Learning the Lingo: How to Speak Author

     While putting together the first book in a series of guides, based on this blog, it occurred to me that I never talked about the lingo used in the self-publishing industry. There are a lot of terms that authors throw around without stopping to think if their readers will understand them. This is because an author expects their readers to know the lingo of the genres they read. They don't want to risk insulting their readers by dumbing things down, but if a reader who doesn't know you looks at your page and sees a bunch of abbreviations they don't understand, it could scare them away. The same could be said about new authors doing research and trying to connect with other authors.

    I'm a fantasy author, which means the majority of my lingo is common language. I rarely use abbreviations, but when I do I try to make sure I sprinkle in a definition every now and then.  My most used abbreviation is YA, but I also refer to subgenres of fantasy. If you're new to fantasy, you might not know what I mean if I say one story is epic while another is urban. 

    This post is going to read like a dictionary and a little like your elementary language arts book, so bear with me if you find that off-putting. Consider it a glossary, of sorts. Most books place a glossary at the end, so readers can flip back to them if needed, but for the sake of the upcoming guide, I'll be placing this post as one of our first chapters. I think it's important that going into the rest of the chapters readers know what these words mean. Author lingo can be confusing and I want these posts to be as clear as possible. I'll also be including some commonly known words that writers use on a regular bases. This isn't because I think you're dumb, but because we can all use a refresher course every now and then. 

    If you are new to the writing community or are a mature author who has trouble keeping up with all the terms floating around, check out this list real quick. It'll only take a few moments and hopefully, it'll clear up a few things for you. For convince, I've put it in alphabetical order. 

 Algorithms: Algorithms are the way social media sites decided what to show on your feed.

Anthology: A collection of stories by different authors.

Apocalyptic: Apocalyptic books take place in an apocalyptic world. government doesn't exist and some tragedy has destroyed civilization as humanity knows it.

 Autobiography: A story about a real person written by that person.

Background Character: Background characters are characters like the waitress at a restaurant or the homeless guy on the corner of the street. They can help the story along but exist more for the element of relatability than for the plot.

Banned Books: Banned books are any book deemed to have sensitive material by the government. Banned books cannot be taught in schools without going through a process to approve the literature and notify parents. Books are often banned for racist terms, ideologically sensitive material, language, or extreme sex scenes.

BDSM: BDSM is an abbreviation that shows up in erotica and romance. If you see this in a book's description it means the romantic relationships in the book contain kinky situations deemed out of the norm. 

Biography: A story about a real person written by someone else.

Canon: If something is canon, then it is part of the world a writer has created. Fanart and fanfiction are not canon.

Chapter Books: Chapter books are books meant for juveniles as they are learning to read. They are an introduction to longer books and contain shorter chapters.

Charity Anthology: An anthology that benefits a charity.

Chick-Lit: Chick-lit is the abbreviation of chick literature, meaning stories written for a female audience. This type of story tends to create butterflies in the reader's stomach and plays on the fantasies girls have while growing up. An example of chick-lit is Angelina Kerner's Glowing Kiss.

Classics: Classics are books written in the past and are considered to be part of the canon.

Clean Romance: Clean romance is a genre of romance that operates under a closed-door policy. Basically, this is a romance that draws a line in the sand and shut the bedroom door in the reader's face, letting the reader know what may be happening, but doesn't go into explicit detail.

Comic Books: Comic books are fully illustrated short stories or story segments.

Co-written: A co-written story has more than one author.

Cozy Mystery: A cozy mystery is a mystery story that makes you feel like you're curled up on the sofa watching Murder She Wrote with your mom or grandma.

Crossover: A crossover is a story that crosses over into another story's world. Crossovers are commonly used in the fanfiction community, but occasionally authors will cowrite stories together, which can earn them this tag.

Dark Fantasy: Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy. This type of fantasy focuses on dark themes and usually contains darker creatures (vampires, undead, and blood mages). Descriptions of blood, gore, violence, and nudity commonly lead books of the genre to a mature rating.

