EBOOKS and EPUBLISHING

Files of digital versions of books are produced in different formats designed to be read by different devices or programs. At time of writing there were twelve main ones which can be identified by the suffix at the end of the file name: eg eReader [-er.PDB] ; Adobe [.PDF] ; Microsoft [.LIT] ; Palm Doc [.PDB] ; Kindle [AZW]

Ebooks purchased in one format cannot be read on another device. This Digital Rights Management (DRM) is ostensibly designed to ensure books are not altered, copied or on-sold. It may also be seen as an attempt by the hardware manufacturers to “lock in” their customer base.

The number of platforms each ebook is available in is determined by the publisher. Whether this is influenced by hardware manufacturers remains to be seen.

Some trade publishers only release books as secured versions which are encrypted so they can only be downloaded to be read on one device to prevent unauthorized copying.

Currently the unecrypted versions are still bound by copyright law which means they are for your own personal use and you are not supposed to alter them or distribute them to other people.

There is a good information on how to get software and how to download it at: https://www.fictionwise.com/help/ebook-formats-FAQ.htm#redownload
While some need dedicated readers, others can be read on your PC or Mac by downloading the reading programs (often free).

Geographical Limitations may also apply which limits their sale to specific countries (usually identified by the place of origin of the credit card buying them).

There is usually no or only a nominal advance involved in ebooks, however the royalty percentage per sale is higher eg currently Ellora’s Cave offer  37.5% digital / 7.5% print.

http://www.ninc.com/blog/index.php/archives/meet-executive-editor-angela-james#more-3491
Contracts for ebooks need to look carefully at the term “out of print” as it could take on a whole new meaning, especially when it comes to reversion of rights. Is your book out of print when it’s not in paper copy any longer, or is it still in print as long as a digital copy is available. What kinds of future rights are you giving away?

As the industry is still in its early days epublishing with small companies can be a risky business especially if the company folds and they are the only outlet. Some publishers onsell to ebook stores which at least allows the book to be available afterwards, however the author’s return diminishes markedly.

Prolific author Piers Anthony has a page which gives the lowdown on ePublishers as at this date. http://www.hipiers.com/publishing.html#publishers

EDITING and EDITORS

Editing is the alteration of text to improve it by adjusting content or grammar. Definitions of roles may vary from country to country and publisher to publisher.

http://www.usq.edu.au/arts/studyareas/edpub/editors

Has a description of the different types of editor.

Content editor’s role is usually to read submissions or actively pursue product for their publisher. They may make suggestions as to whether it fits their market and ways you can change your story to meet their expectations.

A copy editor ensures your publication has a logical, easy-to-follow structure, corrects your grammar, spelling and punctuation, makes sure your facts are correct and consistent, helps stylise your language.

Proofreaders or line editors look at grammar, spelling and punctuation, but not content.

Note the role of editor has changed since the advent of epublishing, now they’re somewhat blurred.

Editing can be done by the author themselves ie self editing, or by others eg critique partners.

It is possible to pay a person to edit your book or take it to a “story doctor”.

Many books have been written on the subject eg James Scott Bell’s “Revision and Self-Editing”

There are also great blog sites full of hints and tricks.

http://edittorrent.blogspot.com

http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com often has good articles. This one gives specific advice on the different roles they play. http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2009/09/editors-editors-and-more-editors.html or this one on how to choose an editor http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2009/09/choosing-right-editor.html

ENNEAGRAMS

Most commonly, an Enneagram is an application of the Enneagram  figure to indicate nine distinct personality types and their interrelationships.

The Enneagram Institute has a free test to identify which type you belong to.

For example, type 1, the Reformer:

… are conscientious and ethical, with a strong sense of right and wrong. They are teachers, crusaders, and advocates for change: always striving to improve things, but afraid of making a mistake.

With its accompanying classification of a type’s fear, desire and motivation, these can be used to determine each characters GMC (goal, motivation and conflict)

As each type also has a healthy and unhealthy aspect, the type descriptions can help create believable emotional arcs for a character as they move along the range between healthy and unhealthy.

While you can purchase software programs that do the work for you. Careful reading of the free information posted on the Enneagram Institute site will cover most of the aspects in them.

EPILOGUES

The epilogue is a piece of writing at the end of a work specifically designed to bring closure.

