Some people say that the first page is the most important one in any book—and that is probably true as a means for hooking a reader. Others say that the cover is the most important. But I contend that the copyright page wins the prize because it’s probably the first page that a librarian, bookseller, or distributor looks at. And that makes it an integral part of your book marketing program.
Many self-publishing authors find the copyright page to be horribly confusing. All that legal language! All those numbers! What does it all mean?
Copyright page template in Word
To help you get it just right, I’m including a Word copyright page template for you to copy and paste into your book. After you download it, continue reading below where I explain every part of the copyright page, with the caveat that I am not offering legal advice. And the information is mostly for U.S. and Canadian publishers.
Click here to download the Word template.
Set up your book's copyright page using this ultra-easy Word template, which also explains how to get the data you need. Share on XBelow is the sample copyright page that we show on page 226 of Book Design Made Simple. I’ve numbered the sections and will discuss each below. Ready?
Parts of the copyright page explained
1. Copyright notice
Let’s talk about the copyright owner first. That is probably you, the author. Even if you have formed a publishing company (see item 9 below), in 95% of cases, the author is still the owner. If you’re using a self-publishing service (e.g., BookBaby, Lulu, XLibris) as your publisher, they usually want you to own the copyright.
Now, the copyright date is a bit more complicated, especially in the United States. Your goal is to make the date stay current for as long as possible, and you are supposed to use the year in which you obtained your official copyright. So there is a trick you can use here, and that is to publish the book in the last 3 months of the year and use next year’s date. You can do that because the U.S. Library of Congress allows you 3 months from the time of printing to apply for your official copyright. So put 2023 on your copyright page, publish in 2022, and apply for your copyright in 2023.
If your book is in a later edition, list all the copyright years of the various editions, beginning with the current one, like this:
Copyright © 2023, 2019, 2014 Author Name
Please do not run out and get an official copyright the minute you finish your manuscript! Three reasons for this: (1) Your words will probably be edited and could change drastically. (2) If you keep the words on your computer and don’t distribute or share them, who is going to steal them? (3) It might take you a long time to actually produce the book, and by then the copyright date you rushed out to get will already be old. If you are really, really worried about early infringement, you can preregister with the U.S. Copyright Office—you’ll find details on the U.S. Copyright Office’s Preregistration FAQs page.
How to get a U.S. copyright. The U.S. Copyright Office is a division of the Library of Congress. Go to copyright.gov, read the FAQs page, and then register online. You pay $35 for a single work by one author.
Why bother to get an official U.S. copyright? Even though all works are automatically eligible for copyright, if someone steals your words, you will have no legal protection without an official registration—meaning you can’t win an infringement suit.
What about the famous “poor man’s copyright”? Though we do explain the procedure for that in Book Design Made Simple, we don’t encourage anyone to use it. It’s complicated, requires careful storage of two hard copies of your manuscript, and saves only part of the $35 you’d be paying the government.
How to get a Canadian copyright. Canadian authors are lucky. Library and Archives Canada allows all writers to declare a copyright with no fuss at all. Simply write your copyright notice and reservation of rights (item 2 below) in your book and you are done. And if your book is printed and ready to go in the latter half of the year (say, Fall 2018), be sure to use the next year (2019) as your copyright date, thereby making your book “current” for a whole year.
How long does the copyright last? In both countries it protects your work for your lifetime plus 50 years.
Note: Get the copyright notice from the country where you live. The location of your printer is irrelevant. It also doesn’t matter where you plan to sell the book.
2. Reservation of rights
Where do people get this copy from? Do they hire a lawyer? Well, no. In my experience, everyone simply uses the generic paragraph shown above or something similar, sometimes adding specific wording about how to obtain permissions, or deleting the phrase about reviewers. Think about this and then be specific about what others may and may not do with your words; in an infringement case, you’d have little to stand on without it.
3. ISBN
Of course you already know that ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number and that each part of the number has a meaning. You can read the details on page 447 of Book Design Made Simple, or read ISBNs for Self Publishers. If you plan to sell your book in stores or online, you must have a number. And each different edition of your book needs a separate number: paperback, hardcover, audio book, and ebook.
In the example above we show only two ISBNs. If you have other editions, simply put all the numbers in a list. Don’t worry if you’ve already printed 1,000 copies of your book and then you decide to do an ebook. The list will get longer with each subsequent edition.
