My apologies to my new readers, I typically post every Sunday but I was unable to rid myself of the migraine that penetrated my brain this week. Finally it has let up enough to think - enough of that and on to more important information.
The Preassigned Control Number (PCN) program assigns a Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) to titles most likely to be acquired by the Library of Congress as well as some other categories of books. An LCCN is a control number for the bibliographical record not the book record. The PCN number is a preassigned number given to work that has not been published yet. For a detailed explanation about PCN and LCCN, visit their site. Library of Congress.
Is an LCCN Important?
Absolutely. You’re going to see, in your search for the truth, acronyms like CIP, PCN, PCIP, EAN, BIP, etc. It's important to know and be able to distinguish which number(s) you must have on your copyright page. You want to register and apply at the Library of Congress for a number in advance so that you aren’t waiting for weeks to publish your book. In my case they gave me a number the same day but I’ve heard of nightmare stories where it’s taken weeks. Be prepared.
Along with all those important LCCN, ISBN and CIP numbers, you should also have a disclaimer, website, and publishing information in your copyright page. I also added important information like book, cover, and editor information.
In order not to mess up my beautifully constructed masterpiece with a copyright page full of errors, I went to the local library and checked out various books. I wanted to see what professional copyright pages looked like and I focused on copyright pages from books that were close to my genre. You can take a look at mine when you see the look inside feature on Amazon.
Don’t just look at one book either. Take a look at several and see which one fits your book and your message. Also, make sure you add your summary. In our library the first thing the librarian does when showing students a book is that summary in the copyright page. Make it interesting - something that’s going to grab the reader’s attention.
The copyright page should be a smaller font as well. Take your time on this and make it look professional.
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