Copyright
First-time self-publishers often worry about copyright or that someone will steal their idea. This is typically the first sign of a novice self-publisher.
However, new and established authors might worry about someone stealing their books now that AI is here.
First, you should know that you own the copyright to your book at the moment of creation.
This is why it’s irrelevant for vanity presses to tell you that you keep 100% of your rights as a perk to working with them. You already have it.
But, if you want to take it a step further, you can obtain an official copyright through the US copyright office (copyright.gov) and receive a Library of Congress number, which allows librarians to catalog your book at LOC.gov.
Note: If you plan to request US Library of Congress (LOC) cataloging, be sure to assign the ISBN well in advance of publication to allow for LOC processing time.
Keep in mind that the ISBN has nothing to do with the copyright or the ownership of the work. It is also not connected to the Library of Congress cataloging. The ISBN is simply a number identifying the book and who published it.
It is important for self-publishers because we want to be listed as the publisher of record. That is why we self-published: to be in total creative control of the process and our own publishers.
Seeing the name of who published the book might not be a big deal to readers or authors who intend to stick to selling their books online, but for authors who wish to get the attention of booksellers or to sell their books in bulk to larger corporations, it is a bigger deal. Booksellers find it too inconvenient if the book is not returnable through Ingram (the book distributor, not IngramSpark the self-publishing arm). Although KDP’s extended distribution actually goes through Ingram, one of the main reasons why retailers don’t want to stock titles published by Amazon is that they are not returnable.
And Amazon is their biggest competitor.
Frankly, bookstores can care less about Amazon or that you are an Amazon bestseller.
Free ISBNs could also restrict your distribution options.
Distribution
Copyright is not to be confused with distribution rights.
Like traditional publishing, self-publishers want their books available through multiple channels. They want to control the distribution of their book.
In its simplest form, distribution rights is the right to make your book available to the customer.
When you are signed with a publisher, you must go through them to get copies of your book.
When you are your own publisher, you can order as many author copies of the book as you want and decide where your book shows up.
For print books, for example, it means going from your printer to a retailer or directly to your reader.
In the case of ebooks, this can entail sticking to Amazon exclusively or using an aggregator like Draft2Digital to make your work available at a variety of stores, including Barnes and Noble, Apple iBooks, and Books-A-Million.
For distribution to bookstores,* small publishers and self-publishers do not typically have the manpower to use a full-service distributor like traditional publishers who can warehouse and distribute large book print runs. Thus, we usually opt for a wholesale distributor such as Ingram because it is best suited to print-on-demand (POD) printing.
*Having your book on Ingram Spark does not necessarily mean bookstores will order copies of your self-published book from Ingram.
The best practice is to self-publish through Amazon’s KDP for Amazon and then publish separately through Ingram and other platforms.
In other words, you don’t have to be concerned about someone stealing your book concept. Every book has already been written. Your perspective is the key ingredient. The way you write it is what makes it unique. Nobody else can write like you. Additionally, your book was already protected by copyright when it was written. For more security or peace of mind, you can also purchase a copyright through copyright.gov.
Check out more Indie Author Basics articles here.
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