How to get a U.S. ISBN. A private company called Bowker is the official ISBN provider in the United States. Go to their website (Bowker.com) and purchase 1, 10, or more. Assign them to your books as you produce them via your online ISBN account. It’s best to use them in sequential order (using the number before the final hyphen, as shown above), just to keep things simple and logical. Keep careful records.
How to get a Canadian ISBN. ISBNs are free to Canadian publishers. Go to the Library and Archives Canada ISBN page to get yours.
Note: As with your copyright, get the ISBN from the country where you live. The country of your printer and the places where you plan to sell the book are irrelevant.
What about ISBNs provided by publishing services? Most of these services will give you an ISBN at no extra charge. Should you go for this great deal? We say no. That’s because the third section of the number identifies the publisher, and the publisher in this case is your service company. Librarians, bookstore owners, and distributors have come to recognize the numbers for BookBaby and the rest, and many will reject a book outright if they see one of those numbers. Before you sign on the dotted line with these folks, find out if they require you to use the ISBN that they provide.
This is one main reason that we advise you to use these companies as your PRINTER if you must, but not as your PUBLISHER. In other words, feel free to use their POD printing, but don’t use their publishing services.
4. Cataloging in Publication data
If you publish 5 or more books a year, the Library of Congress will provide Cataloging in Publication (CIP) data for U.S.-published books. If you publish fewer, you might wonder why you need this data block at all. Basically, CIP data on your copyright page will get your book onto library shelves more quickly. See our blog post on CIP data for more details and for links to private CIP data providers.
In Canada, the Library and Archives Canada provides free CIP data for certain publishers and publications. Check your eligibility here.
At this moment, we know of no CIP data providers who deal with books that are self-published in Canada.
5. Library of Congress and Library and Archives Canada data
In the United States, you should get a Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN). It is free, and it shows book people (remember those librarians and booksellers?) that you know what you are doing, plus it makes their jobs easier. In fact, many libraries will not accept books without an LCCN. Simply apply for the number online (http://www.loc.gov/publish/pcn/).
The Library of Congress does not provide cataloging-in-publication (CIP) data to any publisher producing fewer than a dozen titles a year. You can, however, hire a private cataloger to give you CIP data if you like. If you sell to libraries, you will see your book appear on the shelves days, weeks, or even months sooner if it has the CIP data. See our Resources page for a current list of providers.
CIP data, if you’ve been wondering, looks like a mini library catalog card. It lists the title, author(s), their date(s) of birth (and death), book subject categories, and several mysterious-looking numbers that librarians understand.
In Canada, CIP data is no longer provided to self-publishers. Instead, when you submit the required two copies of your self-published book to Legal Deposit in the National Library of Canada, your book will be cataloged there by Library and Archives Canada.
6. Disclaimer
In your fiction book, you may have unwittingly portrayed someone you never met, or maybe your next door neighbor. Who knows? So it might make sense to put a statement like this on your copyright page, or on a separate page in the front matter, to protect you from potential lawsuits.
7. Permissions notices
Please always give credit for anything you borrowed from another work. And back up your credit with actual written permission from the copyright holder. Permissions is an enormous topic—big publishing houses have entire permissions departments—and we are not experts. Just get permission in writing (save all correspondence) and say “reprinted by permission” on the copyright page. If you take words from a work that is in the public domain, give credit for that, too. You’d appreciate it, after all, if someone did the same for you, even if you were long dead. Right?
Remember to give credit to your photographers and artists, too.
If you have a huge number of credits, make a Credits page in your back matter and list them all there. But on the copyright page, put a statement saying something like “Credits and permissions are listed on page ___ and are considered a continuation of the copyright page.”
Warning: Do not wait until the last minute to obtain permissions! Sometimes it takes many months to track down a copyright owner and then come to an agreement with them. Always have a Plan B in mind in case permission is denied or you cannot locate the owner—and thus may not use their words or artwork.
8. Credits
This list of credits for those you paid to produce your book is partly optional. Always list your cover designer and the person who made the image for the front cover (or put them on your back cover or dust jacket). Your other team members may or may not want to be listed, so ask them before putting their names on the page. Aside from the ones shown above, you might also include your proofreader, indexer, and printer.
Your Acknowledgments page is the place to mention your friends, family, peers, colleagues, reviewers, writing coaches, advisors, and anyone else who helped and encouraged you. If you want to point out a paid team member’s extraordinary assistance, you may mention them in your Acknowledgments as well as on the copyright page.
