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Glossary

The words you meet when you sell your books direct

Plain definitions for anyone who sells their own books, with what each term means for you and what Lanternbee does about it today.

A

ARC
An ARC is an early copy of a book that an author sends to readers and reviewers before release day, so reviews and word of mouth are ready when the book goes on sale.
ARC team
An ARC team is a group of readers who get early copies of each new book and agree to post an honest review around release day.
ASIN
An ASIN is Amazon's own product number, which it gives every item in its catalog, including each Kindle ebook.

B

Back matter
Back matter is everything in a book after the main text, such as the author's note, acknowledgments, an index, and links to the next book or the author's newsletter.
BISAC
BISAC subject headings are the standard list of categories the North American book trade uses to file a book by subject, kept by the Book Industry Study Group.
Box set
A box set is several books sold as one product, either as a single ebook that contains them all or as printed books packed together.
Bundle
A bundle is two or more books, or two formats of one book, sold together at one price that is usually less than buying each on its own.

C

Chargeback
A chargeback happens when a reader asks their card's bank to reverse a payment, and the bank takes the money back from the seller while it decides.

D

Direct sales
Direct sales means readers buy books straight from the author's own store, so the author is the seller, sets the price and knows who bought.
Distributor
A distributor, often called an aggregator for ebooks, sends your book to many stores and libraries from one upload, then collects your earnings and pays you, usually for a share of each sale.
DRM
DRM, digital rights management, is a lock on an ebook or audiobook file that limits which accounts, devices or apps can open it.

E

EPUB
EPUB is the open, standard file format for ebooks, a package of web pages, styles and images that reading apps reflow to fit any screen.

I

ISBN
An ISBN is a 13-digit number that identifies one format of one book, such as the paperback or the EPUB, across the book trade.
ISBN vs ASIN
An ISBN is the book trade's number for one format of a book; an ASIN is Amazon's own number for an item in its catalog.

K

KDP Select
KDP Select is an optional Amazon program that puts an ebook into Kindle Unlimited, now Kindle+, for 90-day terms, as long as the digital edition is sold only through Amazon.
Kindle Unlimited
Kindle Unlimited, renamed Kindle+ in October 2026, is Amazon's reading subscription, and authors can only put their ebooks in it by making the ebook exclusive to Amazon through KDP Select.

M

Merchant of record
The merchant of record is the business that legally sells to the reader, shows on their card statement, and owes the sales tax or VAT on the sale.
Metadata
Book metadata is the information that describes a book, such as its title, author, series, description, categories, keywords, ISBN and price.

N

Net price
The net price is what is left of a sale after tax, fees and costs come off; for authors, it is the money that is really theirs.

O

OSS
The One Stop Shop, OSS, is the EU system that lets a seller report and pay VAT on sales to consumers in every EU country through a single quarterly return in one country.

P

Payout
A payout is the transfer of the money from your sales, after fees, from your payment provider to your bank account.
Pre-order
A pre-order lets a reader buy a book before release day, so the copy arrives, or the download opens, the day the book comes out.
Print cost
Print cost is what the printer charges to make one copy of a book, set by the page count, trim size, paper, ink and binding.
Print on demand
Print on demand means a printer makes each copy of a book only after a reader orders it, so the author never buys or stores a stack of stock.

R

Read-through
Read-through is the share of readers who finish one book and go on to read the next, whether they bought it, borrowed it or read it in a subscription.
Reader magnet
A reader magnet is a free book, story or guide an author gives away in return for a reader joining their mailing list.
Reading order
Reading order is the order in which an author suggests reading the books in a series, which may differ from the order they were published.
Returns
In the book trade, returns let bookstores send unsold copies back to the publisher or distributor for credit, so the author, not the shop, carries the risk.
Royalty
A royalty is the share of each sale that a retailer, distributor or publisher pays the author, after taking its own cut.

S

Sell-through
Sell-through is the share of readers who buy the next book in a series, or another book by the same author, after buying the one before.
Street team
A street team is a group of fans who help spread the word about an author's books, sharing posts, telling friends and talking up release day.

T

Trim size
Trim size is the finished height and width of a printed book's pages, such as 5 by 8 inches or 6 by 9 inches.

V

VAT MOSS
VAT MOSS, the Mini One Stop Shop, was the EU system from 2015 that let sellers of digital services such as ebooks report VAT for every EU country in one return, until the One Stop Shop took over in 2021.

W

Watermarking
Watermarking puts the buyer's details inside their copy of an ebook, so the file stays open to read anywhere but carries a reminder of who bought it.
Wholesale discount
The wholesale discount is the share of the list price a bookstore or distributor keeps when it buys your book to resell, so the shop can make money on each copy.
Wide
Going wide means selling your ebooks through many stores, such as Apple, Kobo, Google Play, libraries and your own store, instead of keeping them exclusive to Amazon.