To quote Wikipedia:

An epilogue is a final chapter at the end of a story that often serves to reveal the fates of the characters. Some epilogues may feature scenes only tangentially related to the subject of the story. They can be used to hint at a sequel or wrap up all the loose ends. They can occur at a significant period of time after the main plot has ended. In some cases, the epilogue has been used to allow the main character a chance to 'speak freely'. An epilogue can continue in the same narrative style and perspective as the preceding story, although the form of an epilogue can occasionally be drastically different from the overall story.

EROTICA

Publishers and readers expect something labeled erotica will contain graphic sex.

Strictly speaking, erotica is fiction where sex drives the plot. If all the dramatic tension comes from somewhere other than the sex, then the sex isn't necessary to tell the story. If the sex isn't necessary to tell the story, it’s not erotica.

In publishing terms, the term erotica is applied loosely to encompass stories where the sex is either traditional heterosexual sex at a higher level of heat than usually found or contains elements that are considered different eg BDSM, homosexual pairings, ménage, fetishes, kinks etc.

Here’s how Morgan Hawke sums it up in “The Cheater’s Guide to Writing Erotic Romance For Publication and Profit”

If a vampire has sex, the plot is erotic.

If the vampire has to have sex to drink the blood he needs, then the story becomes Erotica.

If the vampire finds a lover willing to give him the sex and the blood he needs, and they go on a wild adventure together to defeat the bad guys— the story becomes Erotic Romance.

The boundaries are also becoming blurred. While NY publishers are including longer and more graphic sex scenes in their romances, it’s still not erotica or even erotic romance unless the sex is driving the plot.

EROTIC ROMANCE

Who better to describe it than Morgan Hawke again:

"An Erotic Romance is a true cross-genre of Romance and Adventure and Sex. However, you can't just heat up a romance, or pop a few sex scenes into an adventure tale, or add Romance to an Erotica story, and make an Erotic Romance. To do an Erotic Romance right, you have to make everything work together— a romantic, sexually active relationship that goes on an Adventure. The sex has to be as much a part of the adventure plot as the relationship. The sex should trigger events in the plot— not be ‘in Addition to’ the plot. In other words, the Sex should be part of what makes the plot happen. To make the sex trigger events in the plot, the sex needs a PURPOSE, a REASON to be in the story, just like any other element in your work of fiction. You have to make the sex MATTER! Just like any other element in your work of fiction, to do Erotic Romance right, the best way to fit sex into the plot is to make it Vitally Important for sex to happen.”

EROTIC LANGUAGE

There are two camps of thought. One that maintains graphic language is expected in erotica and the ones who say it turns the reader off.

Two interesting blogs in Alien Romance dealt with this. First, Margaret Carter in this blog on erotic language  finds most formerly "unprintable" words as anti-aphrodisiacs and maintains:

Graphic or explicit erotica can mean either of two things—detailed, specific descriptions of body parts and sexual activities or very blunt (some people might say coarse or obscene) language.

She points out some publishers classify their erotica into different levels depending on the nature of these two elements.

Rowena Cherry in another blog on erotic language argues for the side of including explicit language. As she puts it:

Almost any word, used with skill and precision, can accomplish the author's purpose. I've read uses of the f-word where I could not imagine a more effective or arousing word for the context.

So the language can vary greatly from what I like to term the 4C’s (clitoris, cock, cum, cunt) and the euphemistic terms listed here in the sex dictionary

ETHICS

Ethics may seem a strange term to include, however it applies to a few aspects of a writer’s life.

This webpage on Fiction and the Ethics of Writing has thoughts on ensuring what you write does no harm: http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/ron-hansen.html

Here is a forum  which has a number of threads discussing issues such as plagiarism, attribution, quotes, names etc

There are also behavioural ethics eg the way you critique another’s work. Here is a good blog by Marilynn Brierley as she sees ethics.

EVENTS

Or more commonly known as Book Events are promotional events usually attended by the author in person. They may involve sessions where author will read a portion of their work and sign purchased copies of the book for their fans.

DARK MOMENT

The dark moment is the time when the protagonist reaches rock bottom. All seems lost. This will usually precede the climax (where the major plot problem is resolved), and thus take place near the beginning of the final part of the book.

Not all books need dark moments, but properly used, this point of crisis can intensify the conflict and at the same time, initiate its resolution.

Alicia Rasley in her blog on dark moments sums it up well on this page.