Dark Romance: Dark romance is almost always mature reading material. This type of romance is not afraid to blur every line. Dark romance is a romance with dark elements like dubious consent, abuse, rape, and BDSM.

Dystopian: Dystopian books are stories that take place in a world where the government has either lost all its power or has way too much.

D2D: D2D stands for Draft2Digital.com, a website specializing in printing, binding, and formatting for self-published authors.

E: E is the literary equivalent of a rated-R movie. It is important to note that in literature E stands for explicit and not everyone.

Editor: An editor is a person who proofreaders and edits a manuscript.

Epic Fantasy: An epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy. This type of fantasy is a longer work that usually involves a journey that takes place throughout a series of installments. An example of an epic fantasy would be Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

Erotica: Erotica is both inside and outside the realm of romance. It is not directly called romance but is usually thought of as being part of the romance genre. Erotica has nothing to do with plot elements. The main concept in erotica is massively descriptive sexual scenes. Erotica is always mature reading material.

Fanfiction: Fanfiction is a story written by fans. Fanfiction is not part of an author's cannon. They are a fan's 'what-ifs'.

Fantasy: Fantasy is a genre that revolves around magical elements, creatures, and places. Usually, fantasy has a slight medical feel to it, excluding urban fantasy.

FF: If you see FF mentioned in a book's description it means the book contains a female/female romantic pairing.

FM: If you see FM mentioned in a book's description it means the book contains a female/male romantic pairing.

FMC: FMC stands for female main character.

Freelancer: A freelancer is a writer who gets paid by the number of words they write for newspapers or magazines.

G: G is the literary equivalent of PG or G in the movie industry. There are no warnings attached to this type of writing.

Graphic Novels: Graphic novels are longer comic books. They are novel-length but done in the style of a comic book.

Hashtags: Hashtags are phases accompanied by a pound sign. They are used on social media sites to help direct your posts to their intended audiences. Examples of hashtags are #writerslife, #booktok, #bookstagram, and #urbanfantasybooks.

High Fantasy: High fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy. This type of fantasy involves extensive world-building. An author who writes high fantasy takes the time to create an entirely new world and creatures.

Holiday Romance: A romance story centered around a holiday. Most people think of Christmas when they see this tag, but stories who use it can contain any holiday.

Horror: Horror is a getnre of writing meant to frighten an audience.

Imagery: The act of painting images with your words in your writings.

Indie Author: Indie author is a shortened form of an independent author. Independent authors are self-published and are not contracted with a publishing house.

Justify: If a text is justified then all sides of the text line up evenly. Newspapers use this format more than any other literary industry.

Juvenile: Juvenile books are stories crafted for elementary students and younger.

KDP: KDP stands for Kindle Direct Publishing, a publishing method created by Amazon.

LesFic: LesFic is an abbreviation for lesbian fiction.

MA: MA is the literary equivalent of an unrated movie. For mature audiences.

Main Character: The main character is the character the story is about.

Manuscript: An unpublished story.

Mass Market Paperback: A mass market paperback is a paperback book printed in massive quantity to be distributed in general stores. These books are typically under $7 and are compact enough to slip inside a purse or bag.

Mature: A book with a mature rating should not be read by an audience under the age of 18.

MC: MC stands for the main character.

Middle-Grade: Middle-grade literature is stories written for upper elementary and middle school students. This grade range usually spans from 4th grade through 8th.

MM: If you see MM mentioned in a book's description it means the book contains a male/male romantic pairing.

Murder Mystery: A murder mystery is a mystery book that focuses on murder.

Mystery: Mystery is a genre that involves a case. Usually, characters are police or common people who accidentally stumble upon something not quite right. An example of this is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's, Sherlock Holmes.

New Adult: New adult books are made specifically with college-age readers in mind. This is a lesser-known genre as most writers tend to just revert to YA or Mature ratings. New adult stories can be a little loose in content. They can get away with heavier language and steamier intimacy but are much tamer than their mature counterparts.

 Novel: A novel is a long book. Novels are known for their descriptive language and in-depth character development.

Novelette: This term always makes me think of a bralette. A novelette is a short novel that typically has a light, romantic, or sentimental plot.

