C

Calf

 Leather made from a calf hide or cattle hide, it is the most common type of leather used for bookbinding. It may be dyed nearly any color.

Camera-Ready

 Final artwork, including typesetting and graphics ready for reproduction in the final book production process.

Camera-Ready Copy

 The manuscript typeset and prepared for reproduction.

Cancel

 A publisher-authorized content correction that is made after a book has been printed and bound. Cancels can be as small as a scrap of paper to correct type, or as large as a page or a signature to correct a section. The corrected page or illustration is glued onto the page or inserted into an already bound book. They are less common today because of advanced computerized printing techniques, but were very common in the 17th and 18th centuries due to numerous printer errors. Also known as tipped-in card covers

Cataloging In Publication (CIP)

 Card catalog information printed on the copyright page; a service provided by the Library of Congress for books extensively used in libraries.

Chapbook

 A small book or pamphlet, often a collection of poetry or prose. Previous to the mid-19th century, the term was used to describe small books of popular, sensational, juvenile, moral, or educational content sold by street merchants, known as "chapmen."

Chipped

 Refers to the condition of a book; a mark or flaw caused by scuffing, gouging, or breaking off of a small piece of the dust jacket, pages, or backstrip. 

Chromolithography

 A printing process that is done by printing in colors from a series of lithographic stones or plates. Noted for its fresh, bright colors, this process was popular during mid and late 19th century bookmaking.

Cip

 Cataloging in Publication. The bibliographic information supplied by the Library of Congress and printed on the copyright page

Clip Art

 Uncopyrighted drawings and pictures intended to be cut and pasted in printed material.

Clip Art

 Generic graphics that can be "clipped out" and used for illustrations. Available on the Internet and software programs for not charge.

Clips

 copies of published writings samples.

Cloth

 A book that is bound and covered in cloth. See also hardcover.

Coated Paper

 Chemically treated paper providing a glossy or matte finish used to enhance brightness.

Cocked

 Refers to the condition of a book; the spine is no longer straight and appears crooked or twisted. Also known as spine lean. 

Cockled

 Refers to the condition of a book; the wrinkled, puckered, waving, or curling condition of a page or of the boards of a book, which is caused by non-uniform drying and shrinkage. If the cockled page is made of vellum, the condition is caused by humidity. In the case of paper or board, the condition is caused by heat and humidity. In the case of book covers, it can be caused by the use of the wrong type of adhesive or too much adhesive.

Collated

 The content of the work, including all pages and illustrations, has been examined and verified that it is complete and in the proper order.

Colophon

 A printer's reference at the end of a book which usually gives the place of printing, name of the printer, and other details about the book. See also imprint.

Compartments

 Ruled lines forming a square border or frame on a binding, which is done in gilt or blind. Also known as panneled.

Contemporary

 A term used to describe a work that was published within the last decade or to indicate that all of the components of the book (the binding, the coloring of plates, inscriptions, and side notes) were created at the same time the book was printed.

Content Edit

 An edit of a book that checks the flow of the text, its organization, continuity and content.

Contract Publisher

 A term sometimes used to describe a contractor that helps authors put together their books, helping with editing, design, marketing, distribution, etc. Contract publishing differs from subsidy or vanity publishing in that the authors understands clearly what they are paying for and what they are getting.

Copy Edit

 An edit that checks for grammar, spelling, punctuation and other "typos."

Copy Editor

 corrects grammar and spelling in a manuscript and checks facts for accuracy and conformity.

Copyright

 the author's legal right to ownership of the work under federal copyright laws.

Copyright

 A legal notice that protects "original works of authorship" both published and unpublished, that are expressed in a tangible form, but not the ideas themselves.

Copyright

 Legal protection given to intellectual rights such written and published works in a variety of forms such as books, audio and software.

Cover Art

 the design of the book jacket, generally produced in-house by the publisher's art department.

Cover Art

 the design of the book jacket, Design- Artistic process placing images and/or words into camera ready copy.

Cover Quotes (Blurbs)

 celebrity or author endorsements.

Cracked

 Refers to the condition of a book; there is a long narrow opening or break down the spine or in the cover. 

Crimped

 Refers to the condition of a book; a grooved, indented, or pinched condition of a cover or page, which is caused by extreme humidity. It can also describe a bookmaking process that bends the hinges of loose-leaf books so that the pages of a book will easily turnover and lie flat.

Crop Marks

 Lines or markings on a camera-ready manuscript indicating where the pages will be trimmed after printing.

Cropped

 The margins of the book have been trimmed by the binder, usually too close to the text or into the text.

Cross-Collateralization

 a contract provision that allows the publisher to charge unearned advances on a book against another title.

Cut

 An illustration that is printed on a text page. See also plate.