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.
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Auction
An auction, usually arranged by a literary agent, takes place when multiple publishing houses are interested in acquiring a manuscript and bid against one another to secure the domestic or territorial rights.
Literary agent
Represent writers and their works. They match books to suitable publishers and negotiate publishing contracts and rights deals. They also co-ordinate the business side of publishing on behalf of authors.
Marketing
Involves creating strategies, promotional and preview material (including BLADs) for sales teams to use, organising advertising and representation to the intended market and distribution channels including booksellers. It can involve social media campaigns.
Promotional materials
These outline the highlights of the content of a book and its layout. They can include a BLAD (Book Layout and Design), an Advance Information Sheet or blurb which acts as a pre-publication preview to generate interest among retailers, reviewers and potential readers.
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.