The Vernacular of the Publishing Biz

December 3rd, 2009

Different vernacular can be a problem. I worked as a commercial artist for twenty or more years. Depending on whom I was working for, artwork was handled differently. But there were certain terms used everywhere. In the US, final art means printer ready, editor approved etc. The specifications to be sent to the o-books copy editor were, flush left, single spaced, comma bereft—not final manuscript by any stretch of the imagination—so it was attached and sent to edited manuscript. Three weeks later Trevor asked when he would get the final manuscript. That glitch was straightened out and he graciously moved it to where it should have been but three weeks were lost. So we were now in the Christmas—New Years part of the year. As Damian McNicholl who spent the first third of his life there said, “That’s serious party time in the UK. Not a great time to get work done.”