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"Extras" for Self-Publishers and Small Publishers
Actually, what we will outline here is more than extras. In fact, for authors who intend to self-publish their work -- which an ever-increasing number are doing in these times when it is so much of a long shot to capture the interest of an agent or major publisher -- these operations are required, or at least highly desired, as part of each book's credentials and salability in the marketplace, particularly in bookstores and libraries.
Publisher registration with R.R. Bowker Company for "Books in Print" and other reference volumes: A self-publishing author or small publisher should register with this master source of book publishing information. There is no charge, but the process is a bit complicated. We will handle the process for you at no charge if we do the production work on your book or for a nominal fee ($45) if we don't.
ISBN Numbers: The ISBN number, issued by R.R. Bowker Company in the U.S., serves to identify your book and its publisher and is required on books sold in a retail environment. We recommend that you register as a publisher (see above) and purchase a block of ten (10) ISBN numbers (one should be used on each version of the book you publish). The cost for a block of ISBN numbers is currently $269. We will do the requisite application work for you at no extra charge if we handle the production services on your book or for a nominal labor charge of $51 if we don't.
Library of Congress Pre-assigned Control Number: This is a free optional service of the Library of Congress. It identifies your book in the master catalog of the Library of Congress. When your book is published, one copy is to be sent to them for the Congressional Archives. We recommend this service and will take care of this for you at no charge if we do the production work on your book. Otherwise, you can do it yourself by going to http://www.loc.gov and navigating to the information regarding the PCCN program. Please note: if you are a one-book author/publisher you will not qualify for the Library's Cataloguing-In-Publication (CIP) program -- reserved for publishing houses with ten or more titles in print. Please do not confuse the two programs.
Book Cataloguing: Even single-title publishers should consider participating in this optional program, which is generally used by larger publishers but is very helpful if you intend that your book be carried in public or academic libraries. In fact, the absence of such cataloguing can often disqualify a book from library purchasing systems. You may apply for cataloguing services from Quality Books (www.qualitybooks.com) or from severa; private cataloguers who may be located through the Google search engine. The average cost of cataloguing is about $100 but may vary slightly from one supplier to another. We would be happy to advise you at no charge.
Certification of Copyright: A book is an item of intellectual property. Therefore, it should be legally protected from mis-use by others, as well as to be a potential source of added income from people who would use significant excerpts from your work in other media. The U.S.Copyright Office, a division of the Library of Congress is the final repository of proper copyright on literary products, and your book should be certified even if it will see very limited distribution. The service can be implemented by the author, but if we do the production work on your book we will handle it for you at no charge. We can also handle it for you on a fee basis , which involves a one-time fee of $45 to be paid to the Copyright Office plus a $35 labor charge payable to OPA Author Services.