Writing community slang, phrases and acronyms

If you’ve spent any time on social media or in online writing communities, some of these writing phrases and slang terms may be familiar to you! If you’re new to the writing or publishing world, though, you might come across some terms you don’t understand. I thought it’d be helpful to collect some of them into a glossary. Publishing pros like literary agents and editors often use these too, so it’s useful to get to know them.

Writing slang

Alpha reader/beta reader: Readers who provide feedback on an early draft of an author’s book. Alpha readers usually see very early versions of a manuscript, possibly a first draft. Beta readers will look at versions that are further along and may have been revised a few times by the writer. Many authors use the term “beta readers” exclusively, though.
AU: Alternate universe. This term is usually used in the fan fiction community. It means the story is based on something that already exists, but diverges from that story or timeline in some way.
Bromance/BROTP: A close relationship between two men. Male bonding.
CP: Critique partner. A writer who provides feedback on another writer’s work. CPs tend to swap work with each others.
Crit: Critique – critical feedback on writing.
Discovery writer: A writer who prefers not to plan, and instead writes and discovers the story as they go.
Drabble: Short pieces of writing without much plot. Usually more reflective and based on characters.
Gary Stu: The male version of a Mary Sue. A character who is unflawed or too perfect.
Info-dumping: Dumping a lot of information on the reader at once, usually as exposition or “telling”.
Insta-love: When a couple in a book fall in love instantly or too quickly.
LI: Love interest.
Manic Pixie Dream Girl: A female character who is very bizarre or quirky. She’s often broken and unreachable. Often used as a device to “teach” a male character a lesson, their only purpose being to help or save the males of the story.
MC: Main character.
MS or MSS: Manuscript.
Mary Sue: A female character who is unflawed or too perfect.
NaNoWriMo or NaNo: National Novel Writing Month. A now defunct writing event (dissolved in 2025) that previously took place every November and encouraged authors to write a book in a month.
OTP: One true pairing. A reader’s favourite couple/pairing, even if they aren’t together in the story.
Outline: A plan/story summary a writer creates before writing their novel.
Own voices: Books written about diverse groups, by authors who are part of those groups.
Pantser: Someone who doesn’t outline a story. Instead, they fly by the seat of their pants.
Plantser: Someone who does a combination of outlining and flying by the seat of their pants.
Plotter: Someone who outlines their work before writing.
POV: Point of view – the perspective from which we experience a story.
Survival kit: Anything that gets you through the writing process or helps you write. Hot chocolate, coloured pens, notepads, candles, comfy hoodies, pyjamas…
WIP: Work in progress. Used to describe an author’s manuscript as they draft it.
Word sprints or writing sprints: Timed bursts of writing without stopping. A word sprint is usually focused on hitting a particular word count (maybe writing 500 words). Writing sprints tend to focus on the time you’re given to write instead (how many words you can do in twenty minutes, for example).
Write-a-thon: An organised writing marathon. Writers write as much as they can in a given time frame, say over twenty-four hours or a week.
Write-in: A write-in is an event where writers gather to write together. It may be online via a chat group, or at a café or other venue.
Zero draft: A rough, unpolished draft the author writes to get their ideas down on the page, without being too concerned about quality.

Submission terms

Acquisitions: When a writer has a literary agent, that agent will send their book on submission to publishers. If the book makes it to “acquisitions”, this means the editor liked it, and it will go to a meeting at the publishing house, where the rest of the team as a group decide whether or not to purchase the book. This is the acquisitions meeting.
Elevator pitch: A very short pitch – one or two sentences. It summarises an author’s book in brief.
Query letter: An initial email/letter that author’s write to an agent to pitch their book.
Querying: The process of sending out query letters/submitting to agents.
Pitch: A brief summary of an author’s work to hook an agent or publisher.
R&R: Stands for “revise and resubmit”. The process of revising after an agent gives a writer feedback, and resubmitting revisions.
Slush pile: Unsolicited submissions received by agents or publishers.

