PCN: Why you Want One

Indie Publishing Secrets Series


On the title page of books published traditionally, you will see something like this-

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012932337
Hogan, Cindy M.
Protected/Cindy M. Hogan.-1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: When terrorists find Christy, she must enter the Witness Protection Program and become someone totally new while abandoning everything she has ever known.

You want this in your book, too and you can!

A PCN is a preassigned control number for print books only. The book must also be printed in the US and you must get the number before it is printed for the first time.

What is it exactly?


A Library of Congress catalog control number is a unique identification number that the Library of Congress assigns to the catalog record created for each book in its cataloged collections. Librarians use it to locate a specific Library of Congress catalog record in the national databases and to order catalog cards from the Library of Congress or from commercial suppliers. 


Why do you want one?


The purpose of the Preassigned Control Number (PCN) program is to enable the Library of Congress to assign control numbers in advance of publication to those titles that may be added to the Library's collections. The publisher prints the control number in the book and thereby facilitates cataloging and other book processing activities. The PCN links the book to any record which the Library of Congress, other libraries, bibliographic utilitites, or book vendors may create.

Are you eligible?

Only U.S. book publishers are eligible to participate in the PCN program. These publishers must list a U.S. place of publication on the title page or copyright page of their books and maintain an editorial office in the U.S. capable of answering substantive bibliographic questions.

When you get a PCN, you are assigned a particular person to take care of your needs. Find yours under Liaisons

How to get yours

It is a two-step process.

First you must complete an application to participate here.

 **Note-You must be a publisher to get this number. You are the publisher of your book if you are an indie publisher. You should get a license (doing business as license) and make it official.

Next, when the application has been approved, you, as the publisher, will be sent an account number and password. Then you can log-in and fill out the Preassigned Control Number Application Form to get your number.

Then you print it on the title page of your book.

Easy Peasy! Go get yours today! Don't let your title page be bare.

Are you convinced? Are you going to get a PCN for your awesome book?

Go here to see the cover reveal of Protected  Watched Series: Book 2

I'm so excited to share it with you. Release date: March 24th. Yahoo!

ISBN's: Why you Need Them

If you are planning to publish your manuscript, you will want to be found.

The best way to be found is to get an ISBN. Also, you MUST have an ISBN if you have a print book. You can get away without one for Ebooks sold certain places, but without one, you will be excluded from certain sites.

Check out this cool barcode with the ISBN underneath. Fun, huh?

I was just going through the process of getting some new ISBNs for Protected and future books and thought I'd share the fun with you.

When getting an ISBN, it is best to go to Bowker.com. Createspace offers them for free, but then you are always tied to them. To get what they call a universal ISBN, one that you can take with you wherever you sell your book, you have to pay a lot of money.

Click on create an account and fill out the form.
Remember, you are the CEO of your own writing business.

Click on publisher services.
Click on the big ISBN on the right hand side.
Click on get your ISBN now and choose how many ISBNs you want.

If you only intend on publishing one book you will need 2 ISBN's. One for your print version and one for your E-version. It's true that not all sites require an ISBN for your eBook, but Apple does require it, and they are a huge force in the Ebook world, so get one. If you aren't doing a print version, you will only need one. It is cheaper to buy 100. Seems like a lot to pay at once,  but at only $5.70 a pop, it is much more affordable than 100+  bucks for one or $26 each if you buy 10. You'll save money in the long run. If you are a true author, you will use them all, right? *Big smiles*

After you buy them, you can find them in MYACCOUNT in your Bowker Account. You will need to go to MY ACCOUNT and then Manage ISBN's to assign them to each book you publish.

You will have to fill out all the information on each book and it is a lot. It will take some time. You need to upload your manuscript in PDF form, upload your cover in jpeg as well as a ton of other stuff. Be prepared.

Also, you will need a barcode to go with your ISBN if you have a print book. There are a lot of barcode creators online. Way cheaper than what Bowker offers. You need to know your price when you create one. My printer puts my barcodes on my books.

Here's another fun ISBN from Japan. What do you think of it?


Do you think it's fair that we have to pay for ISBN's when we have to have them to sell our books?