DESCRIPTION

On its most basic level this tells the reader more about the character and the environment they ‘re in. Note the word “tell”. Used correctly it should also “show” the reader more about the character as well.

Unless the POV is omniscient third, the description should always relate to the person whose viewpoint it is. It should only show what is important to that character. Morgan Hawke gives a good example:

Oscar the Grouch is not going to see - or describe - a field of roses the same way as Big Bird. Darth Vader's opinion (and description,) of Yoda is not going to resemble Luke Skywalker's. The Heroine is NOT going to describe the Villain the same way she would her Hero.

Check out Morgans' blogs on the subject:

Is-description-really-needed

tricks-to-tight-sneaky-description

DIALOGUE

Dialogue is what people say and is delineated by quotation marks.

Here is a good article on The Punctuation of Dialogue.

Strunk & White's Elements of Style recommends:
"In dialogue, each speech, even if only a single word, is a paragraph by itself; that is, a new paragraph begins with each change of speaker."

Combining dialogue with action is important Morgan Hawke (again) stresses: One character's Dialogue belongs in the Same Paragraph with their Actions BECAUSE when that character speaks, that one character is still acting!

Dialogue always happens after actions. People act faster than they think, unless the action is as an after effect of what has been said or thought.

There is also inner dialogue, the POV’s characters thoughts. Currently publishers vary as to how they treat this. Some put it into italics, others don’t. Together the two types of dialogue make up the character’s “voice”. The current trend is that if the inner dialogue is accompanied by words like he thought, or he wondered then it is not italicized. If the thought are words that could have been spoken as dialogue but deliberately weren't then they are italicized. This is as distinct from

Weaving internal thought along with external dialogue is a great way to show a person’s character. A character could be self-censoring their speech, thinking one thing but saying something else. For example a male character may swear a lot in company with other men, but only in internal dialogue in the company of women. Impetuous people tend to speak first then think.

What someone doesn’t say in dialogue can be just as important as what they say. For the POV character, what they don’t say is usually shown as an inner thought. For the observed character, a lie, evasion may be up to the reader to determine from what has already happened in the story or from the POV’s character observation of the speaker’s body language. This may or may not be correctly interpreted depending on the circumstances.

Writing good dialogue is at the heart of all fiction writing. Entire books have been devoted to the subject. There are also online workshops. Here’s a list of some web articles on the subject: http://www.suite101.com/reference/how_to_write_good_dialogue

Dialogue has to match the tone and genre of the book. Jennifer Crusie’s witty modern dialogue would not suit a regency romance for example. It should also match the character ie the word choice, style, and cadence should be as distinct as possible. 

Robert Sawyer has some good tips on writing realistic dialogue here: http://www.sfwriter.com/ow08.htm

Read dialogue aloud and listen to the cadence. The way the words flow.

Watch that dialogue doesn’t become a rant. Break it up with reactions from the listener.

DIALOGUE CUE

 Dialogue cues describe the voice – the tone, quality, pitch, volume and rate of speech.

This becomes non verbal characterization. How they say something gives as much if not more information than what they say.

Margie Lawson runs a great workshop on the subject and her notes can be purchased. http://www.margielawson.com/index.php/on-line-classes/june-writing-body-language

DIALOGUE RUNS

Short lines of dialogue ping-ponging back and forth between characters. Often there are no dialogue tags or dialogue cues.

DIALOGUE TAGS

Basic dialogue tags inform the reader who delivered the line of dialogue, ie he said, she said

Dialogue tags are only needed when you don’t have any other way of identifying the speaker.

Instead of using basic dialogue tags, dialogue can also be identified by tying the dialogue to an action or an internalization, body language, a visceral response or a dialogue cue. These lift the words off the page into a visual image.

“Sit back,” he said.

“Sit.” He pointed at the empty seat.

DISTRIBUTORS

I am indebted to the great SciFiRomance author Linnea Sinclair for explaining this to me in an email:

All bookstores receive their “inventory” (ie: books) usually on consignment from one of several major distributors. Book publishers themselves do not ship directly to stores. Publishers (or the publisher’s printer) ships to a distributor’s warehouse and the distributor takes orders from bookstores, be they Borders or Barnes & Noble, or Mom And Pop Books R Us. Some of the more well known distributors are Ingram’s (likely the largest), Baker & Taylor and Levy Entertainment. The distributors send out catalogs to bookstores (or in the case of large chains, to the chain’s HQ) and then the store decides who/what to order from that. 

