Getting Your Book Into Print
Get your book published, indexed, bar coded, and the legal protection of a copyright registration.
Please also see my page promoting my Book Design services.
Simple Steps To Getting Into Print:
1. WRITTEN / DESIGNED
Get your book designed, prepped and ready for printing.
2. GET A ISBN NUMBER
ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number.
If you want to sell your book through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Libraries and other book outlets, you have to have an ISBN - - this is how the book industry keeps track of the millions (or billions) of books there are (it's also how they order them, so there's hardly no way around this step.)
These links below are the only legal ISBN number suppliers for publishers/writers in the United States (if you are producing your book for a different market than the United States, you will need a different numbering scheme):
- For a single book ISBN number: www.myidentifiers.com
- For multiple books at one time: www.bowker.com
- For 1 or more books at one time: commerce.bowker.com/BarCode/order.asp
3. COPYRIGHT WITH LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
This is a registration process in which you must eventually send two copies of your work for the collection of the Library of Congress. It is also the FIRST legal defense you have against plagiarists and other people who might try to pawn off your work as their own.
- Register online ($35 fee for filing online - August 2012) : www.copyright.gov
- Register through mail on paper forms ($45 fee as of Mar 2009) download from: www.copyright.gov/form
How long does it take to register a copyright?
In August 2012, the copyright office was listing e-filings as taking up to 2.5 months, and paper filings (through the mail) taking up to 6.5 months to process.
In special cases, you might want to PRE-REGISTER YOUR COPYRIGHT. It costs more (You may register an unpublished work for $35 via copyright office online, without preregistering it. There is also a nonrefundable filing fee for preregistration of $115.) but if you're not finished with your book and are afraid you might be ripped-off before you get it into print, this is a legal option to protect you and your work. Go to the online Pre-register page at the Library of Congress to pursue this special situation: pre-register.gov
4. GET YOUR BAR CODE
The barcode on your book's back cover contains info about your book and it's ISBN number. This is how retail outlets usually scan and ring up your book sales in their stores. Typically only two kinds of bar codes are used for books "EAN" and "UPC" - - UPC is for books selling through gift shops, grocery stores, etc. EAN is for books selling through book store outlets such as Borders, Barnes and Noble, Amazon and so forth. Basically, you almost absolutely have to have one. Read a good explanation of its usage at Walt Shiel's website
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Free online Bar Code generators:
- terryburton.co.uk
- barcoding.com
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Bar Codes (fee based):
- www.createbarcodes.com (approx $10 per bar code)
- www.simplybarcodes.net (approx $89 for a single bar code)
5. BOOKS IN PRINT
The database "Books in Print" is the chief method bookstores, libraries and other organizations find and research books that are available for purchase. To get your book into this list, you must register as your books publisher with www.bowker.com, the people who maintain both Books In Print and the other database Publishers Authority Database.
6. GETTING HELP
I do book design for printing. Contact me or call 202-536-5575 if you need this. I can also take care of all the paperwork for copyright, bar codes, ISBN, web site or web page promotion, choosing a printer, etc.
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