Alpha & Beta readers are those people who see a manuscript before anyone else, including the editor.

Alpha reader

An Alpha is the first person who sees your first draft after you finish and you have done a bit of self-editing. An Alpha reader should really be considered reader-writers. They find disjointed sections, plot holes and should be able to be constructive in their advice. They should be looking ‘big picture’ not the minor things like punctuation and typos.

Beta Readers

These are people who read for the author in order to catch any issues, similar to the Alpha reader, before the book goes to the editor. Make sure your betas are experienced. In other words, don’t choose a neighbor, friend, or family member to beta your book. You need people who will be brutally honest.

• Find continuity errors.
• Point out plot holes.
• Give constructive criticism to make the storyline more appealing.

Not all beta readers are created equal, choose wisely. Ask the authors you follow or have a friendly relationship with, for referrals.

Copy Editing

Copy Editing is checking a manuscript for spelling, capitalization, punctuation, verb tenses, and other grammatical errors. Also includes:

• Checking for continuity;
• sentence structure;
• paragraph lengths;
• word choices / missed words, etc.

In other words, copy editing involves correcting the language of the text.

Content Editing

Content Editing, also known as developmental or substantive editing, involves checking the content.  This includes:

• Content for factual errors, contradictions, and inconsistencies;
• If fiction, this is a check for discrepancies in the plot, character, or dialogue;
• Verify the theme has been developed (i.e. developmental editing) properly;
• Making sure sub-plots have been well integrated into the story line.

In other words, content editing evaluates the content in detail.

Line Editing

Line Editing is the technical side of the craft of writing, and that means paragraph structure, sentence flow, word choice, and language-related techniques. That also means voice, style, readability, and forward movement. In fiction, it pertains to the difference between scenes and exposition.

In the publishing industry, a manuscript first goes to a content editor, who evaluates the content, and if needed, suggests changes to the writer. The writer, with the help of the content editor, then re-writes the parts to be changed. Once the content editor and author are both satisfied (and feel positive the text will resonate with the reader) the manuscript goes to the copy editor. The copy editor and content editor can sometimes be the same person, just handling a different aspect of the editing process. Regardless of having one or two editors involved, copy editing is the final stage before the manuscript goes to print.

The cover of your book should give an idea of your book’s genre and story. It might not be right, but your book is judged by its cover. Does that mean a bad cover means the content on the pages is poor? No, but if you have a poorly designed cover, the general public is going to be less likely to purchase your book without a lot of capital invested in marketing. Without purchases, you aren’t going to get real reader reviews, real reader recommendations, and those are hard enough to come by as it is.

The cover gives clues as to the tone of the story within, and in many cases, that cover also influences the publication design of the ebook and the print book.

Formatting, Typography, Page Flow, Book Design; All these describe the same thing. This involves taking the manuscript and laying it out on the page or the screen for the most aesthetically pleasing reading experience for the readers.

Using the same or similar fonts and graphic elements used on the cover throughout the book and ebook will give the completed manuscript a professional look. Book designers will know the industry standards for layout and design so the book will not get poor reviews based on the reading experience.

Recto is the “right” or “front” side and verso is the “left” or “back” side when text is written or printed on a leaf of paper (folium) in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet.

By book publishing convention, the first page of a book, and sometimes of each section and chapter of a book, is a recto page, and hence all recto pages will have odd numbers and all verso pages will have even numbers.

In typesetting and publishing, widows and orphans are lines at the beginning or end of a paragraph which are left dangling at the top or bottom of a page or column, separated from the rest of the paragraph. (The typographer‘s terms for the top and bottom of a page or column are head and foot.)

As per the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS): 

Widow—

A paragraph-ending line that falls at the beginning of the following page or column, thus separated from the rest of the text. Mnemonically, a widow is “alone at the top” (of the family tree but, in this case, of the page).