Large publishers—like Bantam—have “reps” who visit the top executives and buyers of the large chain stores, like Borders, and they try to get the buyers/execs excited about whatever is coming up next. But the stores still must order through a distributor.

CADENCE

Cadence is the way the words flow if spoken. It varies depending on the number of syllables in a word, the length of sentences, the amount of alliteration etc. It’s important to match the cadence with the content.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Good+writing+needs+cadence.+(Symposium+Secrets+to+Stronger+Editorials)-a0102908476

CATEGORY

In genre writing, category writing is writing to specified guidelines set by the publishing houses eg Harlequin. Each category has its own specific requirements as to subject matter, length, voice etc

Romance novel www.economicexpert.com/a/Romance:novel.htm

The opposite is single title where a book stands alone and was not written to comply with guidelines.

CHARACTERS and CHARACTER SHEETS

Well rounded characters whose personalities grow throughout the course of the novel are what all writers aim for. Various methods are used to help them achieve this eg Tarot, Astrology, established Archetypes, Myers Briggs and Enneagrams.

Publishing Houses often require character sheets which describe their physical characteristics so they can forward them on to their cover illustrators. These sheets also cover facets of their personality, sometimes in the form of an interview. These may include questions like their desires and goals, strengths and virtues, faults and weaknesses.

CLICHES

Inclusion of hackneyed clichés can weaken writing, particularly when used in describing the character.

Margie Lawson has a great piece which starts: “I'm tickled pink to share clichés that set my teeth on edge.  I'd give my right arm to knock clichés over the rooftops, out of the ballpark, beyond the ozone layer.”

Try to avoid these where possible by introducing fresh ways to describe these things.

CLIMAX

Climaxes don’t only occur in sex scenes <g>.

Generally a climax is some kind of a confrontation. Everything in the scene should lead up to it and once it occurs, the pace dies down until the introduction of the hook to the next scene. A mini climax needs to occur in each scene. Your major climax needs to occur towards the end of the book. It has to be strong but also realistic.

This page sets out some important parameters: www.ehow.com/how_2154032_use-climax-writing.html

CONFLICT vs CONFRONTATIONS vs COMPLICATIONS

Many teachers of writing craft (eg Dwight Swain) maintain each scene needs conflict. Newbies often interpret this as saying each scene must have an argument between the characters, ie confrontation. Wrong. Conflict doesn’t always involve confrontation it can also be the result of a complication or even a misunderstanding. It’s most effective when the thing a protagonist needs or wants to do is thwarted by an equally formidable force opposing it.

Say your character needs to get from point A to point B. This can be thwarted by:

tripping on a banana skin or someone inadvertently getting in their way (random impersonal conflict)
person standing in their way deliberately opposing them (confrontation)
they secretly think they should be going to point C (internal conflict)
they’re too drunk to run or injured and can only run slowly (complication)
the message was misheard and they should have gone to point D (misunderstanding)

One good example I came across: Someone who gets into a car crash has trouble. Someone who gets into a car crash when the evil corporation she's stolen files from slams into her car has conflict.

COMP TITLES

Comparative or comparable titles are the books your book is compared to. Trade people use them to gain an estimate for likely sales figures. You can read more at Pimp My Novel pimpmynovel.blogspot.com/2009/07/monday-mailbag-comp-titles.html

CONCEPT

The idea behind a book is the concept. What agents and editors love is High Concept, a fascinating idea that can easily be explained in a short sentence which is different, has a terrific hook, and takes something everyone knows and puts a new twist on it.

CONFERENCES

Run annually by organizations such as Romance Writers of America, Australia or New Zealand. They usually incorporate speeches and workshops in their programs designed to encourage and help other authors write. Agents, editors and publishers’ representatives sometimes attend, allowing you to meet them and sometimes present a pitch of your latest project. They are a great way to meet other authors, learn your craft and become known.

Conferences cost money. Here’s advice from Rachelle Gardner on whether you should go to them. cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2009/08/should-you-go-to-writers-conference.html

CONTESTS

Many writing organizations run writing contests. Quite a few new writers have broken into publishing on the strength of their results in these competitions. Yu can also gain valuable feedback from comments in the process.

Don’t forget to look at other country’s organizations and contests. Some are open to writers from anywhere others require membership of that organisation to enter.

