Glossary

We’ve curated a glossary of terms regarding all things writing and publishing related. From commonly-used terms to abbreviations, our glossary will guide writers and people starting out in publishing, to cut through the jargon and gain a better understanding. 

Scatter proof
A scatter proof is usually a large sheet (either A1 or A2) which only shows images for colour approval.
Search engine optimisation
Increasing the visibility of a website so that it achieves a higher ranking in search engine results. This can involve incorporating the keywords that people are likely to type in when searching online into the content and coding of the website, so that search engines are more likely to index it.
Self-publishing providers
Companies which provide editorial, design, marketing, distribution and e-book services for authors.
Serialisation
All or excerpts of a book can be published in a newspaper or magazine before publication (first serialisation rights) or after publication (second serialisation rights).
Simile
Where one thing is said to be like another to invite comparison and emphasise a similarity.   A more extensive list of literary terms, with quotations from fiction and non-fiction sources showing the terms in use, is included in The Right Word: A Writer’s Toolkit of Grammar, Vocabulary and Literary Terms (Bloomsbury 2021)  © Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2021