9. Country and printing number
Have you ever wondered why this statement is shown in every book? It’s for the customs people who lurk at every international border. When a book, or especially a shipment of books, crosses a border or enters a port, an official is supposed to check where the book was printed. The first printing of Book Design Made Simple was done by Friesens in Canada, and then most of the copies were shipped to the United States. At right is the book that was on top of the pallet that arrived at my house in the U.S.
As to the printing number (“First printing”), you simply include that for your own information. If you see your book at a yard sale (heaven forbid!) in twenty years, you’ll look inside right away and see what printing it was and infer when it was originally purchased. Other users might want to see how many printings the book has been through, too; a best seller could go through a dozen printings in a short period of time, and that’s an interesting tidbit. And if the book ever becomes a collector’s item, the printing number will affect its value.
Some big publishers use a string of nonsensical-looking numbers to indicate the printing number and also the year—something like this:
1 2 3 4 5 25 24 23 22
The far left number indicates first printing, and the far right number indicates 2022. As the printings go up, the outside number(s) are deleted, so that the third printing, if it happens in 2024, would show “3” on the left edge and “24” on the right edge. In the olden days (before desktop publishing), it was easy for the prepress person to physically delete the outer numbers without requiring any new typesetting. This scheme is interesting but too complicated for your purposes. Just stick with “First printing, 2022” and add the month if you like.
If you are using only POD printing, don’t bother with the printing number at all.
Note: “First printing” refers only to the printing process and is not related to “First edition.” The reader should assume that pretty much every word in the second printing is the same as in the first printing.
10. Publisher name
Perhaps you are using BookBaby or another publishing service as your publisher (not simply your printer). If so, there’s no need to come up with a publisher name. You might want to reread the first paragraph of section 3 above before you decide this issue.
If you are on your own, consider forming a publishing company (it can be just you), registering it at your town or city hall, and putting the name on the title page, copyright page, and back cover. (Do a thorough search to make sure you are not using someone else’s business name!)
Show some kind of address here. In the future, if someone wants to ask permission to use your words, you want to be easy to find. The contact information can be your email address, your street address, or both. Or use a P.O. box number to protect your exact location.
11. Your web address
Simply add your web page’s URL here as another way for folks to find you, read your author bio and reviews, discover how great you are, and follow your progress.
Start your copyright page now
We hope this blog post has helped clear up most questions about your copyright page. For quirky situations, refer to other books to see how they are handled there. If there is a serious problem, consult a copyright lawyer.
Remember to download and fill in our Word template and start assembling the data for this vitally important page right away; you’ll be so glad you got an early start.
Read more: Calculate book page count using word count »
Read more: The saga of the second edition »
Read more: A simple book marketing scheme that really works »
Book Design Made Simple. You can do it yourself.
I am also wondering if I would credit myself simply as the publisher. Or also the compiler?
I am looking to republish several books done by other authors from the 1950s. How would my copyright page look for crediting another author? I am assuming I will not include any credits for the original publishing company.
Hello Winn,
This is a tough question, and I don’t know the answer. My advice is to go to the library to look for similar republished books. You should probably research some titles before you go. For instance, Alice in Wonderland has been published multiple times, as have lots of other children’s books.
To answer your second question, I’d say you should simply call yourself the publisher. But while you’re researching the copyright question, make note of the way others have handled this.
Best of luck with your republishing project.
Glenna
Fantastic! Your comprehensive guide to copyright pages is a valuable resource for demystifying an important aspect of content creation and protection!
Hello! This is an excellent page. Thank you for this wealth of information. I do have one question after reading your article.
I am thinking of writing a book recounting my travel adventures. However, according to your article, I need to be careful not to describe the people I met or stayed with in too much detail? If I describe them too well I could get into trouble? What kind of disclaimer should I use? The best parts of the book will be the interactions I had with people.
Thank you so much for your help and time.
Hello Scott,
This is a difficult question to answer, and we don’t pretend to have any legal knowledge.
The disclaimer that we used in the article as an example is for fiction. Your book sounds like more of a memoir, and you’re speaking about real people and events.
If you’re worried about permissions, then try to contact the folks you’re describing. Or you might change their names. I’ve read lots of travel adventure books, and it seems to me that authors simply write about what happened to them, using real names unless otherwise noted. You might want to add a note about that as a disclaimer on your copyright page. You could say something like this: “All events and people described are as the author remembers them. All names are real unless otherwise noted. Any factual errors are the fault of the author.”
