Have you ever wondered why some books and stories are adapted into movies, and others aren’t? Or what Hollywood looks for in source material? Maybe you'd like to know how to write and pitch your story to maximize the chances of a Hollywood adaptation or find out just exactly what a movie deal is like.

There are three important elements of a novel. The story is only one of them. The other two are about connecting readers to that story: the cover, and the title. 

Just as in fashion, book titles have trends. Titles are a contentious subject for fiction writers; most publishing contracts have a clause stipulating that the author’s wishes will be considered, but the publisher has ultimate authority over what the book will be called. Unless you’re a mega best-seller with a lot of clout, chances are your agent, editor, or the marketing department will make the final decision on the title. Sometimes the author gets it right the first time (and choosing a good title is a topic for another blog post) but too many books now are victims of obvious marketing-speak. 

The past year has been exhilarating for writers, readers, and independent publishers. On a tidal wave of new e-reader technology and the increasing popularity of Kindles and iPads, the publishing industry—once a staid, tradition-bound sector—is now experiencing the kind of upheaval we’re used to hearing about in music, film, and quantum physics.

Here are some of the year’s biggest stories in independent publishing.

Language is power, and to that end we at The Editorial Department have come up with a glossary of commonly-used terms and abbreviations in the book publishing industry. This is a quick, handy guide (in no particular order) to many of the terms that writers will come across during all stages of editing and publishing. Enjoy and learn!

– Ross, Jane, and Morgana

“If you have a book you believe in, get to work,” says novelist Mary E. Kingsley. She would know. Mary’s debut novel, Angel, was released last November, with Mary acting as both author and publisher.

Set in an Appalachian town in the early 1970s, Angel is the story of a thirteen year-old girl who’s fed up with all the unanswered questions in her life. Why did her daddy run off when she was just a baby? And why does her Aunt Patsy have to live in a home for crazy people? Over one tumultuous summer and fall, Angel discovers answers buried in family secrets that turn everything upside down. 

When Joya Fields was a senior at the University of Maryland, she interned for Easter Seals and met many people with disabilities. It was an eye-opening experience that the book-loving English major drew on years later for her first novel, Beneath the Surface, which released this month from The Wild Rose Press.

“The heroine, Brooke, is a below-the-knee amputee. I wanted her to fight injustice to find inner strength. Since this is a romance, of course I wanted her to fall in love, too.”

Let’s start with the answer that everyone wants from Marni Mann: no, she’s not a heroin addict, and she’s never been a heroin addict. But she’s flattered when readers of her debut novel, Memoirs Aren’t Fairytales, ask to see the scars on her arms (there aren’t any of those, either). They assume that only someone who has lived the dark and tumultuous life of addiction would be able to tell the stories that Marni tells.

In fact, it was someone else, someone she describes as “very close to me,” who struggled with addiction, and Marni felt their pain. “I wanted to understand the addict’s side because I couldn’t understand why someone I love would continuously hurt me…. I couldn’t talk about their addiction anymore, so I took a pad of paper and a pen, and… about two hours later, the first chapter was written.”

To call Andy Gavin a “serial creator who doesn’t sleep much” is a bit of an understatement. He co-founded the video game development company Naughty Dog when he was just fifteen, and went on to oversee the creation of more than a dozen video games, including bestselling and award-winning titles like Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter, not to mention that he made some of them while studying for his PhD at MIT.

So when he turned his attention to writing fiction in 2008, his fans knew to expect an ambitious, breath-taking adventure.

With the holidays nearly here and a brand news website and blog for TED in development and ready to launch early next year, we're going on hiatus for a spell. We do want to wish all our readers, clients, and staff a very happy holiday season and raise a glass to happy, healthy, and prosperous 2012.

(Awesome reindeer photo courtesy of flikr user axle)

Sure, there are lots of great books on writing out there. But for those who don't have time to read them all (and who does, really?) we've put together some information about a handful of our very favorite books on writing craft and process here at The Editorial Department and what's most useful, informative, or inspiring about them.

Renni Browne

Stein on Writing, by Sol Stein. More than any other writer I know, Sol Stein teaches the invaluable art of writing to satisfy the reader. He does it with wit and panache, so that the lessons go down easily and won't be forgotten.

R.J. Cavender 

On Writing, by Stephen King. I know what you’re thinking—"Of course the horror editor would chose that book." But, truly it’s a fantastic collection of thoughts and reflections upon a career and life-long love affair with the written word. The lessons in the book are often cautionary and come from a place of learned experience, and it pulls no punches. It’s not a book that will teach you how to write, it’s a book that will make you want to write.