February 2009

I was looking through the timetable in The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote and Sell Your Own Book (3rd edition), to make sure that I’m not missing any important steps in self-publishing my cookbook. Well, I missed a big one.

One of the steps I missed, especially since I’m planning to market my cookbook to libraries, is that I haven’t requested a Pre-assigned Library of Congress Catalog Card Number (LCCN). What’s an LCCN? Well, from the Library of Congress Page it’s …

A Library of Congress catalog card 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. The Library of Congress assigns this number while the book is being cataloged. Under certain circumstances, however, a card number can be assigned before the book is published through the Pre-assigned Card Number (PCN) Program.

You can learn more about the process, your eligibility, and the purpose of LCCN, by visiting the Electronic PCN: Cataloging in Publication Program (Library of Congress).

So, I opened a new account. This is a two-step process and don’t worry, it’s free. Today I filled out their online form – this took all of about 3 minutes. Now, I wait for them to process my application. Looks like it will take about a week. When my application gets approved, they’ll send me an account number and password. And I’ll be able to logon to the PCN system and complete a Pre-assigned Control Number Application Form for my cookbook.

Oh, I almost forgot, you need to have an ISBN for your book before filling out the form. I already have these.

I’ll let you know when my application gets approved.

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