I suggest looking in similar travel books to see what other authors have worded their disclaimers, if any. When in doubt, always check in other books. Copyright pages are always interesting once you know what you’re looking for. The variety is amazing.
I hope this helps a little bit. And we wish you the best result for your book!
Glenna
I recently purchased the digital version of your book and was directed to this blog. Fabulous! My questions is, what is the difference between forming one’s own publishing company and creating an “imprint”? Which is preferable?
Thanks for all the great info!
Hi Lora,
An imprint is normally a small subdivision of a publisher. So in your case, form your publishing company now, and then later, once it’s large and famous, create an imprint or two. Actually, you don’t have to get big first. I know one tiny publishing company that has a poetry imprint alongside their usual books.
We are happy that you’re finding our book and blog useful. Good luck with your publishing venture!
Glenna
I am about to publish a second edition of a book my husband wrote thirty years ago. He is now deceased. There are some changes in the this new edition. One whole section of the first edition is being dropped. I wrote a new foreword. All rights my husband had as author now belong to me. (1) Should I copyright the new edition? (2) If so, can the copyright be in my name, as I am a successor to all his rights as author and original copyright holder?
Hello Sharon,
We are not lawyers, so this is not legal advice.
Assuming that your name will be on the title page somewhere, I’d say that yes, you should get a new copyright, and it should be in your name. There are a lot of articles online about this kind of issue. I found a pretty good one at https://copyrightalliance.org/what-happens-to-your-copyrights-after-you-die/.
Getting the new copyright will extend the life of your book.
Something else: If you’re listing yourself on the title page as co-author or editor (or something else) of this book, the copy you wrote for the front matter is not a foreword. A foreword is written by someone other than the author. You should call it a preface instead.
I hope this helps clear things up. If I’d muddied the waters for you, please write to us again and we can get down to more details. Good luck with your new edition.
Glenna
This was such a helpful find! We are writing our first book and there is so much to learn! I do have 2 questions:
1. When writing the copyright information on the copyright page, do we list both our names (there are 2 authors) or our company name? Like 2022 Copyright last name, first and last name, first. OR 2022 Copyright name of our company?
2. All the information about the Library of Congress was a bit confusing! From what I understand, we are self-publishing so we do not require a CIP, but we do need an LCCN. It is an educational book for teachers how to handle behaviors in the classroom. In order to get an LCCN, we need a PCN. Is this correct?
Thanks again for all the helpful guidance!
Beverly
Hello Beverly,
Congratulations on producing such a useful book. Handling classroom behaviors must be getting more difficult all the time, so teachers will be grateful for your advice.
Okay, about your questions.
1. Normally the author’s name is used in the copyright. In our own book, the copyright line says: Copyright (c) 2017, 2016 Fiona Raven and Glenna Collett. I hope that answers this question.
2. The PCN is the LCCN. You apply for the PCN, and when they send you the number, you put “Library of Congress Control Number 2022000000000000” on the page. The instructions will be very clear when you receive it.
3. The CIP data in your case is optional. The only folks who use this info are librarians, and we don’t suppose you’ll be marketing to libraries very much. Did you see our article about how to get the CIP data? https://www.bookdesignmadesimple.com/your-book-needs-cip-data/
We hope this helps! And best of luck with your book.
Glenna
First of all your site is one of the best and most informative that I have found so thank you! I am getting ready to self publish my first children’s book. Which company would you suggest (or a few companies) for printing a children’s picture book (hardcover is important to me). Also, when a children’s book is based on a true story is it still considered fiction? And how do I word that I I have permission from the people I’ve mentioned in the book on the copyright page? Thank you sincerely!
Hello Kathy,
We’re happy that you’re getting good information from our site. That’s exactly why we put our heads together to produce the blog (and the book, of course).
For printing, I don’t have any particular company to recommend. If you want to go with POD printing, both IngramSpark and now also Amazon offer hard covers. Any book printer that prints in bulk would also offer hard covers. Be sure to find a printer first and then build your book to their trim size specifications.
I think you could call your book fiction. You might use one of the phrases that they label movies with, such as “Based on a true story” or “Based on actual events” and put it right on your title page.
On your copyright page, you could modify one of the standard notices that you see in novels. Here’s a suggestion:
This book is based on a true story [or true events]. XXX, YYY, and ZZZ [characters’ names] have granted permission to be included in the story.
