"backlist" - Word of the Day from the OED

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backlist, v.

DRAFT ENTRY June 2006

orig. and chiefly Publishing.

Brit. /baklst/, U.S. /bæklst/  [< BACKLIST n. Cf. slightly earlier BACKLISTED adj.] 

    1. trans. To place (a book or other publication or release) on a backlist.

1979 Chicago Tribune 12 Aug. VII. 2/2 Tradition..will keep some books in print although they fail to meet the minimum. Knopf backlists all of Camus, Mann, and Updike. 1982 Christian Sci. Monitor (Eastern ed.) 7 Jan. 814 In addition to the highlighted Wildfire title, another one is ‘backlisted’. 2004 P. E. ORBANES Game Makers ii 48 [The game's] disappearance from the Parker Brothers line was notable considering George's custom of backlisting all inventory.

    2. intr. Of a book, etc.: to continue to sell well when placed on a backlist.

1980 Times 24 Mar. 14/8 Was it the way to build up a backlist? ‘Commercial books do backlist,’ he countered. 1994 Publishers Weekly (Nexis) 21 Mar. 33 We will sell 100,000 Callahart units [sc. cartoon strips] this year, and everything's backlisting very nicely. 1999 D. J. ENRIGHT Play Resumed 178 I'm afraid your book isn't likely to backlist.

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