I’ve been doing a lot of research these past few months, and I thought it’d be helpful to create a running list of publishing terms. This list isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a good start for anyone new to researching kidlit publishing. Also, I can only promise that these definitions are how I understand these terms. I might be missing some nuances.
Traditional Publishing
When an author publishes a book through a traditional publishing company, rather than self publishing or publishing through a vanity or hybrid publisher. Traditional publishes hold a high standard in what they are willing to publish, and they do not charge authors to publish their work. These publishers use their own budget and resources to help authors with editing, publishing, and marketing their books.
Indie Publishing
While some self publishers seem to be using this term to refer to their own publishing businesses, from what I understand, it’s mostly used to refer to publishing companies that are quite small or quite new. They don’t have the large budget or strong reputation of traditional publishers, but they don’t charge fees like vanity or hybrid publishers.
Self Publishing
When an author does not publish a book through a traditional or indie publishing house, but instead publishes on their own through something like Amazon. The author is in charge of writing the book, editing it, formatting it, publishing it, marketing it, etc. They can hire various people to help with these tasks, or do it all on their own. Authors have more control over their books by going with this route and usually get higher royalties for each copy sold, as well. But, the reputability isn’t as high as the traditional publishing path. At least, not yet.
Vanity Publisher
A publisher whose revenue comes from the fees authors pay to be published by them. Since these publishers don’t rely on book sales for revenue, there’s no need to keep a high standard when agreeing to publish a book. This type of publishing in not really seen as legitimate, since there are no standards being used to decide what is published.
Hybrid Publisher
From what I’ve researched, it’s hard to find a reputable hybrid publisher. That’s because many of them are just vanity publishers in disguise. But, supposedly, a hybrid publisher is a publisher whose revenue comes from book sales and fees authors pay to be published through them. So, since book sales are supposedly an important part of their revenue, they (supposedly) keep the high standards of traditional publishers when deciding which books to publish.
Publishing House vs. Imprint
In simple terms, a publishing house is a company that publishes books. An imprint is a trade name under which a publishing house publishes books. A publishing house can publish books under multiple imprints. For example, Atheneum Books for Young Readers is one imprint of the publishing house, Simon & Schuster.
Literary Agent
The person who represents you when communicating with publishers. They pitch your manuscripts to editors and negotiate your advances and publishing contracts. Many agents also provide editorial feedback on your manuscripts before submitting them to editors. You do not pay an agent! They earn a commission each time they sell one of your manuscripts to a publisher. The commission is usually 15% of what you earn.
Editor
The publishing house employee your agent queries in the hopes of selling your book’s publishing rights. They might offer suggestions for revision (aka Revise and Resubmit). Or, they might buy your book’s rights, then work with you to edit your manuscript until it receives final approval to be published.
Revise and Resubmit
An agent is interested in your manuscript, but wants you to revise it in certain ways then resubmit it to them. They won’t offer representation until they see the revised version. At that point, they make the offer to rep you or decide to pass.
An editor is interested in your manuscript, but wants you to revise it in certain ways then resubmit it to them. Once you submit the revised version, they decide whether or not they want to buy the publishing rights.
Publishing Rights
There are different types of rights. Still need to do a lot of research on them. For now, my understanding is that a publisher buys the rights to publish your manuscript. The rights the publisher have over your manuscript depend on your publishing contract.
Query or Query Letter
When you “query” a literary agent, you are sending them a letter or email (or filling out a form) in which you pitch them your story (and yourself). The query letter tends to include a short intro, your pitch, and a short author bio. Some people refer to this structure as the “hook, book, and cook.” So, hook the agent’s interest with a short intro, pitch your book, then provide some information on yourself (the cook). There are a lot of resources out there about how to write a query. Like this one.
You can also query editors, in the sense that you can submit to ones that accept unsolicited and unagented submissions.
Make sure to follow the submission guidelines carefully, no matter who you are querying.
Comp
A comp is a comparison or competitive text, that provides context for your book. Basically, what books can you connect your manuscript to, in the sense of writing style, plot, story world, theme, or character? What books will your manuscript be displayed next to if published? These titles will give agents or editors a sense of your book before they even read the pitch. Here’s a great article about comps.
Movies and other types of texts can also be comps. Even specific characters or authors.
Unsolicited Submission
When you submit a query to an agent or editor without them asking you to submit that query to them. If you meet an agent or editor at a conference or other event, they might ask you to send them your query or manuscript. In this case, the material is now “solicited.” Few publishers accept unsolicited manuscripts, so keep that in mind. Also, research agents before you query them, as some don’t accept unsolicited queries or only accept them at specific times.
