It amazed me that I actually knew many of the commonly used
terms in the publishing world. We as writers are familiar with many of the
terms such as manuscript and drafts – and even slush pile – that huge pile of
manuscripts that grows and grows – eventually falling off tables and spilling
on to floors. All those laborious hours
and blood, sweat and tears those writers have put into those precious
manuscripts that end up in the dreaded “slush pile.”
Also, because I work at a law firm that deals with IP
litigation and such, many of the legal definitions are familiar to me, such as
boilerplate, contract and publishing agreement and copyright. The word “Colophon”
was completely new to me. What the heck? Apparently it’s a listing of
production info including typeface details.
The lexicon that surprised me most was “ARC.” As soon as I
saw that, I thought, “Oh yeah, the Arc of our essays, stories or memoirs, the “structure”
that makes the writing piece cohesive, something I’ve sometimes grappled with –
that damned arc – someone will say in a writer’s group, “What is the arc of
your story?” It’s a scary question, and
we’d darn well better know or we’re doomed. We have to know what the whole
story is about, right? That’s Arc for you. I love the one and only comment
related to this lexicon, which is as follows:
“Arc -- the boat in which Noah saved reviewers endangered by the deluge
of free books.” – thank you “Elizabeth” for that good laugh. I truly loved it.
In reality, “ARC” here means “Advanced Reading Copy, aka bound galley or uncorrected proof.
Pre-publication copy of a book sent to reviewers, booksellers, etc. to generate
word-of-mouth and promote sales.” I
never would have guessed this. Advanced reading copy.
I’d better figure out what the Arc of my story is so that my
memoir will eventually be an “Advanced reading copy.” An Arc is a partial
circular figure – which I picture as a beautiful rainbow stretching across the
sky from one end to the other.
Another lexicon I had never heard of before is “Black Swan” –
which is an unexpected success or phenomenon – such as J.K. Rowlings’s Harry
Potter books. She was an unknown writer who suddenly became a huge success.
Apparently, publishers always are on the look out for those beautiful “black
swans,” but who knows for sure which books or authors will end up becoming
those black swans?
So, picture this. A
rainbow stretches across the slush pile of manuscripts forming the perfect ARC
and suddenly, a beautiful black swan flies out with my manuscript and drops it
down on to the publisher’s desk and suddenly my book is propelled to best
seller status. People are calling me for interviews. I’m told I can quit my day
job and become a full-time writer for a living – I won’t need to work anymore,
and I can finally tell my kids, the book is going to be published and of course
there will be a movie as well.
Of course I’m dreaming. I will be thrilled to publish
anything at this point in my life. The dream lives!
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