Abbreviations, Acronyms, Initialisms, & Symbols used in the Publishing Industry aa author’s error (after proofreading) ABA American Booksellers Association aka also known as acq ed acquiring editor AG Authors Guild ALA American Library Association ARC Advance Reading Copy ASQ American Society for Quality (formerly: for Quality Control) AUBK audiobook bb bad break at the end of a hyphenated line B&B brunch and business meeting BEA Book Expo America bf bold face bn Barnes and Noble BOTY Book of the Year cf compare Ch Chapter (also lower case) CIP Cataloguing in Publication of the LOC (US) CMOS Chicago Manual of Style (the standard for style in book publishing) con conference; as in Bouchercon CP critique partner dele delete earn-out when an author’s royalties pay back the publisher’s advance em a 1/M dash = width of letter M— en a 1/N dash = width of letter N– FAQ frequently asked questions fl flush left full the entire MS HWA Horror Writers Association HC hard cover hi-res high resolution image indie independent press; misused to refer to a single self-publisher IP intellectual property (as in IP attorney) ISBN International Standard Book Number (never spoken of as ISBN number); each different format published of the same title gets its own ISBN ital italics ITW International Thriller Writers IWWG International Women’s Writing Guild lc lower case the capital letter shown by a slash lf light face (to change from bold type) LOC Library of Congress LP large print edition of a title MC main character; aka protag MG middle grade genre mmbk mass market paperback format for a book MS, ms manuscript MSs manuscripts MWA Mystery Writers of America NA new adult genre no. number (also # when followed by a numeral) nos. numbers (also ## when followed by numerals) op;oop out of print p page, followed by a numeral pp pages PDF Portable Document Format PE printer’s error POD Print on Demand protag protagonist POV point of view; often: POV character PW Publishers Weekly magazine R&R revise and resubmit recto the right-hand page rom roman; change from italics RWA Romance Writers of America SASE self-addressed stamped envelope SCBWI Society for Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators SFWA Science Fiction Writers of America SIBA Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance SinC Sisters in Crime sp spell out (usually circled) stet let it stand (often to restore what is X’d out) STC Society for Technical Communication TBR the To-Be-Read pile on our nightstands TOC table of contents TP trade paper format for a book tr transpose elements shown within an elongated sideways S uc change to upper case verso the left-hand page (reverse of right-hand) wip work in progress w-i- p also work in progress WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization WWA Western Writers of America YA young adult genre © copyright symbol; also (c) insert in text; an upside-down caret indicates to insert at the top of a line, ^ such as “ “ " double straight quote with number: inch ' single straight quote with number: feet “ ” double smart/curly quote; for dialogue ‘ ’ single smart/curly quotes inside dialogue ( ) parentheses; when sideways = close up space [ ] brackets ; semicolon (rarely used in fiction) : colon (rarely used in fiction) . . . ellipsis (typed with nonbreaking spaces); ditto for end of a sentence after a 4th disconnected dot ends the sentence § section ¶ paragraph (or pilcrow); ^¶shows where to insert a new paragraph # add space Please send additions and corrections for this list to [email protected], subject line: abbreviations