Guide to Literary Agents

Attribution (Levels)
       On the record - When everything in an interview is fair game to be printed and attributed normally. This accounts for 99.9% of interviewing for most writers.
       Off the record - When a source explains something not for publication by any means, but just as a personal explaination to the interviewer. To be truly off the record, both the source and writer must agree to it. If a source simply says "Off the record" and gives their thoughts without the writer agreeing to stop reporting, then the conversation is not truly off the record, and the writer must determine whether to use the material.
       Unattributable - This is the current term for when you quote a source but keep their identity anonymous.
       On background - What's said cannot be quoted nor can the source be identified, but the gist of what's said may or may not be printed. For example, "A source inside the McCain campaign, who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of this information, hinted that they may be as few as only two names on McCain's short list of potential vice presidential candidates."

Boiler Plate Contract (also know as a "standard contract") - (n.) A standard throughout the industry written document between the publisher and the authors that determines the advance, royalty rates and subrights distribution.

Faction - (n.) Works that are presented as fiction but that use actual facts, events and persons in their story and plot lines. Fictional characters are often incorporated as well, which separates the "factional" novel from the nonfiction novel. (In the latter, the documentary facts, characters and plot are based on real events.)

Fair use - The amount of copyrighted material that may be quoted - especially for the purposes of criticism, news reporting, teaching or research - without infringing a copyright. Fair use is usually determined by four factors:
       1. the purpose and character of the use (for example, commercial or not-for-profit educational)
       2. the nature of the copyrighted work
       3. the amount used in proportion to the copyrighted work as a whole
       4. the effect on the market value of the copyrighted work

Imprint - (n.) A smaller line of books within a larger publishing house. These often run kind of like a small press within a larger press. They have their own editorial staff but will often share other departments with the rest of the publishing house.

Subsidiary Rights - (n.) Rights associated with the publishing of a book that do not deal with the actual physical book. This can include film rights, merchandising rights, foreign rights, and electronic rights. Some authors are able to keep all of their subrights, but this is rare and generally requires your name to be J.K. Rowling or Stephen King.

Writer's Block - (n.) An unfortunate occurrence where an author can not think of a single phrase, thought or word towards his/her current project. Although often remedied by a good night's sleep, these writing slumps can occassionally last for weeks or months. Let's use the word in a sentence: When trying to think of words for this list, I suffer from writer's block.

Writer's Block: "Maybe I should write a few pages
and reward myself with a muffin. OK, I need to
establish the themes. Banana Nut - that's a
good muffin."

Definitions

5/5/2008 1:49:04 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Tuesday, April 08, 2008

What Does That Mean? Literary Definitions: Vol. 5
Posted by Chuck

Ever come across a publishing term and wasn't sure what it meant? (Who hasn't?)

The Buried Editor and I are
pairing up to start a series to
help define some oft-used
terms in the publishing world.
Here's Volume One:

Film option - (n.) Not to be confused with "option clause" below. An option is when a production company (or other individual/organization) pays you a moderate amount of money in exchange for a time period to exclusively develop a film project deriving from your work.
       For example: A film company asks to option your book for $5,000. A typical deal would involve letting them have 12 months to move the project forward and try to get the wheels moving so a film adaptation of your book is brought to life. During those 12 months, the film company will hire a scriptwriter to pen a screenplay adaptation and then use the screenplay as a tool to get prominent actors and producers interested. If they have enough momentym and people onboard, the film company will buy the film rights altogether. If the film company fails in its goal to get a good script and actors, and the 12 months run out, you get the rights back. At that point, other production companies may choose to option it. Options are much more common that a full purchase of film rights.

Logline - (n.) A one-line summary of your story. For example: "A treasure hunter searches for a fabled artifact in the Himalayas."

Narrative nonfiction - (n.) Nonfiction that uses the devices of fiction. You're telling a true story, but using things such as character development, dialogue and cliffhangers. Think about it like the movie Apollo 13. The whole story is true, but it's told in a dramatic fashion, like a fictional story would be.
       Oft-cited examples of narrative nonfiction include The Perfect Storm, Seabiscuit, In Cold Blood and The Right Stuff.

Option clause - (n.) A clause often found in author-publisher book contracts that grants the publisher the right to publish the author's next work. The option clause is sometimes called the "right of first refusal" because it allows the publisher first crack at the author's next book, which the publisher may or may not decide to take on.
       For example, you write Book 1 for a publisher and then compose Book 2. The publishing house that signed you for Book 1 gets an exclusive look at Book 2 for a set period of time (say, a few months) and then will either come back and say "No thanks. You're free to take it elsewhere" - or they will say "We want this one, too. How does $15,000 sound?" If the amount offered for Book 2 is too low, you can still say no and still go elsewhere.

