Glossary

We’ve curated a glossary of terms regarding all things writing and publishing related. From commonly-used terms to abbreviations, our glossary will guide writers and people starting out in publishing, to cut through the jargon and gain a better understanding. 

Search engine optimisation
Increasing the visibility of a website so that it achieves a higher ranking in search engine results. This can involve incorporating the keywords that people are likely to type in when searching online into the content and coding of the website, so that search engines are more likely to index it.
Serialisation
All or excerpts of a book can be published in a newspaper or magazine before publication (first serialisation rights) or after publication (second serialisation rights).
Slush pile
Unsolicited manuscripts that are sent to publishers or agents but may not be read.
Subsidiary rights
Sub-licensing the rights to use content from the work in formats other than the original book, for example in films and television adaptation, serialisation, translation and merchandising.