Novella: A novella is a short book or a long short story. It's an in-between length that consists of a straight-to-the-point story telling style with more imagery and character development than a short story.

NSFW: NSFW stands for not safe for work. It's basically a way to say something has mature content.

PA: A PA is a personal assistant.

Paranormal Romance: Paranormal romance is a subgenre of romance. This type of romance involves paranormal creatures such as shifters, vampires, dragons, kitsunes, and such.

Play: A type of story meant to be performed on a stage.

Playwright: The author of a play.

Poetry: A genre of writing focused on the rhythm of words and syllables.

POV: POV stands for point of view.

PRH: PRH stands for a paranormal reverse harem. Genders do not matter so much in this tag as they do with the regular RH. The big part of the PRH tag is the P. This tag implies that there is a main character with multiple lovers that are paranormal beings.

Publisher: A publisher is a person in charge of a publication.

PWP: Commonly, PWP stands for porn with a plot, but it has been used to mean porn without a plot. It's an unclear abbreviation commonly found in the fanfiction world. Most romance authors do not use this term, as there are other literary terms (such as clean, erotic, RH, and mature) that they prefer. This tag is associated with stories focusing on intense sexual scenes.

Ragged Right: This is a fancy way to say left justified. All lines on the left side of the paper line up, but the right side does not. Newspapers tend to use this format.

RH: RH is an abbreviation for a reverse harem. Oftentimes, RH pops up in the paranormal and romance genres. An RH consists of a female main character with multiple male lovers. Where a story with an H minus the R consists of a male main character with multiple female lovers.

Right Justify: All lines on the right side of the paper line up but the left does not (this type of formatting is not typically used by American authors).

Sci-Fi: Sci-fi is an abbreviation for science fiction, a genre that focuses on scientific concepts, time travel, space, and beings like superheroes. Unlike fantasy, science fiction bases it's 'magical' elements on science.

Self-Published: This form of publishing does not utilize a traditional publishing house. Self-publishing is the act of publishing a work on your own, without the aid of an editor, publisher, or traditional staff.

Short Story: Typically a short story is less than 25 pages. Short stories usually take less than an hour to read.

Side Character: A side character is a character that interacts with the main character and helps the hero along, but the story isn't about them.

Standalone Series: A standalone series is a series that consists of books that can be read in any order or on their own.

Stringer: A stringer is another word for freelancer.

T: T is the literary equivalent of PG13.

The Canon: The canon is the concept of a literary collection deemed to be the best books of humanity. Books in the canon are considered timeless and are taught in colleges or schools, with the exception of banned books. For example, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is a banned book but it is also part of the canon because literary critics have recognized its importance in the record-keeping of humanity.

The Human Condition: This is a slightly more negative view of the human experience. The human condition is the belief that being human is not so much an experience but a condition. However, like the human experience, it focuses on what it means to be human.

The Human Experience: The human experience is what it is like to be human and focuses on the experiences humanity has.

The Star System: The star system is a rating system used to give an opinion of a book. For instance, if you hate a book you might give it one star, while if you adore a book you might give it five stars.

Thriller: Thriller is a type of writing meant to get a reader's heart racing.

Traditionally Published: This is an organization made of editors, publishers, graphic designers, press operators, and writers. Writers who self-publish must work within the organization's standards.

Trigger Warning: If you open a book and there is a trigger warning, you need to immediately stop to read it. This is not something you should skip over. An author may choose to put a trigger warning in the front of their book if they feel their story contains situations that may trigger/scare their readers. Common triggers include self-harm, suicidal tendencies, miscarriages, rape, abuse, drug abuse, pet death, and alcoholism.

Universal Link: A universal link is a link created to direct your readers to your books without using a site like Amazon. This type of link prevents sites from tracking your books and blocking the number of reviews you can get.

Urban Fantasy: Urban fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy. This type of fantasy takes magical elements and places them in the real world.

WIP: WIP stands for work in progress. It is a story that an author is working on.

 YA: YA is the abbreviation for young adult literature. Also known as, literature for teens.