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10 Pt. C1S – This indicates ten-point paper, which is the stiffer paper used to cover nearly all paperback books you see on shelves today. The "C1S" refers to "Coated on One Side," as your cover may be varnished or otherwise coated to protect it and give a nice glossy effect. See also stock.
50 lb. paper – What you need to know here is that 50 lb. refers to the thickness of the paper used in your book. The great majority of books are printed on 50 lb. or 60 lb. uncoated white paper. The 60 lb. paper is thicker than 50 lb. paper. See also stock.
Back Matter – The pages that appear after the main body of your book, just before the back cover. They include photograph credits, references, etc.
Barcode – A series of parallel lines representing encoded information. On books, the barcode will include the ISBN and the book price, and will appear on the right bottom of the back cover.
Bleed – If you want a photograph to "bleed," that means you want it to reach the edge of the paper, or the edge of the cover. In that case, you will usually use a photo size that is up to ¼ inch wider than where it will be placed. When the book is cut to its final size, your picture will reach the edge of the page.
Blue-line – A blue-line proof is an inexpensive preview of your book after it has been edited, typeset, and proofread. The photographs and print will all be blue. It is used for you to determine if this is how you want your final book to appear. You may submit some final corrections or changes on a form that accompanies the blue-line.
Copyediting – The process of correcting punctuation, capitalization, grammar and spelling. Style and usage may also be included. There are many other types of editing.
Copyright – Copyright is literally what is says; the right to copy. If you own copyrights to your work, only you can reproduce it and sell it, and only you can give someone else the right to reproduce it and sell it. Your copyrights begin as soon as you put your material in tangible form, so when you write your book, it automatically is copyright protected, even before you send it to a printer or publisher. You own exclusive rights to your work until you choose to give up those rights, or those rights expire according to copyright law (your life span plus 70 years, by current law).
Cover Stock – Cover stock is the heavier grade of paper that covers the soft-cover books you’ll find on any bookshelf. Nearly all soft-covered books use 10 pt. C1S. The "10 pt." refers to the thickness of the paper, and the "C1S" merely means "Coated on One Side" with some type of protection, like a glossy varnish.
Editing – See Copyediting.
Folio – The term "folio" simply means page number. The numbering of your pages will be referred to as pagination.
Formatting (Typesetting) – The arrangement of all of your text, photographs, drawings, maps, etc. into final book form.
Front Matter – The pages that appear in the front of your book before the first chapter. Front Matter includes the Title Page, Half-Title Page, Copyright Page, Introduction, Preface, etc.
Fulfillment – Refers to storing books, selling books, preparing labels and packaging materials, packing your books, and shipping your books to fill orders.
Halftone – A halftone is the printed reproduction of your photograph or illustration. The more modern term to use would be "scan." The scanner will create a copy of your image for use in your book. The scanned image will be described in DPI (Dots Per Inch), and the minimum setting you should use is 300 DPI.
Hard Copy – A hard copy is a printed version of your computer document. Printing services often request a hard copy along with your disk so that they have a clear visual record of what the final output should look like.
Header – An item of text that appears at the top of a page. Running headers (those that appear on every page) often include the book's title on left-side pages and chapter titles on right-side pages.
ISBN – International Standard Book Number. This will usually appear on the lower right corner of the back cover of a book, represented in numerical and barcode form. It is the international identification number for your particular book.
LCCN (Library of Congress Catalog Number) – Also called a Library of Congress Control Number, this is used to identify your book that is cataloged in the Library of Congress Collection. By using the Library of Congress PCN (Pre-assigned Card Number) Program, the number can be obtained early to list it on the copyright page of your book. You’ll need this number if you plan to market your books to libraries.
PDF – This stands for Portable Document Format. It was invented by Adobe, and it is now a standard used around the world. It is a secure form of your document, and it is how your final book file will be submitted for printing. It is also our preferred tool for editing and proofreading. Adobe offers a free reader to use for viewing PDFs.
Perfect binding – Perfect binding is the glued binding that holds most soft-cover books together at the spine. To use perfect binding, your final book needs to be between 64 and 400 pages.
Pre-press – Pre-press means exactly what it says; the procedures your document goes through before it goes to press. Document settings and requirements often change from one printing service to the next. Your document needs to be in the format and with the settings required by your particular printing service.
Proof – see Blue-line.
Proofreading – Searching for and correcting typographical and mechanical errors at the proof level, before your manuscript goes to the printer. Proofreading has come to be known as finding and correcting errors at any time and in any document, not just in a book proof.
Signature – This is a term that printing services use. It's not vital for you to know, but it adds to your familiarity with the process your project will undergo. Your book pages will be printed in a multiple of 4, and a signature is a single sheet that contains that number of pages, whether it is 8, 16, or 32. Before it sounds too confusing, if your printer mentions "four sixteens and an eight," it means your signatures will each contain 16 pages except for the last one, which will contain only 8. Both numbers are multiples of 4, and "four sixteens and an eight" means your book will have 72 pages. If your final document is not in a multiple of 4, the printer may ask to add a blank page (no charge) at the end to complete a signature by making it a multiple of four. Once printed, the signatures are folded and cut to the page size of your book.
Spine – Just as your spine holds you together, a book's spine holds your book together. Your book spine will feature your last name, the book's title, and the name of the printer or publisher. It will be visible to all potential customers when your book is on a shelf.
Stamping – Stamping is putting a seal or mark on paper using a die, just as legal documents are stamped, leaving a physical impression on the paper. You can use blind stamping on your cover, which leaves a physical impression, or you can use foil stamping, which can apply color to the stamped physical impression.
Stock – Stock is paper. The word stock simply refers to the paper used in your book. See also 10 Pt. C1S or 50 lb. paper.
Text – Text refers to ALL of the pages that appear BETWEEN the covers of your book, but not the covers themselves. ALL pages means printed pages and blank pages, and TEXT includes headers, page numbers, and the main body of text.
Trim Size – The trim size refers to the size (in inches) you selected for your book, such as 6 x 9, or 8 x 10. In a 6 x 9 book, the first number (6) is the width of the book. The second number (9) is the height, but if that sounds confusing, then think of the second number as the Spine number. If the spine is 9 inches, your book is 9 inches high.
Typesetting – See Formatting.
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