I don’t know how much you altered your plot or locale or characters from the actual events, so I can’t give you exact wording. I’d say you should just look on other copyright pages to see what their notices say and alter yours as necessary.
I hope this helps. Good luck with your picture book!
Glenna
Hi from Ecuador!
A small little booklet to compliment and ‘exposition’ of my drawings and paintings has expanded into a larger book. I am from the USA but have called Ecuador ‘home’ for over ten years.
A bit dizzy trying to prepare the art, framing/displays for the show in addition to editing and improving the ‘little booklet,’ I have searched for information about copyrights and fonts/type options, where to register the booklet and get the ISBN, when to register the copyright, etc etc —- and your website has provided almost all of the answers! Yippee – thank you so much for the time it takes to share this information with people like me. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrracias!
De nada, Lisa. We are so happy that you’re finding our information useful. Best of luck with your booklet-turned-book, and your exhibition, too.
Glenna
I have a question. So I recently register for copyright and submitted one manuscript for one book and half a manuscript for another book. However, I am making edits and proofreading my manuscript. Does this affect my copyright? Also, can I publish my work even though the copyright is still being processed?
Hello Jacqaline,
Many people have these same questions.
You may do editing and proofreading after you apply for your copyright. But if you make so many changes that the book is extremely different and could be considered a different book, then you should start over with the application process. In your case, it sounds like some relatively light changes. Everyone does this, so don’t worry.
Yes, you may publish the book before the copyright is granted.
Don’t forget to send the copyright office a copy of your book once it’s printed.
Best of luck with your book!
Glenna
I’m confused by the forms in the govt. website to copyright an illustrated work. The illustrations are original drawings and computer graphics made by me. Will they have to be provided separately?
Hello Marguerite,
Are you trying to copyright the book and the illustrations separately? I’m pretty sure that the whole book, text plus all the illustrations, should be copyrighted together (the copyright line would simply say “© Marguerite LastName 2021”), assuming that you wrote the book. Since the website doesn’t seem to have a place where you can inquire directly, I suggest going online for advice. I see a video tutorial (https://theillustratorsguide.com/copyright-for-illustrators/) and an article from Legal Beagle (https://legalbeagle.com/12717303-how-to-obtain-an-illustration-copyright.html). These might get you started.
Good luck with your quest!
Glenna
Hello! THANK YOU so much for this very helpful information!!! I have a question, if you can help me please. I have created a children’s illustrated ebook for a product line that is associated with my blog. I am currently waiting for the copyright approval. I do not plan to publish anywhere at this point, other than have it as a pdf download from my website. What do you recommend for the copy-text that I should put on the back cover, which is where I have allotted space for this. Your skill in this area would be greatly appreciated, as it is so easy for others to take-and-make-it-their-own; so any prevention is good where possible.
Hi Carrie,
The wording of the copyright notice is important. But I have noticed that most notices are pretty much the same and that everyone copies from everyone else. If I were you, I’d review a lot of other books’ notices and see which one covers your concerns the best. Also check other people’s online PDFs, as they might have different, more appropriate wording.
Also, keep in mind that you can secure your PDF by requiring potential readers to have a password to get into it. Obviously you’d lose some readers this way, but you could keep track of those who write to you asking for the password. There are lots of other ways to secure your PDF, too. Here’s a link to an overview: https://www.drumlinsecurity.com/PDFSecurity.pdf
I hope this helps a bit. Your material is worth protecting, and you are doing your best to do that. Good for you, and best of luck with your project.
Glenna
OMG this post is THE absolute best I’ve read on this topic. Thanks for creating this. My question is about a copyright for a book that I wrote in 2015 and edited several times with the final edit just being done now in 2021. I hired a “publisher” in 2016 and gave them a copy of the book for review but it didn’t work out. We parted ways and I need to know if I’m protected from THEIR use and distribution. I had pre registered with the US Copyright office. Also, my second question: is it infringement to use the same Copyright statement or disclaimer form another book?
Hello Shea,
I can’t quite tell if you already have an actual copyright dating from the earlier years or not. If not, then you are probably not protected from the publisher using your work. Is that likely, though? You’d better look through their catalog of published works to find out if they have published it using a different title or something like that. I certainly hope not. You might need to check the contract you made with them in 2016 to find out your level of protection or their promises not to steal your work.
