Acronyms & Abbreviations

Acronyms & Abbreviations for an Indie Author

Do you know your DRM from your ARCS? Or your ePubs from your PDFs? The language of independent publishing is an added complexity of the indie revolution. So we thought a glossary could come in handy. Here’s the Triskele A-Z of Acronyms and Abbreviations, etc.

A

Advanced Review Copy (ARC)  
ARCs are copies of a book used as a promotional and marketing tool, sent out before the official release date to promote buzz and get early reviews.

 AI (Adobe Illustrator)
Typical file format for a vector image.  Used by designers.

Audio rights

The right to sell / distribute an audio recording of part or all of a work.  Typically not sold with print/electronic rights.

.azw

Original format used by Kindle ebooks, now largely superseded by .kf8

B

Barcode
A linear image representation of the ISBN number, so shops can scan the book on their system.

Blind Folio
A page number assigned to a page but not printed on the page.

C

CMYK
Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black – the usual range of colours used by designers for book covers.

Copyedit
Detailed edit that happens between a critique and a proofread. A copyeditor is employed to find plot inconsistencies, unnatural dialogue, unrealistic characters, and the like.

Copyright

The right to be credited as the author of the work and to determine who else may benefit financially from its sale and distribution (through the sale of specified rights – see below).  Should always be retained by the author.

Copyright page

Usually the verso of the title page, this page carries the copyright notice, edition information, publication information, printing history, cataloging data, legal notices, and the books ISBN or identification number.

Crop Marks
Also known as registration marks, trim marks, cutting marks – fine hairlines printed on the outer edge of your cover file to tell the printer exactly where to trim/cut your cover on each edge.

D

Display pages
Pages within a book considered display pages include the title page, copyright and dedication. No page number appears on these display pages.

DPI - Dots Per Inch.

Describes the resolution of a rasterised image. Think of painting an image by making lots of little dots with coloured pens. The more dots, the more complex and complete the image will look. Enough dots and you won’t notice there are any dots.

DRM: Digital Rights Management

Technology used to limit the access to or use of electronic material such as ebooks, e.g. to prevent additional copies being made.

Drop Caps (Drop Capitals)

An enlarged letter generally used at the beginning of (e.g.) a chapter.

E

EIN: Employee Identification Number

Needed before a non-US resident can apply to prevent IRS withholding tax on royalties.  You must set up your own publishing ‘company’ first (at least as a sole trader).

Electronic rights
The rights to sell / distribute an electronic edition of a work; managed separately from print rights.

Endnotes

Placed after any appendices, and before the bibliography or list of references. The notes are typically divided by chapter to make them easier to locate. Part of end matter.

.epub

Free and open ebook format used by many ereaders including Sony and Kobo

F

Feed
Allows people to follow your blog by email or RSS (see below).

Formatting
Formatting is the act of turning your book into a readable product, either for print or digital consumption (eBooks). Generally speaking, it refers to the formatting of text for the interior of a book.  In the case of a paperback, it may also be referred to as typesetting.

G

GIF
Graphics Interchange Format. Bitmap image format used largely for animations which supports a 256 colour palette.

Gutter

The margin on the inside edge of a page. It is generally larger than the margin on the outer edge of the page, so that when the spine is glued, and you open a book, the text doesn’t run too close to the spine.

I

IP: Intellectual Property
Generic term for a set of rights including copyright, patents, trademarks etc

ISBN
Number allocated to books, bought from www.isbn.nielsenbook.co.uk. Sometimes bought in bulk or given away with their publishing packages. The number goes on the copyright page. The image reference of the number (i.e. the barcode qv) goes on the back cover.

IRS

The U.S. government agency responsible for tax collection and tax law enforcement.

ITIN: Individual Tax Identification Number
Alternative ID number that can be used when applying for US tax not to be withheld: harder to obtain than an EIN; no longer recommended.

J

.jpeg
File format of a rasterised image

K

KDP: Kindle Direct Publishing
Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing allows you to self-publish your books and make them available on Kindle, iPad, iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Mac, and PC.

KDP Select
An arrangement with Amazon whereby you commit to make the digital format of that book available exclusively through KDP.

