Watching Our Language: Terms self-publishers will find useful.

Cataloguing in Publication (CIP)

Publishers and librarians cooperate on CIP, so books can be catalogued before publication. CIP's catalogue record is a brief description of the book. It includes information such as author, title, ISBN, and classification numbers used by book buyers, readers and researchers to identify and locate publications.

Copyright

Copyright means the sole right to produce or reproduce a book, or a substantial part of it, in any form. If the work is unpublished, copyright includes the right to publish it or any substantial part of it.

Editing

Copy editing checks for grammar, spelling, punctuation and other mechanics of style as well as consistency of style and facts. Proofreading is checking page proofs against the edited manuscript. Substantive and stylistic editing involve rewriting for clarity and consistency of style.

Formatting/Typesetting

To make a book easier to read, a common page style (or format) must be designed. It includes page numbers, size and style of type, and other elements. The style is then fitted to the author's words and images to produce what is called a typeset or formatted manuscript.

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

ISBN is a ten-digit universal book numbering system. An ISBN assignment can only be made by specific appointed groups, such as the National Library of Canada or R.R. Bowker in the United States. Assigning an ISBN to your book is not mandatory but it does make your book more accessible to libraries, wholesalers and booksellers.

Page Proofs

Page proofs are an unbound copy of a book. The page proofs an author receives will look exactly the same as the pages in the finished book.

Perfect Binding

Perfect binding holds the pages of a book together with adhesives. The books are then finished with a wraparound paper cover. This is the method used to bind most paperback books seen in a bookstore.