If I were you, I’d get the official copyright just a short while before going to press (because who is going to see it or steal it before then unless you are putting the book or portions of it online for the world to see?).
If you did get an official copyright in 2015 and then did massive editing, is the book now a second edition? Fiction books do not normally have more than one edition. (You didn’t say whether yours is fiction or not.) A new edition has to have a lot of change from the first–for instance, largely updated information, rearranged chapters, or a different overall conclusion. if you decide it’s a second edition, then you should get a new copyright and a new ISBN.
As for the wording of the copyright notice, go ahead and copy from another book or from the template on our site. It’s basically just boilerplate wording that everybody uses. Or make up your own if you want, but be sure to cover all the points you want covered.
I hope this helps, but if you have more questions, feel free to write us again.
Glenna
Hello Glenna. This is very useful info, given the complicated path to independent publishing. Thank you.
I write using my initials — C.L. Stambush. This is how it appears on the cover. My given name is Connie L. Stambush.
Which do I use on the copyright page?
Also, does this need to be an exact match to what I put on my PCN application, which was approve, but I don’t recall which one I used!
Hello Connie,
Thank you for your interesting question. I am not an expert on copyrights or the copyright laws, but I’ll try to answer.
On the cover and title page (which should match each other), you should use the name you wish to be known as as an author. This is the name that will be put into library catalogs. On the copyright page you should use your legal name. I looked in a book by John LeCarre (real name David Cornwell), and on the copyright page it said (c) David Cornwell. So I guess we can use that as our example.
Also, I looked on the Library of Congress site for PCNs, and I saw this on their FAQs page:
Q: Are Library of Congress catalog records created for all books submitted to the Library of Congress as part of the Preassigned Control Number Program?
A: Yes. A brief catalog record is created for all books submitted through the PCN Program. The catalog records of titles published by self-publishers and vanity presses are usually suppressed from the catalog, however.
So if you’re self publishing, the LOC may not even make a catalog listing of your book, even when you send them a copy.
I hope that helps. As I say, I’m not an expert but do the best I can with examples from previous books.
Glenna
Does the copyright page have to be at the front of the book or can it be at the end?
Such a helpful article! Thank you!!
/Bee
Hello Bee,
The copyright page appears at the beginning of the book, on the back of the title page, about 98% of the time. However, picture books—especially board books—quite often do not have a title page. This leaves the problem of where to put the copyright info. The back cover is one option. Another is to squeeze it into a corner on the first left-hand page even if the story starts there. A third option is to fit it into the last text page of the book.
But if you have a title page, put the copyright page on the next left-hand page. Librarians and everyone else will look there first.
I hope this answers your question.
Glenna
Thanks for the quick and thorough reply! It is a picture book without a title page and I was hoping it’s fine to put the only interior text page at the end.
Thanks so much!
/Bee
That sounds fine to me. Good luck with your picture book!
Glenna
Thank you the clear and concise information. I have a question about quoting passages from the Bible. One website (non-legal) stated after each passage provide the chapter-verse and then the version, for example Genesis 2:5 KJV. In this example would I include the KJV info on the copyright page?
Hello Wil,
Though we have no direct experience with this issue, my advice would be to put a page in the front matter of the book saying that all quotations are from the King James Version, and leave it at that. You could also put this notice on the copyright page, but it would be more visible on a page of its own, especially of you use a lot of quotes and many of your readers will want to know which version you’re using. In my opinion it would look awkward and repetitive with “KJV” added after every quote.
However, if you are mixing Bible versions throughout, you’d better add the version after each one. Or, on your special page in the front matter, you could say something like “All quotes are from the King James Version unless otherwise noted.”
I hope this helps. We wish you publishing success!
Glenna Collett
I have purchased your book, Thank you for the great resource!
I have one question: My client is self publishing (Canada), mostly for clients in his chiropractic practice and maybe a future version on Amazon/Kindle. Does he need the LCCN & CIP? I doubt he is aiming for the library. I understood he would likely not be eligible for the LCCN because he is only publishing one book. Thanks!
Hello Eileen,
Your client cannot get an LCCN if he is publishing in Canada, as that’s only for U.S. publishers. He probably doesn’t need CIP data, either. Since he’s in Canada, his copyright will be automatic, but he should get an ISBN through the Library and Archives Canada: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/services/isbn-canada/Pages/isbn-canada.aspx. Best of luck with the project.
Glenna
Awesome!