.kf8

Current format used by Kindle ebooks (cf .azw)

L

Line Editing/Editor
Line editing is also known as copyediting. It focuses on the nuances of your novel: plot inconsistencies, awkward dialogue, unnatural or missing character motivation, and the like.

M

.mobi
Mobipocket ebook file, typically used by cell/mobile phones.

Mock Up

Generally a term used for coming up with visuals of, say, a cover. Mock-up/concept/ideas/visuals.

MS
Short for Manuscript.

P

Pagination

(a) the way in which the information on a book’s pages is laid out; (b) the consecutive numbering of the pages, which indicates their proper order.

PDF

Standard file format used for proof and final cover design, and for the print-ready (high quality) body of the book. Proofing will usually be done using low-resolution (low quality), and therefore small file size, PDFs.

Print on Demand (POD)
A POD printer is a vendor who will print a book as it is ordered. Though the per-unit cost is higher than it would be if an author bought in bulk, printing on demand saves on storage space, upfront costs, and ease. Additionally, readers can order copies straight from the POD printer, thereby saving time and money for the author.

Print rights

The rights to sell / distribute a print edition of a work; can be managed separately from electronic rights

Q

 

QR Codes

‘Quick Response Code’ – matrix barcode that can be scanned by many smart phones and other devices and used to connect the user to a website, blog or sales outlet.

 

R

Raster/Rasterised Image
Images are either raster or vector. Rasterised images are made up of pixels/dot matrix, such as photographs or anything saved in JPEG, TIFF or similar formats.

Recto

The right hand page(s) of a book

Resolution

Determines the quality of an image. The higher the resolution, the better quality the image. For printed books, images are generally required to be 300 dpi (dots per inch – qv) at the size they are to be used. For web (i.e. images for covers of ebook) images are only required to be around 72 dpi at the size they are to be displayed.

Royalty Free Image

An image for which you pay a one off fee to use as much as you wish, as opposed to licensing an image where you are limited for example to how many books you can have printed with the image on, and for how long (in years).

RSS Feed
Short for “really simple syndication.” Some readers follow blogs via the RSS feed. A family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.

S

Sale or return

Usual terms a self-published writer agrees with a bricks-and-mortar bookstore.  A set number of books are left with the store for an agreed period of time; those not sold at the end of that term are returned to the author. No advance; store pays only for the copies sold.

Spread(s)

Left and right and pages of a book which face each other are known as a ‘spread’ or ‘facing pages’. If a designer sends you a PDF in spreads, it looks as it would in a book, with the left and right hand pages next to one another.

Stock Image Library
Online sites which sell images in much the same way as you can pay for and download music or software. Many of them sell Royalty Free images .

Strapline

The line of snappy text on the front cover of your book which gives a further snippet as to what it might be about (e.g. One kingdom, three brothers, three claims to the throne…)

SS-4

Form for applying for EIN .  (Can usually be avoided if EIN is requested over the phone.)

T

Territorial Rights
The rights to sell / distribute a work, limited to a specified country or list of countries.  Traditionally, this has been how agents and publishers have managed sales.

Title page

Announces the title, subtitle, author and publisher of the book. Other information may include publisher’s location, year of publication, or descriptive text about the book. Illustrations are also common on title pages.

Translation rights

The rights to sell / distribute a translated edition of a work.  This is separate from global rights, which refer to the work in its original language

Trim size
The physical size of the page in a published book (e.g. 6” x 9”)

Typography

The art of arranging type (words/titles/author name/body copy).

Typesetting

Used to refer to the layout for a print book – for ebooks the term used is ‘page formatting’.

V

Verso

The left hand page(s) of  a book

Vlog
‘Video Blog’:  Web content in the form of video links or embedded video, as opposed to text and images.
 
W

W8-BEN

Form on which non-US residents can apply for tax not to be withheld by revenue authorities in USA.  Requires either EIN or ITIN.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Lightning Source - From the Horse's Mouth II

David Taylor, President of Lightning Source UK talks to JJ Marsh.

In the second part of our interview, David explains his vision of how Lightning Source intends to make the ideal partner for independent authors.

As a member of The Alliance of Independent Authors and writers’ collective Triskele Books, I welcome the chance to talk to someone from the industry angle. All of us at Triskele have used Lightning Source for our print material, and I’m know we’re not the only ones. Why is your service so attractive to small independent publishers?

