Trade Publishing

The general term ‘publisher’ is often used by outsiders to mean any publishing brand, but insiders distinguish ‘imprints’ as specific brand identities under a larger publisher entity.

Casual observers think of book categories, whereas insiders refer to ‘imprint focus’ indicating a publishing brand's specialization in genres or markets.

Outsiders say ‘book price’ referring to retail cost, but insiders use ‘list price’ as the standardized retail price recommended by the publisher.

Outsiders say ‘release’ for when a book becomes available, insiders say ‘on sale date’ to provide the precise benchmark for sales and marketing coordination.

General language uses ‘printing’ for producing physical copies, while trade publishing uses ‘print run’ to specify the number of copies produced in a single batch.

While outsiders use ‘marketing’ broadly, insiders use ‘publicity’ to mean promotional activities specifically aimed at generating media coverage and consumer awareness.

Non-experts say ‘author contract’ but insiders prefer ‘publishing agreement’ as it covers all legal and business terms governing rights and obligations.

Outsiders say ‘book’ to mean a single published work, whereas insiders use ‘title’ to refer to the intellectual property or publishing project across all formats and editions.

General public refers to bestselling books simply as ‘bestsellers,’ insiders discuss ‘title in account’ to track a book’s performance within trade sales accounts.

Outsiders say ‘book selling’ for commercial activity, but insiders use ‘trade sales’ to specify retail and wholesale distribution to bookstores and mass market channels.