Thank you for your quick reply!
Hi, thank you so much for this information. Now that CreateSpace is gone and it’s just Kindle Direct Publishing, I am wondering about the differentiation between “publisher” and “printer”.
Will Amazon assume themselves to be my publisher, if I am buying my own copyright, ISBN, designing my own cover, etc? I don’t understand the distinction between the two and am hoping for a clearer answer on this. I would not want to list them as publisher if I do not need to, but am unsure on this. What does a publisher have to do to be named as a publisher?
Hello Jennifer,
Thanks for your important question. I hope my answer will clear this thing up once and for all for you and every other new publisher out there.
Kindle Direct Publishing is a PRINTER (despite their name). In contrast, a PUBLISHER is a company that assembles the author-editor-designer-illustrator-proofreader-marketing team, and then hires a printer for printing only.
You really should name your publishing company, even if you are going to produce only one book, and get the ISBN under that name, and set up your KDP account using the company name. That will eliminate any confusion.
A side point: Be sure that the copyright is under the name of the author (not the publisher).
Now be aware that it used to be possible to hire CreateSpace to be your publisher, and they would edit (supposedly) and design your book. But I never heard one single good report about them, and perhaps that’s why they changed their name to KDP and only do printing now. KDP confuses the issue by calling their service “publishing,” when it is actually just printing physical books and producing ebooks.
The only way that KDP COULD be called your publisher would be if you neglected to obtain your own ISBN (which you will not do, but many others have done). In that case, KDP would give you a free one and that would automatically make them your publisher because the publisher’s ID is embedded in the ISBN. The result of that would not affect your bottom line with online sales, but it would cause confusion, and it would also cause most libraries and bookstores to reject your book.
I hope this makes this complicated issue clear for you now.
Good luck with your publishing venture!
Glenna
Hello,
THANK YOU FOR SUCH AMAZING CONTENT!!!
If I am changing only the artwork in my previously printed book, would the new book be considered a second edition, or second printing?
Thank you,
Debi
Hello Debi,
The answer depends on the kind of book it is. If it’s a picture book or an illustrated coffee table book, where the artwork is the most important part, you’ll need a second edition. If the artwork simply illustrates the words, and the words are more important, then it’s just a second printing. I hope this helps.
Glenna
This is all the information that I needed explained to me in one post. Thank you for that! You a re a beacon for first time self publishers like me!
Thanks for your kind comment, Zee. We certainly do try to help as many self publishers as we can.
Glenna
This is so amazing!! It helped me out tremendously. I literally want to cry! This is my first time writing a book. I want it to be perfect and of excellence. The information that has been given. It gives me great hope! Thank you so much
Hi Sabrina,
We are very happy we could help!
Glenna
Excellent! Thank you! I’m about to publish my first children’s book Lavender Fairies through Amazon Book Baby. This is what I needed!
Thanks for your note, Malinda. We’re so glad we were able to help.
Glenna
Thank you for your fascinating website – very helpful.
There’s a link on your Copyright to Word Template that isn’t working just now. If you still have it could you please forward a link to me.
Thanks,
Mike
Hi Mike, I checked the link and it seems to be okay, not sure why it’s not working for you. I sent the Word doc to you by email.
Fiona
Great amount of new information for me, thanks.
I am writing my own personal memories starting with the names of my great-great- grandfathers, historical events in my lifetime that I participated in or was witness of or being affected indirectly, names of officers in my Naval Academy years, or former bosses, and finally a translation of a story with a couple of pictures I found in a personal advertised blog from one Naval Officer….
This last one bothers me, can you recommend some approach to this kind of sources to be quoted in my memories? Broad subject, but whatever suggestion will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Hello Luis,
Thanks for your question. Everyone has a different situation, and it’s hard to answer copyright questions sometimes. Keep in mind that I’m just a book designer, not a lawyer, so this is not legal advice. However, in your situation, I’d say to write to the blog writer, just as you did to us. Find out where they got the photos, and follow the trail from there.
When you give a credit to the blog writer on your copyright page, simply list their name and the name and the URL of the blog.
You can also give credits for each photo right below or next to the photo itself where it appears on the book page, rather than making a list on the copyright page (and continuing it at the end of the book if necessary). This is helpful if you have a lot of photos. Even if an image comes from Wikimedia Commons or some other resource that doesn’t require permission, give them a credit anyway. It might help the next person who sees your image on the page and wonders where they can get a copy for their own use.