Orphan—

A paragraph-opening line that appears by itself at the bottom of a page or column, thus separated from the rest of the text. Mnemonically, an orphan is “alone at the bottom” (of the family tree but, in this case, of the page).Alternately, A word, part of a word, or very short line that appears by itself at the end of a paragraph. Mnemonically still “alone at the bottom”, just this time at the bottom of a paragraph. Orphans of this type give the impression of too much white space between paragraphs.

A drop cap (dropped capital) is a large capital letter used as a decorative element at the beginning of a paragraph or section. The size of a drop cap is usually two or more lines. Drop caps are used in various media, including books, newspaper articles, documents, and webpages.

Drop caps can be typographically simple or elaborate. 

Some examples of drop caps are seen below:

POD or Print-On-Demand

POD is an economical way to publish books, printing individual or small batches of books as needed rather than an offset press run. Offset press runs usually consists of 1000s of books, printed on actual presses rather than copiers as POD books are done.

Offset or Press Printing

With offset printing runs, the publisher or author is responsible for arranging for the storage and fulfillment of the books. This can mean they are storing 1000 books in their garage and sending them out to those who purchase or they find a fulfillment center who store and fulfill orders.

Both methods of printing can print color and black and white but there are subtle differences in the final product, usual paper weight and color saturation. Also, when using KDP or Ingram for your printing, you are able to order author copies at a significant discount from the list price. 

Marketing is a huge part of publishing. With hundreds of thousands of books published each year, new releases can get lost in the crowd.

• Book Teasers (use quality images to excite, engage, intrigue. Include book title, release date, and author name at minimum.)
• Giveaways (the expense will pay for itself in engagement and social media shares.)
• Blog Takeovers/ Facebook Party Takeover (cross-promotion will help authors get their books/name in front of new readers.)
• Build your newsletter list (offering incentives for joining: free content, giveaways, and drawings can bulk up the list quickly)
• Plan to market your book for a period of time (build interest before publishing and then continue for a few months afterward.)

Branding can pertain to series as well as authors. Color schemes, font choices, graphic elements all can tie teasers, posts, newsletters, etc. together. Use similar avatars, banners, etc. across various social media outlets (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google, Blog, Website, Twitter, etc.)

Advance Reader Copy or Advance Review Copy

ARC are for sending to advance readers. This can be a ARC team, bloggers or reviewers through a ARC facilitator such as Kirkus or Hidden Gems.

Some ARC readers have requirements that must be adhered to such as physical (print) copy only, must be sent 90-days before release, and others.

When sending a print edition for review, it could have a ‘placeholder’ cover, a cover that says ‘Advance Copy; Not for Resale’ or even a watermark on the pages that reads advance copy.

ARCs are sent to reviewers before release in hopes that they will have a review written and ready to be uploaded to retail sites, books sites such as Goodreads, blogs and everywhere a reader interacts on the day of release or at least within the first few days that a book is for sale.

Editorial Reviews

Editorial reviews, such as those from Kirkus and other media outlets, should be added to the book’s information via Author Central. They can also be added to the very first page of the print edition if there is enough time to update the files before publication date.

Virtual Tours or Blog Tours have taken the place of book signings that traditional author’s publishing houses send them on.

You can make your own tour or hire a blog tour provider to arrange for you to ‘visit’ various blogs over a set period. These visits usually consist of interviews, book excerpts, ARC reviews, and various other post types.  Be prepared and have website-friendly images (72dpi and manageable size) as well as all your contact/social media links, bio, cover, book description and of course the sale links so that the blog can easily incorporate them if needed.

Fonts  refers to the style/family of the typography on covers and the interior of your book. There are a wide range of fonts, everything from crisp, clean and professional to funky, quirky, and even x-rated. Your font choices for the cover and the chapter headings help set the tone and atmosphere for your readers. You don’t see swirly, curley-q letters in horror just as you don’t see fonts that look like they are written in blood-stains for romance.