Several of you asked what an imprint was. I thought this would be a good time to define not only imprint, but a few other publishing terms that might be confusing. Here is a list:
Imprint - A publishing company might have multiple imprints, often with different names but still falling under the parent company, each of which focuses on a specific genre or reader demographic.
CIP - Stands for Catalog in Publication. This information is prepared by either the Library of Congress or a trained CIP block designer and assists with cataloging books for libraries. Located at the bottom of the copyright page, it includes the Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) or PNC number.
POD - Stands for Print on Demand and refers to digital printing. (The other form of printing is offset which is done with printing plates and presses.) POD printers are not to be confused with POD publishers.
BISAC - Stands for Book Industry Standards and Communications. They set the standards for genre classification of books through subject headings in the USA. In the UK, it is the Book Industry Communication who performs this task.
Form more terms, see either Glossary of Book Publishing Terms or The Glossary of Book Trade.
Do you feel smarter already?
40 comments:
Sounds like an awesome imprint. I missed your post last week while I was on break. Glad you mentioned it again this week.
Good terms to know! And excited about the imprint.
I do feel smarter. :)
Authorshellyarkon@gmail.com
Hi Diane - sounds really interesting ... I'd love to know more about the Imprint and your involvement .. so yes, please.
It's good to being reminded of words that we should know, but don't always remember exactly what is what ...
Good luck with it all .. cheers Hilary
The imprint sounds like a great hybrid for self-publishers.
It pays to know the vocabulary. You just can't put the cart before the horse to make progress.
I had to learn all this stuff when I decided to get my rights back and self publish. Still makes my head spin!
Wazzup girl?
This is a wonderful thing you are undertaking!
You know that I have my hand raised to know more about the imprint.
Thanks for sharing this! A few of those were new to me. :)
Thanks, I didn't know a couple of those.
Natalie, I will keep everyone updated on the imprint.
Shelly, I got your email.
Hilary, I will keep you in the loop.
Hi Georganna!
Chrys, I do.
Yes! I feel way smarter. :) Setting up the imprint sounds fun. I might be interested. Send me the info when you have it.
I did know those terms. Your venture sounds very exciting and I think there's a demand for just that kind of business.
Thanks for these. I didn't know what all of them were, and after many years in the business I should know them. :)
Sounds a very useful book for a budding writer.
This imprint sounds like a really good thing. I suspect there will be a stampede!!! Thanks for the definitions.
Interesting info. The second and last terms were new to me.
Cool! It's good to know all these details. I don't want to admit how many of those are new to me...
Book publishing is moving so fast that I'm somewhat amazed that people can keep up.
Thank you for the tutorial:)
Thanks for the publishing terms. So much to understand.
So an imprint is a part of a company, like a department of a larger organization?
This list is helpful, Diane. Thank you.
I learned a new term. Best of luck!
Hi Diane,
I cannot thank you enough for all those definitions and actually noting what a number of acronyms are. I appreciate that because I got tired of Googling acronyms.
My last two brain cells feel that little bit smarter!
Gary
I do feel smarter, thanks so much! :) I would be interested in learning more. Will check out last week's post too. Had a lot going on so I think I missed it.
Great information Diane, thanks, good luck with the new venture!
Thanks for the links to publishing terms. I didn't know BISAC, so yes, I do feel smarter already. Now the question is: will I retain it?
Congratulations on your new imprint! It's nice to have something in between self and traditional publishing.
Mary, I will.
A stampede would be great, Mary.
Robyn, yes. Imprints are like departments or divisions of a larger company.
Karen, I will keep you in the loop.
Thanks so much for the refresher of this information. You know, if you Google some of this stuff you'll find conflicting answers. #slapsforehead
Sounds like a great imprint! I would love to know more. Please e-mail me at tyreantigger@gmail.com - Thanks!
Thank you, Spunk! =)
This is going to be great. No doubt about it.
I hadn't heard of CIP, although I know about such information, cataloging for libraries, and LCCN/PNC. Of course, most of that is from being a librarian and having worked with MARC records (cataloging information).
Thanks for sharing these :) The imprint sounds great!
I'd be very interested in learning more about this imprint.
Thanks for defining all of these publishing terms. That were a couple I did not know.
(If you need my email to send info about the imprint, it's sherry.a.ellis@gmail.com)
Diane, looks like the response has been great. Glad this is working out. Like others, I'm very much interested to hear more details of this imprint and see if it's a good fit. I'm staying tuned.
SA, and that's so frustrating when you find different answers.
Tyrean, I will let you know.
Cherie, then you understand it better than most. You could probably create CIP blocks for people.
Sherry, I will send you an email when I have details.
Stephen, you're first on the list to get info!
Thanks for this post. I'm also researching CIP and ISBN so this post is timely.
Since I'm not a writer this is very insightful. I would have had no idea what a CIP is. Thanks L!
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