The Editing Podcast

Publishing lingo explained


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In this episode of The Editing Podcast, Denise and Louise demystify publishing language – the terms professionals use to describe the parts of a book – so that you can talk with confidence about your text. Listen to find out more about:

  • the beginning (or front matter; prelims), the main or body text and the end matter (or back matter)
  • part titles, half titles, and title pages
  • forewords and prefaces
  • acknowledgements
  • pages, page numbers, and folios
  • double page spreads (DPSs)
  • rectos and versos
  • running heads and running feet
  • drop caps or dropped capitals
  • chapter drops
  • appendices and glossaries
  • footnotes and endnotes
  • bibliographies, references, and indexes


Editing bites
  • The Chicago Manual of Style
  • New Hart’s Rules

Indexing societies
  • American Society for Indexing
  • Association of Southern African Indexers and Bibliographers
  • Australia and New Zealand Society of Indexers
  • China Society of Indexers (site in Chinese)
  • Deutsches Netzwerk der Indexer/German Network of Indexers
  • Indexing Society of Canada/Société canadienne d’indexation
  • Nederlands Indexers Netwerk/Netherlands Indexing Network
  • Society of Indexers (UK)

Ask us a question

The easiest way to ping us a question is via Facebook Messenger: Visit the podcast's Facebook page and click on the SEND MESSAGE button.

Denise and Louise
  • Denise Cowle Editorial Services (non-fiction)
  • Louise Harnby | Proofreader &...
...more
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The Editing PodcastBy Louise Harnby (fiction editor) and Denise Cowle (non-fiction editor)

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