The drawback is cost. Entry fees and the cost of printing, packing, posting and providing return postage can become significant if you’re entering a lot. Take care to ensure your work matches their criteria for entry and follow the rules.

CONTRACTS

Contracts set out the terms between you and your publisher in a sequence of clauses. Usually these are negotiated by agents on your behalf, however if you don’t have an agent because you are epublishing you will need to research this thoroughly or get someone with expertise to do it for you.

There is some good advice from an agent at Genreality www.genreality.net/guest-agent-jenny-bent
Here’s a great list of Must Have Contract Clauses by Joe Nassise www.genreality.net/must-have-contract-clauses

Also some great advice from Angela James, formerly of Samhain Publishing now with Carina Press. “be aware of the terms of your contract. Understand not just the print side of your contract, but the digital side as well. Now that we have digital books, the term “out of print” could take on a whole new meaning, especially when it comes to reversion of rights. Is your book out of print when it’s not in paper copy any longer, or is it still in print as long as a digital copy is available?

CONVENTIONS

 RT, the US Romantic Times Convention and ARRC the Australian Romance Readers Convention are the most obvious examples but there are also ones for different genres such as Worldcon the World Science Fiction Convention.

Conventions are geared more for the fans i.e. the readers. They have a few panels covering the craft of writing plus they are a great way to meet other authors and pimp your novel at book signings. They may also be the inspiration to become a writer yourself (as ARRC was for me!).

COPYRIGHT

First off you cannot copyright an idea.

Jessica faust at BookEnds Literary agency has this to say on the subject. bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2009/08/idea-theft.html

In Australia, copyright protection is granted automatically from the time an original work is created. See the Attorney General’s site for details: www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/page/Copyright

The duration of copyright protection is dependent on a number of factors, including the nature of the work, the time when it was made and whether it has been published. The duration of protection for copyright works that have been published (or otherwise made available to the public) generally lasts for 70 years after the death of the creator. There are some exceptions to this general rule.

Copyright subsists indefinitely in a literary work that has not been published during the life of the author. If the work is posthumously published, the copyright will terminate at the end of 70 years after that event.

Copyright laws vary from country to country and from time to time, so check what is relevant to you.

COVER LETTER

These are the letters addressed to the recipient of the synopsis, partial or whatever you are sending to an agent , editor or publisher.

Here’s a good list of do’s and don’ts from Raelene Gorlinsky at Redlines and Deadlines.

redlinesanddeadlines.blogspot.com/2009/07/letter-laws-how-not-to-write-cover.html

CRAFT

Craft is the science of writing, the grammar, structure, characterization etc. The nuts and bolts used to ensure an effective story hangs together. There are great "How To" books out there and countless blogs devoted to them, such as this one!

CRITIQUE PARTNERS

The main word here is partners. Instead of paying someone to correct your typos and grammar and suggest improvements, you swap your work with another author and do it at no cost.

Ideally you should have partners whose advice you value and know you can likewise contribute to their writing. Some may help your sentence construction, others may be great at working where your writing needs strengthening. Both types should be encouraging and where possible say what works as well as what doesn’t.

behlerblog.wordpress.com/2009/07/07/critique-groups-when-do-i-join/

Carol Burnside at Petit Fours and Hot Tamales had a good blog n the subject to: petitfoursandhottamales.blogspot.com/2009/06/share-your-work.html

Critiquing can be a valuable learning experience. Most importantly, it should be a positive experience. If it’s not, you may be matched with the wrong partner.

CROSS GENRE

Genre fiction is broken down into sub sections such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, science fiction. Cross genre is where a book combines elements of more than one type eg science fiction romance. The problem then is how the book is promoted and sold. Is it shelved in the shop in the science fiction section or the romance section?

Author and writing teacher Marilynn Brierley sums it up this way:

If a novel is cross-genre, one of the genres must be the strongest and its genre tropes and plot must drive the novel throughout.

A werewolf novel that is driven forward by the worldbuilding and various werewolf political/pack struggles is urban fantasy or horror.  A werewolf novel where boy wolf meets girl vampire, and they fall in love during various werewolf and vampire struggles is a paranormal romance.
 
You must understand what the central genre of your novel is so your novel doesn't fail by genre standards, and you will know where to market it.