Synopsis - (n.) A summary of your story from start to finish that explains everything in the book. The main characters are introduced and the ending is revealed.

Tearsheet - (n.) A sample of writing in its published form, cut from the newspaper or magazine in which it appeared. If the tearsheet does not include the title and date of the publication, the writer should include that information. Similar to "clips."

"I always find the fish!!"
The Perfect Storm (by Sebastian Junger)
is an example of narrative nonfiction.

Definitions

4/8/2008 4:27:45 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Sunday, March 23, 2008

What Does That Mean? Literary Definitions: Vol. 4
Posted by Chuck

Ever come across a publishing term and wasn't sure what it meant? (Who hasn't?)

The Buried Editor and I are
pairing up to start a series to
help define some oft-used
terms in the publishing world.
Here's Volume Four:

All rights - (n.) Just like it sounds. When a publication or publishing house purchases all rights from you, they own it all. You can't sell it again, or use the characters again, etc.

BEA: stands for BookExpo of America - (n.) The premier American book conference. Publishers and independent booksellers converge every year to discuss the new season's books and to network. This year's expo is at the end of May in Los Angeles.

E-book reader (or e-reader) - (n.) An electronic device that allows a user to view both electronic versions of books or manuscripts. A very wonderful device for editors and agents since they can now carry hundreds of pages of manuscripts in a little eight-ounce device.

i.e. - an abbreviation for id est, Latin for "that is to say" or "namely." The phrase is used to clarify a point, as in this example: "Enclose a #10 (i.e., business-sized) self-addressed, stamped envelope with your submission."

Kill fee - (n.) A fee paid to a writer who has worked on an assignment that, for some reason, is not published.
For example, you're contracted to write an article for a magazine and you turn it in. The article itself is satisfactory. But then the editor calls you and says they are changing the focus of the upcoming issue and they can't use your article as part of the package anymore. They have no more need for it, so they pay you a kill fee (approximately 25% of the original promised price) and all rights to the article revert back to you. Your best bet is to try and sell it elsewhere. Kill fees are rare.

Novella - (n.) A relatively short work of prose fiction comparable in length to a long short story or novelette, approximately 30,000-50,000 words.

Prepublication tour - (n.) A tour arranged by the publisher for the author before the release of the author's book. Unlike a normal author tour that centers around booksigning opportunities, these tours are a chance for the author to meet booksellers and the media. They often center around trade shows like BEA.

To Query - (v.) The act of asking very nicely in the sweetest most professional way possible if you can pretty please submit your manuscript for the publishing house to review.

Simultaneous submission - (n.) A submission where the writer submits his work to multiple editors or agents at the same time. Submitting to more than one agent is common (and encouraged). Some agents will only review queries or manuscripts exclusively; however, they should be upfront about this quirk in their online writers' guidelines, and they should have a limited amount of time to be the only ones reviewing your work (one month, for example).

Stand by Me, by Stephen King, was
originally a novella, as were his stories that
inspired the films Apt Pupil and
The Shawshank Redemption.

Definitions

3/23/2008 9:25:10 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Wednesday, March 12, 2008

What Does That Mean? Literary Definitions: Vol. 3
Posted by Chuck

Ever come across a publishing term and wasn't sure what it meant? (Who hasn't?)

The Buried Editor and I are
pairing up to start a series to
help define some oft-used
terms in the publishing world.
Here's Volume Three:

Advance - (n.) A payment against future royalties that you are paid in advance of publication. This can be a lot or a little. Of course, if you don't sell many books and earn out your advance, you'll never see another dime for the book.

Agent - (n.) An intermediary that acts on the author's behalf while negotiating with a publisher. Since agents initially approach editors with manuscripts to pitch, they also serve as an important filter for publishing houses that do not accept unsolicited work.

Biweekly/Bimonthly - Referring to something that takes place once every two weeks/months. This is often confused with semi-weekly/semi-monthly, which means the something in question comes out twice every week/month.

Book Doctor - (n.) A freelance editor hired by a writer, agent or book editor who is skilled in analyzing any problems that exist in a book manuscript or proposal, and offering solutions to those problems. Book doctors often give advice on how to improve the work. They charge money for their services and knowledgeable pros are not cheap.

Byline - (n.) an author's name that appears with his or her work on the book or article. Bylines are craved by writers everywhere

On Spec - Writing a complete assignment before money is assured through a contract. When you compose an original screenplay not commissioned by anyone, it is known as a "spec screenplay." If you query a magazine or newspaper with an article idea, they may ask you to write it on spec, meaning they want to see the finished product in its entirety before making a decision to purchase and publish it.