Book publishing terms

Advance: Money given to the author by a publisher to purchase their book. It’s paid before that book is published. Authors need to “earn out” their advance in book sales before they start receiving royalties.
ARC: Advance reader copy. May also be called a gallery, review copy, or uncorrected proof. Given out by publishers to reviewers and industry professionals before a book is published.
ASIN: Amazon Standard Identification Number. It identifies a book product on Amazon.
Backlist: This can refer to a publisher’s older books, rather than their new titles. An “author backlist” refers to previous works put out by an author.
Backmatter: The content that comes at the back of a book, such as the acknowledgements.
Blurb: The copy on the back cover of a book (or in the online description) describing the plot.
Blog tour: A virtual tour to promote an upcoming book on various blogs.
Cover reveal: Revealing the cover of a new book for the first time.
Frankfurt: Frankfurt Book Fair.
Frontmatter: The content that comes at the front of a book, such as a table of contents, copyright page, author’s note, maps, and so on.
Hybrid author: An author who is published both traditionally and independently.
Indie author: An independent author, usually self-published.
Indie publisher: A smaller publishing company, usually with a focus on niche markets.
ISBN or ISBN-13: International Standard Book Number. Usually found on a book’s barcode. They identify a book product. They’re helpful for booksellers, librarians, and publishers.
HC: Hardcover.
LBF: London Book Fair.
Metadata: All the data that describes a book, such as the price, ISBN number, publication date, and title.
NG: NetGalley. A site where reviewers and book professionals can request digital early copies to review.
PB: Paperback.
Pubbed: Published.
POD: Print on demand. This means a book is printed as it is needed, rather than in large amounts.
ToC: Table of contents.
Trad pub: Traditional publishing.
Typesetting: The process of arranging a book’s layout and design, ready for printing.
Self-pub: Self-publishing.
Street teams: A method of book promotion. This is essentially a fan group that helps the author promote their book online.

Genre specific terms

CB: Chapter book.
Cozy/cosy: Stories that provide a feeling of comfort and relaxation, often with less intense storylines and themes.
CR: Contemporary romance.
GN: Graphic novel.
LitRPG: A genre that blends literature with roleplaying game elements (such as “levelling up”, “health points”, and so on).
MG: Middle grade.
NA: New adult.
NF: Non-fiction.
PB: Picture book.
PNR: Paranormal romance.
Romantasy: A blend of fantasy and romance.
SFF: Science fiction and fantasy.
SF: Science fiction.
Slice of life: Stories that focus on the everyday experiences of the characters.
UF: Urban fantasy.
WF: Women’s fiction.
YA: Young adult.

Editing terms

CE: Copyediting or copyeditor (see copy-editor ).
CMOS: The Chicago Manual of Style. A reference book used by editors for guidelines on spelling, punctuation, numerals, capitalisation, etc. It follows US conventions.
Copy-editor: Copy-editors ensure that text is correct. They look at spelling, grammar, punctuation, consistency, formatting and style.
Developmental editor: An editor who helps the author develop their story. They look at broader elements like plot, character, world-building, and structure.
DE: Developmental edit.
Freelance editor: An independent editor who works with writers to improve their story. They may be developmental editors, copy-editors, line editors, or offer a combination of editorial services.
NHR: New Hart’s Rules. A reference book used by editors for guidelines on spelling, punctuation, numerals, capitalisation, etc. It’s similar to CMOS, but uses British rules.
Proofreader: Proofreaders are the last line of defence. They check through text after it’s been copy-edited and spot any lingering errors.
Sensitivity reader: Sometimes called diversity readers. These readers use their personal experiences to provide feedback on an author’s work. So if an author has included a health condition in their book that they aren’t familiar with, they might hire a reader who has experience of that condition to make sure it feels realistic.
Stet: In editing, this means to leave something as it stands. Writers may write this to refuse an edit, or to let an editor know they want something retained.
Track Changes: The editorial function of Microsoft Word that allows for tracking edits.
Query: A question or comment for the author, left by an editor.

Other slang and terms

AO3: Archive of Our Own. A fan-fiction site.
AuthorTube: The YouTube author community.
BEA: Book Expo America.
BookTube: The section of YouTube dedicated to book videos.
BookTuber: A YouTube creator who makes content about books.
BookTok: The section of TikTok dedicated to books.
BookTokker: A TikTok creator who makes content about books.
Book blogger: Someone who blogs about books.
Book hangover: An emotional slump after reading a book. It prevents the reader from moving on to another book straight away.
Bookstagram: The book community on Instagram.
DNF: Did not finish. Refers to being unable to complete a book to the end.
Feels: The overwhelming emotions/feelings you get from a book.
GR: Goodreads.
NYALitFest: The Northern YA Literature Festival. It’s run by UCLan.
Readalong: A community event online, where people read a book together at the same time and discuss it.
Royal Road: A site where authors can publish web novels and fan fiction, and readers can read them.
Spoiler: Anything that gives away a crucial or important part of the story.
TBR: To be read. All the books you have stacked up to read in the future!
Wattpad: A storytelling platform where authors can publish stories online, and readers can read them.
YALC: London’s Young Adult Literature Convention.