Glossary of Publishing Terms-Part Five

by Laura Fabiani @ NouveauWriter

If you’ve ever wondered what one-time rights are or what an option clause is, read on.

MASS MARKET: Commercial novels published in paperback in slightly smaller format on newsprint and sold at a lesser price than trade paperbacks.

MEMOIR: A narrative recounting a writer’s (or fictional narrator’s) personal or family history; specifics may be altered, though essentially considered nonfiction.

MIDDLE GRADE OR MID-GRADE: The general classification of books written for readers approximately ages 9-11. Also called middle readers.

MIDLIST: Those titles on a publisher’s list that are not expected to be big initial sellers, but are expected to have limited/modest sales or solid sales over a longer amount of time.

MODEL RELEASE: A paper signed by the subject of a photograph giving the photographer permission to use the photograph.

MULTIPLE CONTRACT: Book contract with an agreement for a future book(s).

MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS: Sending more than one book proposal or article idea to a publisher at the same time.

NARRATIVE NONFICTION: A narrative presentation of actual events.

NET ROYALTY: A royalty payment based on the amount of money a book publisher receives on the sale of a book after bookseller’s discounts, special sales discounts, and returns.

NOVELLA: Shorter than a novel but longer than a long story; approximately 50,000 words.

ON SPEC: An editor expresses an interest in a proposed article idea and agrees to consider the finished piece for publication “on speculation”. The editor is under no obligation to buy the finished manuscript.

ONE-TIME RIGHTS: Rights allowing a manuscript to be published one time. The work can be sold again by the writer without violating the contract.

OPTION CLAUSE: A contract clause giving a publisher the right to publish an author’s next book.

Source: Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner