Book Jargon – How many do you know?
by Janine Mick Wills
How many of the following writing definitions do you know? Give yourself a point for each correct one.
Advance Reader Copy (ARC) – A copy of a book distributed before its release. Used for the purpose of advertising, promotion, endorsements, and reviews. (And in my case, to help find those last minute errors!)
Antagonist – The adversary of the protagonist.
Author – A person who composes a literary work.
Beta-Reader – A person who for no monetary gain read a book before it is released and offers an the author feedback from the point of view of an average reader.
Chapter Book – Books for older children that are organized into chapters as opposed to picture books.
Genre – A distinct literary type of fiction (ex. science fiction, romance, fantasy, et al.)
ISBN – International Standard Book Number; a unique number used for identifying commercial books (“Cass” has one now! 978-1-946892-23-2)
Launch Team – A group of people who read and help an author promote her book before it is released.
Middle Grade – Fiction that features pre-teen characters written for readers between he ages of 8 to 12.
Novel – A fictional work of a certain length and complexity of plot and characters.
Novella – A fictional work that is longer and more complex than a short story.
O.P. – Out of print; no longer available from the publisher
P.O.V. – Point of view; the mode of narration a writer uses to let the reader experience what she has written. It shows the story through the eyes of a particular character.
Protagonist – The leading character in a fictional work.
Self-published – An author who publishes her own work at her own expense
Traditionally published – A publisher offers an author a contract and then prints, publishes, and sells the book through booksellers and other retailers (“Cass” is a traditionally published book offered through Journey Fiction).
Writer – A person who writes or is able to write.
YA – Young adult fiction; fiction written for readers between the ages of 12 to 18.
1 – 6 Not bad. Hope you’ve learned a few new ones!
7-12 Good for you. You knew a lot more than I did as a newbie writer. Keep learning!
13-18 Great job! You must be an established writer!
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