Skip to main content

LCCN, PCN or CIP? How to Catalog Your Self-Published book

Catalog options mentioned here are available only to United States (US) publishers with offices and staff in the US who are available to answer bibliographic questions about their books. The Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) Catalog in Publication (CIP) are two well known catalog systems. The CIP provides free distribution of prepublished
and further distribution of completely published books to libraries and book vendors world-wide. The PCN provides an abbreviated record but is not further disseminated to libraries on the same scale as the CIP.

Here is a secret. This book is primarily written for nonfiction authors who want to self-publish a professional book available to specialized organizations or professionals. It will most likely be available through Amazon.com and other on-line bookstores and distributors. This is the widest distribution effort and your best marketing source. You will most likely use print on demand and rely on word of mouth, social networking, non-traditional marketing and advertising and key words for search engines to let others know about your books. Once you develop your publishing company, you might only publish your books and until you are ready to jump in full time, probably will not be publishing titles of other authors.

Additionally, if your book is well written and marketed it will be successful and launch other books and products. However, according to the Library of Congress (LOC), the self-publishing model will make your initial books ineligible for the CIP and possibly the Preassigned Control Number (PCN).

The good news? Many of my favorite books do not have CIPs. Some do not even have a PCN. Their copyright page just contains publisher and copyright data. Most readers will not even know these numbers as they are provided for mainstream distribution and not alternative publishing channels. The only reason they are necessary is to aid US Libraries
and book vendors with a recording system. So, though the CIP is highly desired, the record is not necessary for a book to be successful. The LCCN/PCN may be available to you, but if not, you shouldn’t be too concerned. Chances are, because of the niche subject matter, your book may not be eligible or desired for world-wide library distribution. If you would like to have catalog information, but are ineligible for LOC, you can always have a professional librarian research and provide catalog information for the copyright page. 


Jeffrey W. Bennett, ISP is the owner of Red Bike Publishing Red Bike Publishing . Jeff is an accomplished writer of non-fiction books, novels and periodicals. He also owns Red bike Publishing. Published books include: "Get Rich in a Niche-Insider's Guide to Self Publishing in a Specialized Industry" and "Commitment-A Novel".Jeff is an expert in security and has written many security books including: "Insider's Guide to Security Clearances" and "DoD Security Clearances and Contracts Guidebook", "ISP Certification-The Industrial Security Professional Exam Manual", and NISPOM/FSO Training"See Red Bike Publishing for print copies of:Army Leadership,The Ranger Handbook,The Army Physical Readiness Manual,Drill and Ceremonies,The ITAR,and The NISPOM

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3 Ways to Build Credibility By Teaching a Course

Residence classes This is a real opportunity to build credentials and create a real academic presence. Traditional education opportunities are solid and recognized ways to get your message out. Teaching provides a return on investment but takes hard work and persistence to get started. Also there are two different avenues. You can host these classes yourself, or you can get them sponsored. Host the Residence Class Yourself Just like self publishing you can control the product. You have the freedom to create and do not need to seek approval from anyone to get started. You choose to set up the class time, the material, the advertising, and everything else you need to start a successful course. It also means that you have to bring in the resources yourself. For a residence class, you will need a classroom or similar environment, curriculum, projector, screen, training aids, certificates and supplies. There is a terrific possib...
2 comments
Read more

World Class Marketing Installation 1-Bone Fides

World class marketing can be easily executed by self publishers and authors. It is one thing to be good at writing, know the self publishing industry and capable of getting books to market. It’s quite another to become recognized as a leader in your niche industry, recruit assistance within industry and become recognized for the good work. In the second example, your efforts perpetuate themselves as you earn trust; others become force multipliers and quickly engage and support your vision. One way to ensure such success is to cross product market. One way to do that is through professional branding. Of itself branding is not the answer to instant success, but does complete the picture. For example, there are many authors who are very influential and well respected; their work stands alone. Cross product marketing for them would continue to demonstrate their dedication to their industry, technical competence and leadership. When you achieve a recognizable brand, such that your...
1 comment
Read more

How will you publish your book

  You can publish your book yourself, or publish with others. There are so many options available depending on how much work you want to put into the process. Writing a book is a great experience that can help you further your business opportunities. Publishing with it’s many requirements and resources could prove to be more work than you want to do, especially if writing is not our primary business.   Self-publishing provides an increasingly valuable method of getting information to your audience. With self-publishing, you can write, outsource the printing, and market your book while controlling the process. This type of publishing can be done with very little money up front and, if done right, creates a great source of revenue. If you plan to self-publish, you will need some basic items and information. Books should have copyright protection and each book sold through distribution channels will need International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN). However, with Kindle Direct Publ...
Post a Comment
Read more