The Basics: Writers' Glossary

I recently attended a romance writers conference and had a fantastic time. I also noticed something interesting - that just like in any other profession, experienced writers use a kind of shorthand about their work that speeds up communication. However it tends to leave some of the newer people floundering. Of course that's not on purpose and most people are happy to explain, but who wants to ask, right? So here's a list of some common terms used by writers.

The list is by no means exhaustive and the definitions are my own (use at your own risk! :-) ). If you think of something I haven't covered, email it to me and I'll have it added during the next set of updates. (Thanks to the Brainstorming Desirables for their suggestions on this article).

Advance: The payment made to a writer prior to the publication of a book. The full term is "Advance Against Royalties", which means that a writer is only entitled to royalties once their book has sold enough copies to 'pay for' the advance.

ARC: Advanced Reader Copy/Advanced Review Copy. In other words the copy of a book sent out pre-publication to reviewers and booksellers.

Backstory: The histories and lives of the characters before the point at which a book begins.

Backlist: All the books that an author has written.

BIAW: When writers attempt to write a Book In A Week

BIAM: Book In a Month

BICHOK: Butt In Chair Hands On Keyboard ie. Get to work!

Category book: Also referred to as Series books, these are books that are released every month as part of a line (see below). Examples include Silhouette Desire and Mills & Boon Presents. A distinguishing feature of category books is that they have a similar cover look and promise the reader a certain type of experience (ie. Desire novels are passionate & provocative). Right now, only Harlequin publishes category novels, so a category writer is someone who writes for Harlequin.

Continuity: A series of books written by different authors but using the same continuing backstory. For example, the Ashtons continuity, for which I wrote Awaken the Senses.

Crit Partner/Group: Writers who come together to critique each other's work.

Full: A complete manuscript.

Galleys: The final version of a book that an author gets to see and make changes to.

GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict

HEA: Happy Every After

Line: Denotes which category imprint a book belongs to (eg. Desire, Special Edition, Nocturne etc)

MS/MSS: Manuscript(s)

Partial: Usually the first three chapters of a manuscript (often asked for by agents or editors looking at new material).

POV: Point of View

Query: In most cases, this is the first point of contact with agents and editors. Details vary but in it's most basic form it's a short letter setting out: (1) why you're querying this particular publisher, agent or line, (2) the précis of your book, and (3) any relevant details about yourself eg. contest wins.

R: Rejection Letters or Emails. These come in a number of types, from Form - where only the name is changed, to Personalized - where the editor tells the writer something about why they're rejecting the work. If you get one of the latter, celebrate! Editors are busy people. If they took the time to personalize your letter, it probably means they see promise in your writing.

Royalties: The payments made to a writer after they've earned out their advance.

RS: Romantic Suspense

RWA: Romance Writers of America: The biggest professional organization out there for those of us who write in the romance genre.

Single Title/ST: ST's are the books that fall outside category fiction. They don't fit into any 'line' and tend to be the 'bigger' books. That's a very basic generalization as some category books are close to ST length (eg. Silhouette Superromance).

ST: Can also mean Sexual Tension

Sub: A submission, either to an agent or a publisher

TBB: Books that are To Be Bought

TBR: Books that are To Be Read

Vanity Press: A publisher that charges money to publish work. This not normal practice! For more detailed discussions, simply type the subject into any search engine.

YA: Young Adult