Terms Every Writer Should Know

Acceptance: Even after a contract is signed between author and publisher, the editor still has to "accept" the final version of the manuscript. After acceptance, the publisher can proceed with publication and release the author's agreed upon advance.
Advance: The amount of money the publisher pays the author up-front upon acceptance of the manuscript for publication. Typically, the book's sales must "earn out" the the advance before the author is paid any additional monies.
Agent: The author's representative in business dealings with the publisher.
ARC: Advance Review Copy of your book. Distributed to reviewers before book is released.
Author's Voice: The unique use of words, phrases, and writing techniques that places an author's "stamp" on their work. It is recognizable to the reader, even if they don't know who the author is. Prime example of author's "voice" vs. "style": Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Similar style, but very different author voices.
Back Cover Copy: The few paragraphs "blurbed" on the back of a book to give the reader a quick sketch of what the book's about.
Characterization: The author's ability to populate their stories with unique, individual people who are living and breathing to the reader. When two people have a conversation in a novel, the reader should be able to know who is saying what, without the name tags, based on how well the author has developed the character.
Conflict: The driving force of most fiction. Plot without conflict is nothing more than a "journal" of events.
Distributor: Large company that warehouses books from the publishers and distributes them to the booksellers.
Editor: The representative of the publishing house who evaluates your work, and can make decisions on purchasing it. The editor stays with the author through the publication process, recommending revisions, giving final approval over the manuscript before acceptance.
Galleys: The line-edited, copy-edited version of your manuscript before it goes to print. Last chance for minor corrections, but no major overhauls should occur at this point.
Goal: Your character's most desired objective.
Hook: A device for grabbing reader's attention.
IRIS: The color photo-quality image of the book's cover art, spine and back cover copy.
Joint Accounting: The process where a publisher combines the sales of different books by one author in a royalty statement, requiring each book's advance to "earn out" before any additional royalties are paid on any other book
Manuscript: The typed version of your book.
Motivation: The reason your character is struggling so hard to achieve his or her goal.
Pacing: The speed at which the writer moves the reader through the story. Long passages of narrative slow pacing, while dialogue exchanges speed pacing. Note: The pacing of the book is not the same as the time covered in the story.
Partial: A set number of chapters (typically 3) requested by the publisher to evaluate a proposal.
POV: Point of View- whose head are you in during the scene? Most novels today are written in 3rd person (he saw, she did) vs. 1st person (I saw, I did) and most are in past tense (he did, she was) vs. present tense (he does, she is).
Print Run: The number of copies of the book the publisher will print for distribution. Typically a first-time author's print run is pre-determined according to the publisher's expectations for the book, while a more established author will have previous sales records to help determine the run.
Proposal: A package put together for the editor, including a synopsis of your book, plus a partial of the actual manuscript. Generally, first-time authors will only sell on complete manuscript, while subsequent sales are made on proposal.
Publisher: Company that purchases manuscript, prints it, and offers it for sale to the public.
Query: A brief (1 page) letter to an editor, pitching yourself and your manuscript. Should read something like a "back cover blurb" to succinctly grasp the essence of your work and make the editor want to read the synopsis.
Reserves: The amount of money the publisher "holds back" from an author's royalties, based on the assumption that booksellers will strip and return unsold books.
Rights: In a contract, typically the publisher is "buying" the ability to control the author's work for a set amount of time and for set purposes. Some contracts include rights for a number of years, for publication in various forums including print, print on demand, e-publishing. Some even include film rights, meaning the publisher has purchased the ability to negotiate with a Hollywood producer to film your story on your behalf, for a pre-determined percentage Royalties: The money the author makes on a book. Typically, an agreed upon percentage of the cover price, based on book sales.
Scene: The key moments showing the characters progression through their story.
Sequel: A transition to link scenes, gives character the opportunity to react to what just happened and to prepare for what will happen in the next scene.
Synopsis: A brief (1 page per 10,000 ms. words) description of the plot of your book. Should be written in present tense, with as few character names as possible, should cover the turning points in your book and should include no dialogue. Designed to engage the editor's interest in your story, the synopsis should resolve all plot questions and must never leave an editor "hanging."
Tag: A device used by the author to let the reader know which character is speaking.
Turning Point: The times in your book when your characters change direction. The plot builds, your characters act or react to what is going on, and something occurs to send them in an unforeseen direction, bringing the reader along with them