Lightning Source works with the smallest to the largest of publishers. One key advantage that differentiates our organisation from book printing outfits is the pairing of high-quality single copy book manufacturing with global market access and distribution to readers worldwide.

I’m guessing Lightning Source has seen a remarkable increase in smaller or self-publishers in recent years?

We've seen a steady increase in the number of small and self-publishers using our services. Our access to market and innovative technology have created an inventory-free business model that enables publishers to avoid the risk and high capital investment of traditional publishing models. To put things into perspective, in the U.K. alone, we’ve grown our library of titles from 1,100 titles in 1998 to over 6 million today.

What other services do you offer in addition to Print-on-Demand?

Ingram Content Group, of which Lightning Source is a part, offers a full-suite of comprehensive physical and digital content distribution services to publishers, booksellers, libraries, educators and students. We provide books, music and media content to over 38,000 retailers, libraries, schools, and distribution partners in 195 countries. Tens of thousands of publishers use Ingram’s fully integrated physical and digital solutions and programs including Lightning Source, CoreSource®, MyiLibrary® and VitalSource Bookshelf®, to realize the full business potential of books.

While researching with colleagues, compliments for Lightning Source seems to highlight speed, quality, distribution reach and customer service. Have you needed to change your infrastructure to deal with a different kind of consumer – the indie author? 

We are pleased to hear about the compliments. Ingram took great care when developing our Lightning Source business. Our operation has been completely scalable from the very beginning - we can print, dispatch, and sell one book at a time, and our single copy capabilities give us the flexibility to work with small independent publishers to large multinational organisations.

Lots of satisfied clients from what I hear, but some disgruntlement too. I appreciate you can’t deal with every issue, so I wanted to raise just a few points such as complexity of interface, cost of revisions, lack of facility to offset set-up costs against earnings and the difficulty of making a group order (ie, separate publishers, one delivery). Do you envisage any adjustments being made to these various processes in the future?

We value all customer feedback and continually work to develop our products and services to meet the changing needs of the publishers we work with. In July, we launched IngramSparkSM, a new Publish On Demand platform that offers a new, simple path to publishing. The easy-to-use online publishing tool provides independent publishers with simple, cost-effective access to Ingram's global distribution network for print titles and e-book content. The new platform will give publishers the tools to manage their print books and e-books in one location.

What do you see as Lightning Source’s USP? What do you think is your edge over the competition?

The pairing of our high-quality single copy book manufacturing with our worldwide access to the market we provide to publishers is unmatched in the book industry. Placing titles with Lightning Source gives publishers a unique global distribution model that allows a book to be printed when it is sold. There is no need to print a book beforehand.

What are the latest developments in terms of international distribution? Can you talk a little about Global Connect?

A substantial number of our publishers use Ingram's worldwide distribution network to grow their reach and expand sales internationally - Ingram distributes to more than 195 countries around the world. In addition, our Global Connect program enables publishers to get titles to new markets through arrangements with leading distributors and book manufacturing locations. Our Lightning Source customers are currently distributing content locally in Brazil and Germany.

Colour – I understand there will be more than one new function available for publishers who need to use photographs, illustrations, images, etc. Could you give us a brief overview?

Our high-quality book manufacturing process is perfectly suited for photographs, illustrations, line art and images. Publishers that work with Lightning Source have the option to print both black and white and colour interior books. Recently, premium colour book manufacturing capabilities in our U.S. plant have been duplicated in the U.K., and our new standard colour option has just launched in July giving publishers cost-effective local colour options.

· Premium colour is available from the U.K. with two day shipping to anywhere in Europe. The rich depth of colour makes it ideal for highly illustrative publications.

· Standard colour is also available. Standard colour provides publishers with high quality colour at a very low price.

There has been some concern about piracy of material printed with Lightning Source. What’s your take?

We work with more than 35,000 publishers, and we manufacture content on their behalf. That said, piracy isn’t a new issue. In fact, the majority of pirated copies are from print books being photocopied and distributed, and, for those who can’t or don’t want to pay for books, they’ve always been available for free from libraries. For publishers, the key is to continue to make books not only an engaging experience but also an affordable and easy-to-access experience. We need to make it easy for consumers to find and purchase books legally, and we are delighted to work with publishers to do just that.