B CHARACTERS and B STORY

B Characters are those who the B Story or subplot surrounds. It’s a term used by the late screen writing guru Blake Snyder who pinpoints how these subplots and characters are pivotal to the story because the theme often resonates in their dialogue. He defines it in his 15 beat story structure as the Helper Story, the secondary story that the hero needs to undergo so that he (or she) can transform to complete the main story.

The characters involved are often introduced as a foil for your protagonist. They may mentor them or argue with them and their relationship usually explores the book or play’s theme.

http://www.blakesnyder.com/tools/

BACKLOADING

Margie Lawson often uses this term in her lectures. Backloading is the principle of removing your strongest words from where they are embedded at the centre of your sentence structure and putting them at the end to add emphasis, to provide more psychological weight. This technique is particularly powerful at the end of paragraphs, scenes and, of course, chapters.

There are some examples on this blog. http://www.joanswan.com/my.articles.wt.backloading.htm

BACKSTORY

Is what happens before the events in your story begins. It often includes the motivations for the POV’s character’s decision and actions. There are many posts and articles on backstory management which show how to avoid info dumping. One great piece of advice I came across was from the mystery suspense author Mark Sullivan who describes it as etching only the information a reader absolutely must know onto a pane of glass then dropping it. Each shard should then be placed into its appropriate place in the story.

BEATS

This word is used a few different ways. The most common meaning is as a piece of action which moves the plot along. A number of beats constitute a scene and a number of scenes constitute an act.

Sometimes beats are seen as components of the structure. For example I have seen Romances consist of seven beat structures. Blake Snyder sees a whole screen play as only consisting of 15 beats. This blog describes a seminar he gave on the subject. http://ciaralira.wordpress.com/2008/01/20/story-structure-from-blake-snyder/

Beat can also mean a moment in time.

BETA MALES

Are unremarkable, careful males who avoid risk and confrontation. They lack the physical presence, charisma and confidence of the Alpha male. Sometimes alpha females are paired with beta males. They are also often alpha male’s side kicks or buddies.

BETA READERS

These people read the story prior to publication to ensure it works as a whole. It’s different from a critique reader who looks closely at the detail during the writing process. They should concentrate more on whether there are parts where it drags or becomes confusing and whether the characters act logically. The questions they could answer are: Is it boring? Did it work? Is it too much? Is anything confusing?Did you like the characters?

BIO

Whether published or unpublished, at some point an aspiring writer is going to have to compose a bio. If it's on the back of a book, then it's to let readers know who you are and where they can visit you on the web. If it's in a pitch letter to an agent, then it's to let them know the level of writing experience you have.

Some blogs from agents on what to include:

http://www.johnsonliterary.com/blog/2009/8/4/the-author-bio.html

Query: “Do you want to know about me?”

BLOGS

Why blog? Blogs are seen as an important part of an author’s marketing platform. This post has great info on how to Build Blog traffic.

http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2009/07/how-to-build-traffic-on-your-blog-part.html

 BLOG TOUR

These are guest appearance spots on other people’s blogs, usually organized to coincide with the launch of an author’s book. The author is usually expected to watch the blog during the day so they can respond to people’s comments. It is the virtual world’s equivalent of an actor’s organized press tour to promote their latest film.

BLURB

A blurb on a book can be any combination of quotes from the work, the author, the publisher, reviewers or fans, a summary of the plot, a biography of the author or simply claims about the importance of the work.

BODY LANGUAGE

A person’s emotional state is often conveyed by the way they hold their body and what they do with it. Sometimes the words the POV character uses to describe how they see this person reacting can be interpreted differently by the reader depending on what they already know as distinct from what the POV character knows. It’s always an interpretation not a fact. Studies show the percentage of understanding gained from the spoken word is considerably less than the meaning people gain from listening to a person's tone of voice and looking at their non-verbal communication, ie body language.

A dictionary of them can be downloaded from the Center for Nonverbal Studies:  http://ebook30.com/personality/relationships-sex/88029/the-nonverbal-dictionary-of-gestures-signs-and-body-language-cues.html

Many moons ago. I had a blog entitled "Write First Time" designed for newbie writers, explaining a lot of the jargon we come across when we first start out.
The blog has disappeared, but I will re-post them here, as the content is still valid.

 A is for:

ACTIVE

As in active voice rather than passive voice. This is regarded as the ideal form as it conveys the action in a more vivid form. It uses the active form of the verb rather than the passive one (which usually is accompanied by some form of the verb “to be”)

Example: The ball was thrown by Jason. (Passive) vs (Active) Jason threw the ball.

