This list of definitions is not
meant to be comprehensive but rather an aid to help fiction writers make their
character’s dialog sound “authentic.” Some are occupational slang. Recording
studio musicians for example detest “clams” (sour notes). Others are basic
terms. To a sailor a hold is where cargo is stowed aboard a ship. To a gambler
a hold is the bet percentage held back by a casino.
So…a writer in your novel is about
to be published (as hopefully you are in real life). Congratulations, the
manuscript has passed the final blues. But before you count that based on
points earn-out, pray for good real estate, hopefully including a dump.
Otherwise you might soon be stripped.
Michael McKeever
BOOKS-PRINTING, SALES:
blues: printer’s
manuscript copy, last stage before printing.
dump: cardboard
bookshop display case.
dust cover: paper
cover to protect book.
earn-out: total
royalties.
galleys: proofreader’s
manuscript.
points: royalties
based on book’s retail price.
polybag: clear
plastic protecting both book and dust cover.
real estate: bookshop
shelf space.
stripping: tearing covers off unsold paperbacks to
return to publisher after books have
been destroyed.
trade books: large-format
paperback books.
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