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Glossary of Children's Publishing Terms
- Activity book
- A book that involves the child solving puzzles and/or writing on the page. These days there are an increasing number of specialised activity book formats, such as wipe-clean.
Age banding- The controversial practice of placing a recommended reading age on the back cover of children's books. The majority of publishers now do this, but some authors object strongly on a number of grounds, including that the abilities of individual children vary widely.
Annual- Everyone remembers these from their childhood. The difference nowadays is that they are generally published in August, to maximise sales. To add to the confusion, there are an increasing number of 'Summer Annuals', which tend to be softcover activity books and are published around May.
Baby books- A general term for any book intended for the under-threes.
Backlist- Books published in a previous year that are still in print.
Bath books- Waterproof books for very young children.
Bleed- A design term for images which go all the way to the edge of the page.
Board books- Books printed on thick, inflexible cardboard. The board can either be white (nicer) or grey (cheaper).
Bologna- The Bologna Book Fair takes place every spring, and is the biggest event in international children's publishing.
Brand publishing- See my article on licensed publishing.
Carousel- A book whose covers can be bent all the way back and attached together so that the result is a kind of 360° pop-up book.
Chapter book- This kind of book bridges the gap between picture flats and novels. The text will be in chapters, but they will be short, with large font and a lot of illustrations.
Concept book- A book that teaches young children a concept, for example shapes or colours, as well as or instead of telling a story.
Copy editing- Editing for grammar, spelling and other technical errors.
Cover finish- Any element added to a book cover to make it something other than a plain rectangle of card. In addition to basic matt (dull) or gloss (shiny) lamination, almost all children's books have a cover finish, to help them stand out from the increasingly fierce competition. Some of the most common include embossing, glitter, cut-outs, padding and foil/holofoil/UV/spot UV (all of which make the book shiny in various ways).
Designer- Although a hired artist may draw the illustrations, books also need to be designed in a separate, usually in-house, process. Designers are responsible for visual aspects of the book such as font and layout.
Dummy- A plain white version of a book, which the publisher usually orders from the printer early on in the development process, to check that the format is working as envisaged. Most often used for complicated formats.
Earning out- This happens when enough copies of a book are sold to cover the advance that has been paid to the author.
Early/easy reader- A book with carefully selected vocabulary for beginning readers.
Flat fee- The practice of paying an author or illustrator a single lump sum rather than a royalty. Most common for the kind of book where the author's name isn't on the spine.
Frontlist- Books published and promoted this year.
High-end- Expensive, in a tasteful, classic sort of way.
Licensed publishing- See my article on licensed publishing.
Lift-the-flap- A book with extra pieces of paper stuck to the pages, creating flaps that the child can lift to reveal hidden pictures. One of the most common forms of novelty book.
Line editing- In-depth editing where the editor changes the text and/or makes suggestions to the author about how the story can be improved.
Mass market- Designed to sell a lot of copies, probably through outlets such as supermarkets, at a low price.
Middle grade- Aimed at children aged between eight and twelve.
Novelty- Any book with 'extra' elements on the pages, whether it be simple paper flaps or complicated plastic add-ons.
Packager- A company which provides completed (i.e. written and illustrated) books to publishers, but does not usually handle the printing and distribution of books itself.
Picture book/flat- It's a common error to call any book for young children a 'picture book', but in publishing the term is only used for books aimed at the under-fives, that combine a very short text with full-page illustrations and no novelty elements. A lift-the-flap book, for example, is not a picture book.
Pop-in-the-slot- A book with a cardboard shape attached to the book by a ribbon or some other mechanism. The cardboard shape can be fitted into different slots in the book, to create various tableaux.
Property- See my article on licensed publishing.
Recommended retail price/RRP- The price printed on the back of the book. These days, only a small minority of books are actually sold to readers at the RRP.
Tie-in- A book that ties in with (usually) a film or TV series.
Touch and feel- A book for very young children featuring novelty elements with an interesting texture, such as flocking or sandpaper.
Trade- The bookshop end of the market (as opposed to supermarkets).
Trim size- The physical dimensions of a book.
Young adult/YA- The category term for books aimed at teenagers. Some YA books also cross into the adult market, Philip Pullman's work being a famous example.
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"We wished we had more projects to give you, because you just did them so well!"
Sue Parish, former Head of Editorial, Egmont Publishing
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