I hope this helps you through the process. I’m very glad to see that you’re making the effort to get this right for your book. Best of luck with it, and let us know if you have further questions.
Glenna Collett, coauthor
Hello,
what if the book is a compilation of works? So, there are many authors and pictures from different photographers, however one body compiled the works.
Hi,
If a book is an anthology as you describe, you can copyright it in your own name because it’s a unique collection.
But you need to (1) have permission, of course, to use every written piece and every illustration, and (2) give credit to every one.
So at the bottom of the copyright page, start to list all your credits, with a small heading that says “Credits.” Then after a few lines of credits, and at the very bottom of the copyright page, say this: “Credits are continued on page [whatever page], which should be considered an extension of the copyright page.” Then on that page (at the end of the book), continue your list of credits and permissions, with a large heading at the top of that page that says “Credits.” Then on the first line of the actual credits, say: “Continued from copyright page.”
If you are unsure how to word your credits, look in some other books that have the same situation. Some books list the credits in the order in which they appear in the book, with authors and illustrators together in the entry for that story. Or you could list the authors and illustrators separately–either alphabetically or in order of appearance. So, one list would say “Text credits” and the other would say “Photo credits” (or “Illustration credits” or whatever is appropriate).
Does that answer your question? If not, feel free to get in touch again.
Glenna Collett, coauthor
Hi Glenna ~
Thank You for this extremely helpful information!!!
I do have a question, however, about properly noting the 2nd edition of a book on the copyright pg.
Would I list BOTH years by the copyright “c” with that circle around it? For me it’d be 2012 & 2018.
And then below the “All rights reserved” section … but above the ISBN and LCCN info., would I state “Second Edition, 2018”? The 2nd edition was required because I needed to get a new ISBN when terminating contract with AuthorHouse ~ now will be the publisher myself.
THANKS for responding when you can. I appreciate it.
p.s. AND I wouldn’t list anywhere the previous ISBN or publisher, correct?
Hi Cathy,
Thanks for your interesting question. Perhaps we should mention something about this in our article.
You’re correct about listing the years of both editions. In your case you should say “© 2018, 2012.” Or you can use “and” instead of the comma.
Adding a line about Second Edition, 2018 is completely optional. Your cover and your title page should definitely say “Second Edition,” and that will be sufficient.
You’re also correct about not mentioning the old ISBN anywhere in your new book.
I hope this helps. And good luck with going out on your own with the new edition!
Glenna
Hello.
what if the book is a compilation of works? So, there are many authors and pictures from different photographers, however one body compiled the works. Can the said body own the copyright of the book?
Kristal, we’ve looked on the copyright pages of various anthologies and discovered that, yes, the anthology itself does have a copyright. You would be copyrighting the collection—the originality is in the selections you’ve made in grouping these works together with some kind of theme in mind.
In addition to the copyright for your book, make a detailed Permissions or Acknowledgments list of all the contributions, beginning the list on the copyright page. Include the copyright dates of the original work for each author, story, or artist. Here’s an example that I’m copying directly from an anthology that I have here:
Dudley Randall, “Ballad of Birmingham” from Cities Burning. Copyright © 1968 by Dudley Randall. Reprinted by permission of Broadside Press.
You’ll need this kind of permission from each contributor to your book. The list could be long, so if you run out of room on the copyright page, add a line like this:
Permissions [or call it Acknowledgments] and copyrights are continued on page ___, which constitutes an extension of the copyright page.
And then continue your list on that page at the end of the book. The heading for that page should be called “Permissions, continued from page __” [or “Acknowledgments, continued from page __”].
I suggest looking on the copyright pages of other anthologies for more examples.
We wish you publishing success, and hope this helps!
Thanks for producing and sharing this guide. It was particularly helpful to read your comments about getting your own ISBN rather than using the one provided by book printing companies.
Ashley, we’re glad our comments about ISBNs were helpful to you! It’s always a good idea to get your own ISBNs, as that way you’ll have control over your own books. All the best in publishing success!
Really helpful article! It covers all the bases very well. Thanks, Glenna! We look forward to your new website.
M & L
Hi M&L, Glad you liked the article. It was actually a repeat of one we did in 2016, but we added that helpful template to make it more valuable. You can see the new site now–it has the same pages but is reorganized. Plus we put lots of page excerpts in our new BOOK section for anyone who is curious. Glenna