Pitch
A short, catchy description of your manuscript, which is used to gain interested from an agent or editor. Pitches tend to include information about your main character, their problem, the stakes of not solving their problem, and perhaps a hint to how this problem will be solved. The pitch is the most important part of a query letter. The length varies depending on the type of book you’re pitching. For picture books, the pitch should be a short paragraph.
Logline
A one sentence description of your manuscript. Includes the main character (described, rather than formally named), the main conflict, and the stakes. For example, here’s a logline I’ve been working on: “Jealous of the attention their parents are giving to their older sister, two siblings act to sabotage their sister’s big day, until a delicious cake tasting makes them realize that the event can be special for the whole family, if one of their plans actually work.”
Synopsis
I don’t write synopses for my picture book manuscripts. But, from what I understand, a synopsis is a 1-page description of your book’s plot. It’s a concise and engaging description of your whole book. Meaning, you give away the ending in this genre, which is not usually the case in a pitch or logline.
Twitter Pitch Party
A Twitter event that usually takes place over 12 hours, in which aspiring authors pitch their manuscripts in the length of one Tweet. Different parties have different limitations on how many times you can tweet about a manuscript. You need to use the party’s official hashtag to make sure your tweets can be easily found by agents and editors. If interested, agents and editors will “heart” the tweet, which signals that you can send them a query. These queries are considered solicited, so you can let the agent/editor know in your query that they expressed interest in your manuscript at the Twitter Pitch Party.
There are a lot of pitch parties. Here are two big ones: PBPitch and PitMad.
Picture Book Dummy
Stack together 8 pieces of paper. Fold the stack in half, from left to right. You now have a picture book dummy, as the standard PB is 32 pages in length. Use this dummy to plan out each page of your PB manuscript. You can also staple or tape together 16 pieces of paper, not folding them in half.
Want a digital version? You can find three templates in the free resource library. Here’s a tutorial on how to use the templates.
Query Tracker
A website where you can track the queries you’ve sent out. This website includes tons of information on literary agents and editors. You can filter entries to a limited extent on the free version. The paid version gives you more filtering options.
Author Website
A digital space where an author can share news and information that will interest readers, teachers, librarians, parents, fellow authors, etc. Promote your books, build an email list, share resources, and more. Make it easy for potential readers to find you online.
Author Platform
Your platform can refer to your full digital presence. So, not just your website, but your social media accounts and communities, as well. For example, not just my website, but also my YouTube channel, Twitter account, and email list. But, it can also refer to “what you stand for” or what values or beliefs you are promoting through your work. For example, your books might be entertaining, but also educational in relation to how to be more eco-friendly. Your books might focus heavily on social emotional learning. Your books might all feature BIPOC or LGBTQIA+ characters (or both), because you want your books to better reflect your own experiences and the experiences of marginalized children. For example, my PB manuscripts all feature Cuban American protagonists, since I want to increase Cuban American representation in children’s books.
On Submission
When your agent believes your manuscript is ready to be seen by editors, they put that manuscript on submission. This means your manuscript has been sent to editors in the hopes of selling it to the publishing house or imprint in which they work. Some editors will express interest, some will say no, and some might not answer at all.
Acquisitions
If an editor is interested in your manuscript, they share it with the acquisitions team to see if they want to place an offer on the manuscript. If they do, then they’ll get in touch with your agent (or you, if you’re unagented), and offer to buy rights to publish the book.
At Auction
If more than one editor and acquisitions team are interested in publishing your book, your book is sold at auction. That means multiple editors will be bidding to win the rights to publish your book. You and your agent (or just you, if unagented) will pick the winner.
Advance
A signing bonus given to the author in advance of the book being published. This advance is negotiated by your agent, if you have one. It’s an “advance against royalties.” That means you will not receive any royalties until your advance “earns out.” For example, you get a $5,000 advance for a picture book manuscript. After you’ve sold enough copies of the book that you’ve passed $5K in royalties (which again, you didn’t receive because you got them in “advance”), then you start earning royalties for each additional book sold.
Royalties
An agreed upon percentage of gross or net revenue, which you earn each time a copy of your book is sold. If you received an advance, you don’t start receiving royalties until that advance has been paid out. Percentages range, but it’s usually 3-6% for picture book authors.
Have suggestions for other terms to add to the list? Let me know in the comments!