Copy (publishing)

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In publishing, advertising and related fields, copy is written material, in contrast to photographs or other elements of layout, in books, magazines, newspapers and advertising.

In advertising, the term "copy" means the output of copywriters, who are employed to write material which encourages consumers to buy goods or services.

In newspapers and magazines, body copy (q.v.) is the main article or text that writers are responsible for, in contrast with display copy, accompanying material such as headlines and captions, which are usually written by copy editors or sub-editors.

In books, it means the text (manuscript, typescript) as written by the author, which the copy editor then prepares for typesetting and printing. This is also referred to as editorial copy, which is said to have two subdivisions, the body copy and the adjuncts to the body copy. [1] The term's usage can be demonstrated in the way an editor decides to embed an advertising material directly into the editorial copy, which means that the advertisement would use the same font, layout presentation, feel of the editorial copy it is being integrated into (or not, as the case may be). [2] This concept underscores how the copy can also refer to the identity of the newspaper or the magazine since the method of composition and layout can define its brand and positioning. [3]

See also


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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Book</span> Medium for recording information in the form of writing or images

A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images. Books are typically composed of many pages, bound together and protected by a cover. Modern bound books were preceded by many other written mediums, such as the codex and the scroll. The book publishing process is the series of steps involved in their creation and dissemination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graphic design</span> Interdisciplinary branch of design and of the fine arts

Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of design and of the fine arts. Its practice involves creativity, innovation and lateral thinking using manual or digital tools, where it is usual to use text and graphics to communicate visually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass media</span> Media that can reach a large audience via mass communication

Mass media includes the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Typography</span> Art of arranging type

Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line spacing, letter spacing, and spaces between pairs of letters. The term typography is also applied to the style, arrangement, and appearance of the letters, numbers, and symbols created by the process. Type design is a closely related craft, sometimes considered part of typography; most typographers do not design typefaces, and some type designers do not consider themselves typographers. Typography also may be used as an ornamental and decorative device, unrelated to the communication of information.

Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using dedicated software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online content. Desktop publishing software can generate page layouts and produce text and image content comparable to the simpler forms of traditional typography and printing. This technology allows individuals, businesses, and other organizations to self-publish a wide variety of content, from menus to magazines to books, without the expense of commercial printing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Publishing</span> Process of production and dissemination of literature, music, or information

Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software, and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, comic books, newspapers, and magazines. With the advent of digital information systems, the scope has expanded to include digital publishing such as ebooks, digital magazines, websites, social media, music, and video game publishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Editing</span> Process of selecting and preparing media to convey information

Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, and many other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate and complete piece of work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Publication</span> Content made available to the general public

To publish is to make content available to the general public. While specific use of the term may vary among countries, it is usually applied to text, images, or other audio-visual content, including paper. Publication means the act of publishing, and also any copies issued for public distribution.

Proofreading is an iterative process of comparing galley proofs against the original manuscripts or graphic artworks to identify transcription errors in the typesetting process. In the past, proofreaders would place corrections or proofreading marks along the margins. In modern publishing, material is generally provided in electronic form, traditional typesetting is no longer used and thus this kind of transcription no longer occurs. Consequently the part played by pure proofreaders in the process has almost vanished: the role has been absorbed into copy editing to such an extent that their names have become interchangeable. Modern copy-editors may check layout alongside their traditional checks on grammar, punctuation and readability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copy editing</span> Improving the formatting, style, and accuracy of text

Copy editing is the process of revising written material ("copy") to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that a text is free of grammatical and factual errors. The Chicago Manual of Style states that manuscript editing encompasses "simple mechanical corrections through sentence-level interventions to substantial remedial work on literary style and clarity, disorganized passages, baggy prose, muddled tables and figures, and the like ". In the context of print publication, copy editing is done before typesetting and again before proofreading. Outside traditional book and journal publishing, the term "copy editing" is used more broadly, and is sometimes referred to as proofreading; the term sometimes encompasses additional tasks.

A monograph is a specialist written work or exhibition on one subject or one aspect of a usually scholarly subject, often by a single author or artist. Although a monograph can be created by two or more individuals, its text remains a coherent whole and it keeps being an in-depth academic work that presents original research, analysis, and arguments. As a focused, in-depth and specialised written work in which one or more authors develop a uniform and continuous argument or analysis over the course of the book, a monograph is essentially different from an edited collection of articles. In an edited collection, a number of original and separate scholarly contributions by different authors are edited and compiled into one book by one or more academic editors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All caps</span> Text with all capital letters

In typography, text or font in all caps contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS. All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book covers. Short strings of words in capital letters appear bolder and "louder" than mixed case, and this is sometimes referred to as "screaming" or "shouting". All caps can also be used to indicate that a given word is an acronym.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">News design</span> Process of arranging material on a newspaper page

News design is the process of arranging material on a newspaper page, according to editorial and graphical guidelines and goals. Main editorial goals include the ordering of news stories by order of importance, while graphical considerations include readability and balanced, unobtrusive incorporation of advertising.

A weekly newspaper is a general-news or current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly newspaper is published once every two weeks. Weekly newspapers tend to have smaller circulations than daily newspapers, and often cover smaller territories, such as one or more smaller towns, a rural county, or a few neighborhoods in a large city. Frequently, weeklies cover local news and engage in community journalism.

Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. Copywriting is aimed at selling products or services. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Page layout</span> Part of graphic design that deals in the arrangement of visual elements on a page

In graphic design, page layout is the arrangement of visual elements on a page. It generally involves organizational principles of composition to achieve specific communication objectives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe InCopy</span> Professional word processor made by Adobe Inc.

Adobe InCopy is a professional word processor made by Adobe Inc. that integrates with Adobe InDesign. InCopy is used for general word processing, in contrast to InDesign, which is used to publish printed material, including newspapers and magazines. The software enables editors to write, edit, and design documents. The software includes standard word processing features such as spell check, track changes, and word count, and has various viewing modes that allow editors to visually inspect design elements — just as it looks to the designer working in Adobe InDesign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newspaper</span> Scheduled publication containing news of events, articles, features, editorials, and advertisements

A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports, art, and science. They often include materials such as opinion columns, weather forecasts, reviews of local services, obituaries, birth notices, crosswords, editorial cartoons, comic strips, and advice columns.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to journalism:

This glossary of journalism is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in journalism, its sub-disciplines, and related fields, including news reporting, publishing, broadcast journalism, and various types of journalistic media.

References

  1. Ungerer, Friedrich (2000). English Media Texts Past and Present: Language and textual structure. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 135. ISBN   9027250995.
  2. Hamilton, James; Bodle, Robert; Korin, Ezequiel (2017). Explorations in Critical Studies of Advertising. New York: Routledge. p. 61. ISBN   9781138649521.
  3. Kobak, James (2002). How to Start a Magazine: And Publish It Profitably. New York: M. Evans and Company, Inc. p. 119. ISBN   9780871319272.