Book- Business Lingo

■The Language of Publishingthe grain, they curl at leastslightly.Alteration: A change made inthe text or images on galleys orpage proofs. The cost of making“Author alterations” (AAs) maybe charged to the author.Appendix: Reference oradditional material in theend matter.Application files: Software—such as QuarkXpress,Adobe InDesign, Photoshop,Illustrator, and font files—used to create a book. Bookmanufacturers (aka printers)may ask that application filesbe submitted along with PDFs.Apron: Extra blank space atthe binding edge of a foldout,usually on a French fold,which allows an oversize pageseparate from a signature tobe folded and tipped in (thatis, glued in between the pagesof a signature, or betweensignatures) so that all the textor illustrations on the foldoutcan be seen. Maps and familytrees are examples of imagesoften created as foldouts, withan extra-wide margin on thebinding edge.ARC: Advance reader (orreaders or reading) copy, aprepublication version of abook for use by booksellersand reviewers. ARCs maylack images and finalcopyediting. Today they’reoften available in digital formor via print-on-demand.Ascender: Ascenders arethe parts of letters that riseabove the height of lowercaseletters, like the upwardextendingparts of the l, h, ort. Contrast with descenders,the parts that extend belowthe baseline, as in the “tail” ofthe letter y, g, or p. When typeis leaded tightly (for example,9 point type on 9 points ofspace), the descenders of oneline may overlap the ascendersof the next.ASN: Advance ship notice,usually sent electronically in astandard format. It announcesa pending delivery.BB2B: Business-to-businesssales; by a publisher, forexample, to a retailer orlibrary, sometimes through awholesaler or distributor.B2C: Business-to-consumersales by a business directly toan end user.Backbone: Book spine.Backlist: Older titles.Publishers that issue new titlestwice annually may considerspring titles to be backlistwhen fall titles are issued.Other publishers considertitles frontlist for a year orlonger, and some independentpublishers prefer to keep alltheir titles evergreen.Back matter: The parts of abook that appear after the maintext; for instance, bibliography,index, and appendixes. Alsocalled end matter.Backorder: An order placedwhen a book is not available,to be fulfilled when it is instock. Backorders often comein when a new title or a newreprint is on the way.Backstory: What happenedbefore a book’s story starts.Similar to a prequel. The termis also used to describe anauthor’s account of writing aparticular book.Bad break: A word brokenincorrectly at the end of a line.CAP HEIGHTThe distance from thebaseline to the top of thecapital letter determinesthe letter’s point sizeX-HEIGHTThe height of the mainbody of the lowercaseletter (lowercase x),excluding as– and descendersAlso refers to a line of textor a subhead that is placedon the page in a way that isunattractive or misleading.Types of bad breaks includethe widow, when a short lastline of a paragraph appears atthe top of a column or page;the orphan, when a short firstline of a paragraph appears atthe end of a column or page;a subhead that appears at thebottom of a column or page;and a hyphen break at theend of the last line on a page.Starting a new line betweenor after initials in a name alsocreates a bad break.Bar code: Most retailers andall wholesalers require thatback covers of books carrya bar code for the ISBN ina prescribed size and color,usually black on white. Todaymany books also carry a QRcode, the square code thatsmartphones and tablets canread and that usually leadsto a source of additionalinformation.Baseline: The imaginary lineon which type sits, althoughdescenders extend below thebaseline.BEA: BookExpo America, themajor U.S. publishing event,originally the annual conventionof the American BooksellersAssociation. Held each year inlate May/early June.BASELINEIs where all the letterssit. The most stableaxis along a line of text.Crucial edge for alignmentof text and elementsASCENDER HEIGHTSome elements mayextend slightly abovethe cap heightDESCENDER HEIGHTThe length of a letter’sdescenders contributes tothe style and attitudeBibliography: The by-authorlist of publications cited in, orrelating to the topic of, a book.Part of the end matter.Binding: Folding, trimming,and attaching pages of abook with adhesives, sewing,stitching, plastic or metalcoils, metal prongs, or snaps.The bindery is also whereperforating, embossing,die cutting, and other suchspecialty work is done. Withdigital printing, two differentbinding methods are possible.Inline binding, available onlyfor paperbacks, involves aprint engine that feeds thebook block directly to abinding unit, a three-knifetrimmer, and then a packingand boxing station. Offlinebinding equipment, whichis separate from the press,usually involves a processsimilar to the manufactureof offset publications: booksare printed before they goto the bindery, and bindingcan be perfect, saddlestitched,mechanical, orcasebound. Today many bookmanufacturers contract outcase binding, which meansyour hardcover book willphysically be moved fromone plant to another. In mostcases, library binding is donenot by book manufacturers,but by specialty binderies.If you offer titles with librarybinding, you must order extra20 | IBPA Independent | September 2012