Definitely!

My dad and brother are both engineers. And as engineers, they tend to use some of the acronyms/technical words/math terms in their conversations with me.

You can imagine how well this tends to go over.

I'll be complaining about something like how come stores can't just say "Now $2.99!" instead of "Now 33% off!". Which is when Dad and my brother will burst in with something like this:

"Oh, but it's just so simple to find out what 33 percent is. You just take the square root of the original price, multiply it by pi, and then add 17. There's your answer."

Well. Something like that.

Math is not my forte.

But, I'm beginning to notice how much we do this as writers. How often do you hear the words proposal, agent, or contract and as a novice writer, have no idea what other authors are talking about?

With that in mind, here's a rather short glossary of very common terms used very frequently in the writing business:

Agent - A person hired by you - not the publishing house - to propose manuscripts, facilitate publisher/author relations, and handle contract offers. Typically, they will receive about 15% of all the money you make when writing. They are SO worth it!

Manuscript - Sort of self-explanatory, but this is what we call an unpublished book. Try to steer clear of terms like story, exposition or much worse, palimpsest. :) This should be a digital document (so bring copies on discs to writers conferences!), though in rare instances an acquisitions editor might want to see a hard copy, so be sure you have at least one hard copy of your complete manuscript printed out. Use Microsoft Word (preferably the latest edition, though not necessary) to write it and adjust the margins to be double-spaced.

Editor - An editor is often used interchangeably with Publisher, because your first contact with a publishing house is likely to be an Acquisitions Editor. This is the person who is in charge of all new manuscripts bought by the publisher. They present them to the publishing board - who decides whether or not they want to / can afford to publish your book. After signing your book, you will then meet the first person who edits your book. They may or may not work at your publishing house - some publishers use freelance editors. After the first edit, you'll then be introduced to a Copy Editor. They do a line-by-line edit of your book. They check to see how many times you use a word, spelling, grammar, etc.

Proposal - This document is the first thing a potential publisher will see from you. See here for more tips on how to write one. Make sure this is as pristine as you can create it!!

Pitch - Basically, this is a short proposal. Ever heard the term "elevator speech"? A pitch is something that should be the first words out of your mouth whenever anyone asks you, "Hey, what's your book about?" Write it out ahead of time and memorize it. That way, if you are at a conference (or anywhere really - I once ran into an editor at a tiny dude ranch in Colorado!), you can tell them exactly what your book is about.

Contract - Not only is this probably the happiest word a writer ever hears, it's also the scariest word a writer can hear. A contract is a legal obligation for you to write exactly what you proposed to the publisher. If you proposed a legal thriller and four months later you give them a romantic comedy, you'll be in a bit of trouble. The contract is also where the deadline will be specified.

Genre - Think of it as someone asking what section your book would be placed in at a bookstore. Is it science fiction? Women's contemporary? Young adult?

Freelancing - Unless you are hired specifically by a magazine or online website, you are considered a freelance writer, even if you are under a contractual obligation to a publishing house. This really only matters when it comes to how to file your taxes as a writer (something we'll probably talk about when it gets closer to April!).

Marketing - CJ wrote a great post about how to market your book before it gets published here. This definition will mostly apply to after the book is published. Most first-time novelists assume this is the publisher's responsibility and while they will help you out a little bit (like by putting your book in their new releases magazine that they give to bookstores), the majority of the work is going to be on your shoulders. You'll need to come up with all the materials you need to market your book (such as bookmarks, postage for mailings to contest winners, blog setup fees, etc.). Right before Miss Match was released, my mom and I traveled to the ICRS in Denver and handed out my business cards (which had my name and book cover on it) and a mini box of Chicklet gum (since I write chick-lit ;) ) to everyone we saw. Come up with a clever marketing scheme and get it put in place.

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This is only a very brief explanation, so if there's anything that really doesn't make sense to you, please be sure to leave a comment! There are no stupid questions when it comes to the publishing process - each of us has been in your shoes before and we are all still learning!