It is a good idea to check your manuscript for all instances of the word “was” for a start and see how many sentences could be reconstructed to an active form.

www.dailywritingtips.com/passive-vs-active-voice/

ACTS

Fiction writing often adopts the same concept of splitting a plot into Acts as in a play or screen play. The classic form is the Three Act structure, with each Act having its own beginning, climax and end.

www.cod.edu/people/faculty/pruter/film/threeact.htm

ADVANCE

Advances are the amount a publisher pays an author up front in anticipation of royalties earned. If for example the royalty figure is set to 5% and the advance is $5,000. The publisher has to take $100,000 before it needs to pay out any more on royalties. In book publishing (unlike film) if the sales do not meet expectations, the author is not required to refund the difference.

The average NY author makes between $2000.00 and $10,000.00 in an advance. In addition, you DON’T get the advance in one lump sum. You get part when you sign the contract, part when you turn in the manuscript and the rest when it finally goes on the shelf – and that can be one to two Years after the manuscript was turned in! (Morgan Hawke, Writing is an Art but Publishing is a Business Blog)

AGENTS

Agents are employed by authors to represent them in negotiations with publishers and to find a publisher for their book. They take a percentage of any money the book earns. Most New York publishing houses will only consider books submitted by agents. Agents usually have very specific genres of books they will represent, so you have to research that before wasting their and your time by contacting them with a query letter or pitching to them.

As ebook publishers currently accept submissions without going through an agent, and as ebook publishers don’t usually pay an advance on earnings, most authors do not use their agent in negotiations with them.

Preditors & Editors; http://anotherealm.com/prededitors: is an author advocacy group which vets agents to make sure you’re submitting to only those that are reputable.

For info on what to send, see the entry under S for Submissions.

ALPHA MALES

Alpha males are the dominant males in a group. This is usually because of their size, looks, personality and ambition. They are the leaders, the men of action. People follow them.

Who better to advise on the subject than Angela Knight:

http://angelasknights.blogspot.com/2005/02/care-and-writing-of-alpha-males.html

ANTAGONIST

Antagonist is the person opposing the protagonist. They may or may not be a villain, as the latter usually have some sort of crime in their opposition. An antagonist may be a mother-in-law who opposes the actions and desires of the woman her son married, causing conflict in the marriage. They not only have to have a personality type that causes conflict, their purpose or goal has to be in conflict.

http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1226682

ARC

You will often hear reference to story arc, character arc, emotional arc.

These show the change that has taken place in the story, character or emotion since the beginning. Many authors plot the developments in each aspect like a graph at the end of each chapter. There may be peaks along this arc, but more usually troughs. In other words, things often get worse before they get better.

Morgan Hawke has a good blog on it here:  darkerotica.blogspot.com/2005/03/building-character-arc-angst-glorious.html

ARCHETYPE

In the words of Wikipedia, an archetype is an original model of a person, ideal example, or a prototype after which others are copied, patterned, or emulated. They can also be viewed as a stereotype (hackneyed version) or an epitome (prime example).

meta-religion.com/Psychiatry/Analytical_psychology/a_gallery_of_archetypes.htm

AUTHOR

In common parlance, an author is merely a published writer.

My first story was a science fiction set amongst aliens yet no aliens appeared in the story. My main characters spent half the story hardy able to speak to each other, yet romance is (to quote Josh Lanyon) a series of dialogues between your main characters. My main character was a double amputee with a drinking problem, post traumatic stress disorder and facial scarring. One early beta reader begged me to make him more attractive.

Then my next full length novel is written in dual first person with a lot of backtracking time wise.

I don't just have a predeliction for challenge in my novels. My first short story was about a cyborg. Again hardly a character who would exhibit the depth of emotion needed in romance.

Why do I do this to myself?  Because I fucking love a challenge and because I love a fucking challenge.

Biggest fucking challenge of all is getting into a man's head. Why men?

I love writing about men. They can do all the things I would love to do, but can't very often simply because I'm a female.

Men can walk into a bar in any town and not feel their presence raises all sorts of issues. Why is she here? What does she want? Is she single? Is she taken? Will she trap me into marriage if I fuck her? Would she be a good mother for my children?

Plus, let's face it if writing about one man is good, writing about two has to be double good, right?

Welcome to my world.