Coming to Terms: Words You'll Hear At Writers Conferences
Shelly Lowenkopf and Stu Miller -- June 18, 2006
Two masters of the literary game share some terms of the special language you'll hear spoken in the hallways of writers conferences.
Shelly Lowenkopf
Advance--a usually non-returnable sum paid by publishers to authors to obtain the right to publish a literary work. The advance is recouped by the publisher out of royalties due the author from sales of the work until it has, hopefully, been fully repaid.
Backlist--titles in a publisher's catalog that continue to sell after the original season of publication. Although publishers are not averse to best-sellers, they would generally prefer a steady backlist title that sells indefinitely to a flash-in-the-pan early big seller that runs out of steam. Often, the steady sale of backlist titles are what sustains a publisher's business.
Beat or Beats--dramatic events in stories often referred to by literary agents, editors and critics. Authors might be advised that their work needs another beat--a defining dramatic moment--or two, or perhaps that there are already too many beats, thus diffusing the dramatic intensity of the work.
Business Affairs Executives--individuals who negotiate agreements in behalf of publishers, studios, networks, production companies, agencies, management companies and others who engage or represent authors and other talent in the entertainment and publishing fields.
Card Page--the first verso book page (meaning, on the reverse or back of the half-title page), listing other books by the same author.
Category Fiction (also called Genre Fiction)--the various groupings you're likely to find in bookstores: Romance, Historical, Suspense, Thriller, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy and Western, among others. Many of these genres are also broken down into sub-genres, like "police procedural", "sword and sorcery", "alternate universe" and "bodice ripper", making it incumbent on authors to know the expectations of editors and readers of these categories before you attempt to write in them. To fully steep yourself in a genre it's a good idea to read extensively in it, meaning dozens of titles, especially those published within the past five years.
Editor--"content editors" acquire new titles for publishing companies and usually work closely with authors during a revision process designed to assist the author in making the best use of story, characters and dramatic effect until such time as the material receives final acceptance by the publisher. Although editors often make suggestions for revisions, authors are not required to accept them; however, the publisher usually retains the contractual right of final acceptance and can refuse to publish the work. "Copy editors" make interventions on things such as syntax, grammar, numbering, abbreviations, italics, and other matters of conformity to the publishing company's specific style. The content editor's goal is to make a book as polished, seamless, and effective as possible; the copy editor's goal is to ensure consistency of style, format, and use of language.
Industry Referral Only--the intended recipient of a submission will only accept materials with a personal recommendation from someone known to them in the business.
Literary Agent--an individual or company who represents book authors and/or screen and television writers and/or playwrights, and sometimes directors, producers and other types of creative talent. Agents solicit employment and sales or license agreements, negotiate contracts and collect compensation and assist in career planning and development on behalf of clients. Agent compensation generally ranges from 10 to 15 percent of the gross income earned by clients from all sources in connection with their agreements. In California, agents are licensed by the State Labor Commission and must abide by a set of written terms and conditions imposed by the State. Agents who represent members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and/or the Directors Guild of America (DGA) must also sign agreements with those guilds and abide by the terms and conditions thereof, including a limitation of 10% on the amount of commission allowed from income earned in the motion picture, television and related fields.
Literary Manager--an individual or company who advises, counsels, guides and develops the career of a writer and who may serve as a liaison between such clients and agents, attorneys, publicists and other service providers. Literary Managers are not licensed or regulated by the State of California or the WGA or DGA and are prohibited from seeking employment, sales or licenses and/or negotiating contracts in behalf of their clients. Literary Manager compensation is generally similar to Agent compensation, although there is no limit on the amount of commission a Literary Manager may negotiate with clients.
No Unsolicited Submissions--the intended recipient will only accept submissions which come from an agent, manager, attorney or executive.
Outline--a detailed description covering the main points of a literary project.
Platform--a means of promoting yourself and your work to a large potential readership, e.g., a syndicated newspaper column with a circulation of at least 50,000, a blog site with a certified 25,000 hits a month, a television or radio series, successful past publications, frequent speaking engagements before large audiences, or other kinds of high profile public notice and celebrity are all useful platforms. Lacking some or all of these, it's difficult for new writers to break down the barriers to meaningful publication but, of course, if it were easy, everybody'd be doing it.
Proposal--a prospectus or business plan for your book which articulates marketing strategy, demographics, how your work differs from or represents an improvement on competing titles, why now is the time for your book, why you are a the right person to write it, and what the book will do for the reader--all of this in addition to a table of contents, a scope statement and sample chapters. Most nonfiction books, even those from published authors, require a proposal. Only rarely are works of fiction contracted from proposals. Hmmm, maybe you need a platform...
Remainder--what a publisher may, but is not obligated to, do with your book when it no longer sells in the retail channels; sell it at substantially reduced prices. If so, even though your book may have a second life, selling well as a remainder, you will generally not be paid royalties for it.
Reprint--what a publisher will do when it underestimates the number of copies of a book it can sell and doesn't manufacture enough to meet the initial demand.
Returns--understand that publishers assume all of the economic risks of publishing; they pay all of the costs of acquiring, editing, manufacturing and distributing books, including the cost of shipping both to and from the wholesalers and retailers. The bookseller can return every copy of every hardcover book it orders for full credit and, in the case of softcover books, usually just tears off the front cover and returns it. This is why most publishing agreements between author and publisher refer with specificity to "copies actually sold" in the royalty paragraph. Some business, eh?
Royalty--the author's portion of the income earned by books. Hard cover royalties are traditionally 10 percent of the cover price of copies 1-5000 actually sold of your book, escalating to 12 1/2 percent for copies 5001 to 10000. From that point on, the royalty is 15 percent. Softcover royalties are typically 6 to 10 percent of the cover price, depending on the level of sales and the negotiating strength of the author. When a large chain like Barnes & Noble or Borders takes a big order of books, enough to qualify for a discount of 60 percent off the cover price, the author's royalty is usually reduced by half.
SASE--self addressed, stamped envelope (which should accompany any submission made via regular mail if the sender wants the material and/or a response returned).
Scene--the basic dramatic unit; a locale in which characters appear bearing an agenda and expectations. The more engaging the story, the more the setting for the scene is as likely as the characters to have a personality.
Subsidiary (or Sub) Rights--each book might be likened to multi-unit building of which the author is the builder. Just as such a builder can rent, lease or sell the units at prices the market will bear, the author will try to maximize income potential form the various rights associated with a book. The hardcover rights are traditionally--but not necessarily--the key to value of the subsidiary rights, which include, but are not limited to: dramatic rights (meaning motion picture, television and theatrical stage rights), trade paperback rights, mass market paperback rights, book club rights, audio book rights, foreign language rights, serialization rights (first, meaning before initial book publication and second, meaning after initial book publication), condensation rights and various forms of electronic and merchandising rights. Publishers often get a varying share of some of these rights, giving them a rooting interest in the overall success of the book.
Slush Pile (or Over-The-Transom) Submissions--the accumulated volume of unsolicited, generally unrepresented literary material which finds its way to publishers, studios, networks, production companies, agencies, management companies and others in spite of usually strict rules prohibiting or discouraging such submissions. They are often never read and, when they are, it's usually by an assistant or other low-level employee with little or no influence in the company. And yet, there are the occasional instances where such material is discovered, nurtured, developed and turned into an historic success. Thus does hope spring eternal...
Through-line--the thrust or goal of a story.