There are plenty of technical and non-technical terms that may seem to be daunting to those who approach a POD publisher's site for the first time. These are some of the most common ones (obviously NOT listed alphabetically).
Print On Demand (POD)- This is simply a technology used to print books one at a time to avoid warehousing costs and surpluses. Sometimes it may also be referred to as Digital Printing.
E-books- E-books are electronic books. They are distributed as computer files and have no physical form, because of this there are no printing costs nor are there shipping costs in most instances (unless the author decides to distribute them sing a physical format such as a CD-ROM).
Wholesaler/Distributor- This is one that even some publishers seem to have trouble with. Both the wholesaler and the distributor act as intermediaries between the publisher and the bookstores. Though their roles are somewhat different they do tend to get confused.Contacts with wholesalers and distributors allow publishers to get their book listed in catalogs bookstores can order from.
Printing company- With a couple of exceptions, most POD publishers don't own their hardware necessary to print their books. They sub-contract this job to specialized companies. This has some advantages (it keeps costs down), and some disadvantages (it may cause some delays).
Royalties- The amount of money that is paid to the author for the sale of each book. These show some significant variations between the different publishers. There are several systems used to describe them, and comparing these systems is not always easy.
Copyright- The law that protects the author's rights to his/her intellectual property.
Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN)- A number assigned as a reference to a book that identifies it as being part of the catalog of the Library of Congress.
Desktop Publishing (DTP)- DTP usually refers to the software used to create the interior layout of a book. Unless you are submitting a ready-to-print file you probably shouldn't worry too much about it, at least not at first.
RGB- This is the acronym used to describe the way in which colors are displayed on a screen. It stands for Red, Green and Blue. It may be relevant when it comes to understanding the technicalities of designing a book cover, but otherwise it is not all that relevant.
CMYK- This acronym is used to describe the way in which printers produce colors. It stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black and it refers to the four different inks used in full color printing. As is the case with RGB it is only relevant when it comes to understanding the technicalities of designing a book cover.
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