When I first started corresponding with agents and reading authors’ blogs, there were a few terms I was not familiar with. Most of them are common sense, and you probably aren’t as clueless as me, but I thought it would be helpful to do a glossary of the main terms and abbreviations used in the editing process, as I’m going start editing The Cartographer’s Daughter with Hellie this week (gulp). I’ll add to it as more come up.
Beta readers: People who read your ms for you in order to make suggestions for edits, characters etc. My family and friends are these lucky people! This is also sometimes used in a professional context.
Blurb: Essentially a pitch – what you’d find on the back of a book in a shop. It’s often useful to include a one- or two- sentence blurb in your cover letter/email to an agent.
Copy: Another word for the ‘text’ of your book in printed or electronic form – can be referring to a section of a chapter, or to an entire manuscript.
Extent: The number of pages in a printed manuscript/book.
Full: Often used by agents to request the full manuscript. ‘Duh’ but it had me stumped the first time.
Manuscript: An unpublished/unbound text. I always feel a bit pretentious when I’m discussing The Cartographer’s Daughter and call it a novel, or book. And I’m right to, because it’s not really either (yet). And I’ve recently adopted the term ‘WIP’ for the book I’m currently working on, my second.
MS/ms: Abbreviation of ‘manuscript’.
Submission: Traditionally three chapters and a synopsis. When and agent is submitting to publishers, they usually send a pitch letter first, then the ms.
Synopsis: A brief but full account of the significant incidents of your ms. Not to be confused with ‘blurb’.
Partial: Usually applies to the traditional three chapters you initially submit to an agent.
WIP: Work in progress.