
LINE-EDITED VERSION:
Manuscript edited for pacing, word choice, historical detail. Sometimes this is included with either copy-editing or the revision letter.
JOINT or BASKET ACCOUNTING:
When earnings for two books are lumped together. If Book #1 earns out its entire advance plus $100 and Book #2 is short of earning its advance by $300, joint accounting would mean that the author would not receive the $100 until Book #2 has earned out its advance. Definitely A BAD THING. An author without joint accounting would receive royalties on Book #1 no matter what happened with Book #2.
PAY-OUT:
How your advance is paid out. Advances are generally broken into parts that can include payments on signing of contract, on submission of proposal (if you sold on an idea), on submission of complete manuscript or revisions to the manuscript, and on publication. I once had a pay-out where the last part of the advance was specified to come 6 months after the acceptance of revisions, because publication was going to be so late.
PRINT RUN:
Number of books printed. These days, generally based on orders.
PUBLISHING FORMAT:
The physical form in which books appear—hardcover, mass market paperback (the small ones that fit into those wire racks at groceries, drugstores, etc.), and trade paperback (the bigger, higher-quality paperbacks often used for research books, chick-lit, literary fiction, etc.).
RESERVE AGAINST RETURNS:
Money held back by the publisher until it’s sure all the unsold books have been returned.
RETURNS:
Books that the bookseller couldn’t sell. For paperbacks, the covers are stripped off and sent back to the publisher for credit. Which is why it's illegal to sell a stripped book—because it's stealing money from the publisher (and the author).
REVISION LETTER:
Letter from editor detailing the major changes he or she suggests.
ROYALTIES:
Percentage of the actual retail price of books that’s paid to the author on copies of his/her books that are sold new. Used copies do not earn the author any royalties.
SELL-THROUGH:
Percentage of the shipped books that actually sells. It’s derived by this formula:

Number of shipped books – number of returns = number of sales
Number of sales ÷ number of shipped books = sell-through.

SHIPPED BOOKS:
Number of books publisher has actually shipped to booksellers. Always less than the print run (they try to keep extras available in the warehouse).
STRIPPED BOOKS:
Books with no covers. These books are supposed to be destroyed. It is illegal to resell them.