Packager - (n.) A company that produces series of books for publishers. They generally use ghostwriters to write the books and then they pitch the whole series to a publisher who actually publishes the book. Nancy Drew is an example of something produced by a packager (Stratemeyer Syndicate) and then published by a publisher (Grosset & Dunlap).

Royalty - (n.) A percentage of the profits given to the author by the publisher in exchange for the permission to print the authors copyrighted work. These are normally based on the price the publisher gets for the book not the actual retail price. Like an advance, royalty percents can vary in size.

Evidently, this means "knowledge" in Japanese.

See Volumes One and Two here.

Definitions

3/12/2008 10:38:31 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [1]

Friday, March 07, 2008

What Does That Mean? Literary Definitions: Vol. 2
Posted by Chuck

Ever come across a publishing term and wasn't sure what it meant? (Who hasn't?)

The Buried Editor and I are
pairing up to start a series to
help define some oft-used
terms in the publishing world.
Here's Volume Two:

Acquisitions editor - (n.) an editor with the ability to submit book ideas for publication to the publisher. I (Chuck) am not an acquisitions editor, as I edit and update three directories each year. Coworkers, however, are acquisitions editors, and can take pitches for books in the Writer's Digest Books imprint. The Buried Editor is an acquisitions editor, and take pitches at conferences for children's books.
Similar, but not the same, is a submissions editor, which is a more common term in magazines. A submissions editor on staff will review all queries that come in.

Board book - (n.) a small format picture book for children under the age of three. The book is printed on thick cardboard like paper that is impervious to ripping and baby drool.

Clips - (n.) In journalistic terms, a sample of a writer's published work, usually from a newspaper or magazine. Editors often mention that clips or clippings should be mailed or e-mailed when an author queries them with an idea.

Comp copies - (n.) free copies of a book that an author receives from the publisher. The number varies from deal to deal. Comp copies are also sent out to authorities on the book's subject so they can provide positive testimonials or blurbs for advertising copy.
Comp copies sent to the author are also known as Contributor Copies or Author Copies.

Denouement - (n.) French for an untying. The denouement of a novel or story follows the climax; it represents the unraveling pf the complexities of a plot, and the clarifying of the story's details and misunderstandings.

F&G: stands for Fold & Gather - (n.) The picture book version of a galley. They are not bound but show the picture book in all its four-color glory. It's then sent to reviewers and the like.

MS: stands for Manuscript - (n.) The typed, double-spaced, in-a-standard-font version of an author's work submitted to a publishing house.

PB: stands for Picture Book - (n.) A book for younger children that has sparse text and big, colorful (or occasionally black and white) pictures. Generally they have 32 pages. They are more difficult to write than most people realize, and despite a recent microscopic turn, the market for them has been sluggish at best for a while.

See Volume One Here.

Definitions

3/7/2008 9:43:49 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Tuesday, March 04, 2008

What Does That Mean? Literary Definitions: Vol. 1
Posted by Chuck

Ever come across a publishing term and wasn't sure what it meant? (Who hasn't?)

The Buried Editor and I are
pairing up to start a series to
help define some oft-used
terms in the publishing world.
Here's Volume One:

To Acquire - (v.) The act of accepting a manuscript for publication. A work is not officially acquired until the contracts have been signed. Until then, it's in the process of being acquired.

ARC: Advanced Reading Copy - (n.) A bound copy of a book given to reviewers, booksellers, and other interested members of the industry for the purpose of creating excitement prior to the release of the book. Although these are not the final copy, they tend to be pretty damn close with cover art and some interior illustration. Although not the same thing as a galley, the words may be used interchangeably.

Galley - (n.) A bound version of just the text of the book (or article, if writing for magazines). There is little to no illustrations and the cover is a solid color with release data printed on the cover. Used for the same purposes as ARCs.

IRC: International Reply Coupon - (n.) International postage so that countries who don't use American currency stamps can mail back your submission and/or notification of rejection.

Sic - Latin for thus or so. Usually [enclosed in brackets] or (parentheses), sic is inserted after a word, phrase or expression in a quoted passage to indicate that the word or phrase has been quoted exactly as it was written, even though it may seem strange or incorrect (e.g., there was a spelling error in the quote).

Slush - (n.) Unsolicited manuscripts submitted to a publishing house. They tend to accumulate into mountainous piles.

Stet - Latin for let it stand. Editors and proofreaders place the word stet in the margin of a manuscript to indicate that a marked change or deletion should be ignored, and the copy typeset in its original form.

Vet - (v.) A term used by editors when referring to the procedure of submitting a book manuscript to an outside expert for review before publication. A manuscript is usually vetted at the publisher's expense.

Definitions

3/4/2008 10:56:36 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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