What do you see as the major changes likely to happen in the publishing industry? Where do you see Lightning Source fits in?

It has become a somewhat tired phrase to say that the publishing industry is undergoing huge change: but it is absolutely true. We expect to see publishers moving even more content to an on demand model. The old model of printing for inventory is becoming an absurdity that is increasingly difficult to defend. The physical book is not going to disappear, but its mode of production and distribution, for the vast majority of titles, is inexorably moving to one that requires single copy print on demand allied to a global distribution network that can deliver a book to anyone within 24 hours.
Increasing automation allied with the new high speed inkjet printing technologies that are now coming on stream will spur this development as digitally printed books take up more and more of the market. Print runs will continue to shrink as publishers strive to free up capital that was previously locked up in inventory.

E-books will continue to exert downward pressure on print runs but, with very few exceptions, they will not replace the printed book. We expect the print book and the e-book to coexist as publishers offer a choice to consumers about how they wish to consume content.

We expect the explosion in self- publishing to continue and to move out from its homeland in North America and Europe to the BRIC regions. We see new publishing models continuing to appear as creative talents engage with the capabilities that these news global/digital models allow. In short, we think publishing is in a good place. Never before have publishers had so many fantastic tools at their disposal to make their content available to individuals who want to read it. Never before has it been so easy for content to be discoverable.

As the print on demand arm of Ingram Content Group, Lightning Source is set to play a huge role in allowing publishers to make their content available on an increasingly global basis.
provide greater choice in the market. 

Lightning Source - From the Horse's Mouth

All Triskele authors have published our print books with Lightning Source and each of us is delighted with the results. Lightning Source Inc (LSI) is part of the Ingram Content Group, which launched its latest initiatve -  IngramSpark - at Book Expo America.

Triskele Books are always curious about the latest publishing industry developments and watched the announcement with great interest. 

So we asked Lightning Source to talk to us about the way they work with indie publishers like ourselves and what the future holds.  

David Taylor, President of Lightning Source UK, was more than happy to talk to us and outline the company's plans. In a two-part interview, David explains the IngramSpark initiative and answers our questions on LSI and indie authors.
  

 

Lightning Source - From the Horse's Mouth (Part I)

Why did Ingram develop IngramSpark?

Many of our publishers have asked us to create a service where they can easily distribute their content in all formats to our vast network of retail partners. IngramSpark is a response to those requests. Additionally, we wanted to streamline our sales, account setup, content management and customer support activities by providing publishers with a better experience through a self service, completely online portal where they manage all their activity in one place.

Does this mean Ingram is getting into the self-publishing business?

We are in the business of servicing our upstream (publishers) and downstream (retailers, library) partners. As the definition of “publisher” has evolved in the industry to “content provider”, Ingram will provide services to assist getting that content to market, as we have done from the beginning. Ingram Content Group work with all publisher segments in the industry.

What services will the IngramSpark program offer?

IngramSpark will launch with global POD service via LSI-US; LSI-UK and LSI-AU. Additionally eBook service via the CS-fulfillment channel will provide distribution to over 100 online retailers. In August, the CS+ network comes online making eBook content available for Amazon Kindle, Apple iPad, Nook and 13 other major e-retailers.

Plans are underway for IngramSpark to also offer file conversion services, ISBN purchase via an arrangement with Bowker, and a marketing program that includes advertising via Ingram’s Advance catalogues, press release and book review services.

Publishers using IngramSpark will pay for services and fees by credit card they have on file in their account.

What is the difference between IngramSpark and LSI print services?

LSI is a pioneer and innovator in POD technology so all that LSI has to offer in choice of format, trim size and color options will be available to the IngramSpark publisher. The cost of printing and shipping content is the same in both platforms. LSI allows more flexibility in terms of a publisher being able to set a range of channel discounts where Spark applies a standard trade discount of 55%. LSI accounts have an assigned CSR where Spark is designed as a self service platform with limited support.

As LSI print service users, we're wondering what that means for us.

Just to be clear – we are not trying to move customers over to Spark, just provide greater choice in the market. 

IngramSpark launches Monday 1 July


Part 2 of David's interview will be out next week.