You've decided to self-publish. You may think that this means that you are free from the traditional publishing house. This is a delusion. You didn't avoid the publishing house. You became the publishing house, a reality I discovered when I went to do the publishing paperwork this summer. This was the soundtrack one night in front of my computer: Sorry, I can't get CIP? Why not? It costs how much for one ISBN? @#^%$&*!!!! How am I going to pay for this? I wonder how long I can live exclusively on Minute Rice before my blood iron dives ...
While these things went through my head, I realised that all the sites from which I was getting my information and that were offering services were American. Because I was in a patriotic mood, I wanted to give business to Canadian companies and went looking. That's when I found out that Minute Rice wouldn't be my diet. Virtually all of the services and paperwork for publishing are free in Canada. What follows are the major things you will need to apply for and obtain in order to self-publish in Canada.
ISBNs:
What, that number isn't pasted on by library staff to you help find books for essays? No, an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a unique, numerical code assigned to every book published worldwide and it's the responsibility of the publisher (you) to obtain one. The number of digits per code varies depending on the country and the point in history in which the book is published (Canada's now contain 13 digits). For this reason, it is imperative that you follow the proper method of ISBN acquisition for your country within your country. In Canada, ISBNs are provided for FREE by the Canadian ISBN Service System (CISS) of Library and Archives Canada. You apply for them by setting up an account online here, then following the instructions.
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| Example of a Canadian ISBN-13. |
ISBNs aren't a legal obligation in Canada. However, they're necessary if you want to be able to complete the rest of the paperwork involved with self-publishing and to provide the legal deposit, which is required by Canadian federal law. It's like a SIN number; if you don't have one, you can't file your taxes or apply for other government services. Many printers in North America require that your book has an ISBN or they will not print copies (if they are meant for sale, not private distribution). This includes companies that provide print-on-demand and online sales such as CreateSpace and Lightning Source. ISBNs are needed to track sales and to manage book orders.
Barcodes:
Yes, you have to make/buy, your own barcode for your book; it won't be given by the stores that sell copies. You can't get any barcode you like; there are different kinds of barcodes and each one identifies a different kind of product. The one for books is called a Bookland EAN barcode. It's created using your book's ISBN. Some self-publishers generate their own barcodes using computer software; don't do this unless you have a superior knowledge of barcodes and are skilled in graphic design.
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| A Bookland EAN barcode generated from the ISBN used in the previous example. |
The most important thing about a barcode: it can be scanned. Most booksellers won't supply your book if the barcode doesn't scan, because it's a nuisance at the checkout and for inventory. Many printers that offer print-on-demand also offer barcode generation; some provide this service for free. If barcode creation is offered by your printer, use it; printer-generated barcodes are high-quality enough to scan. Otherwise, it reflects badly on the printer, because deficiency in barcode scanning can be seen as poor printing instead of the result of a poor quality digital barcode file.
If you must or choose to get a barcode elsewhere, make sure that the company generating the barcode can (and does) give you a digital image that you can insert onto the digital copy of the back cover, which is submitted to the printer. Don't contract a company to print physical copies; you'll have to manually stick them onto your books.
***You need a barcode if you want booksellers to supply your book; some printers also require that you have one even if you sell exclusively online.
***You need a barcode if you want booksellers to supply your book; some printers also require that you have one even if you sell exclusively online.
CIP:
CIP (Cataloguing in Publication) is a FREE, voluntary programme managed by Library and Archives Canada. However, like an ISBN, you need to have it if you want to be able to make the legal deposit. This programme gives standardized cataloguing to your book and must be applied for pre-publication; the information is available to libraries and booksellers, which helps promote your book. Unlike the US CIP programme, self-publications are eligible for it in Canada.
You can apply here. Other countries have their own CIP programmes; make sure that you're applying to the Canadian CIP programme. Otherwise, your book will be registered as published in another country. Even if your printer is in another country, you are the publisher and you are located in Canada; your municipality, province and country of residence are the locations of publication and the Canadian CIP programme is the one for which you apply.
Once your application has been processed, Library and Archives Canada e-mails you the cataloguing information as it must appear on the copyrights page inside your book. You cannot change the formatting or the spacing; copy and paste it directly from the e-mail into your copyrights page and arrange all other information around it.
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| Example of CIP information on a copyrights page. |
Legal Deposit:
Thanks to the Library and Archives of Canada Act (2004), a copy of every book published in Canada must be given to Library and Archives Canada, with no reimbursement for costs of postage. If your print run is under 100 copies, you need to mail 1 copy. If it's more or you plan to use print-on-demand, its 2. I recommend sending 2 copies even if your print run is under 100, because you may do another print run or use print-on-demand in future. Mail them as soon as possible after publication with this form, or you'll get letters from Library and Archives Canada “reminding” you to make your deposit.
Please note: The information given about ISBNs, barcodes, CIPs and legal deposits applies only to books meant for public distribution/sale. Books privately printed for, say, family members or friends are exempt from these.
Also, separate ISBNs, barcodes, CIPs and legal deposits are required by Canadian law for every different format of your book (relevant Act section here). If you have a paperback version and decide to also offer a hardcover, you can't use the ISBN, barcode, and CIP of your paperback for your hardcover and you have to submit copies of the hardcover to Library and Archives Canada. If you decide to offer en e-book version, this, too, must have its own ISBN, CIP and legal deposit (no barcode).
WOW! I hadn't realized that there is so much paperwork and requirments involved. This made it very easy and straightforward to understand. I am definatly saving the link to this blog for later! Thanks for covering this topic and providing all the links you did- very useful. Looking forward to your next blog!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I think you might be in Engl 3153: Special Topics in Creative Writing. I definatly suggest you pass a link of this blog onto the professor to share with that class- I think this info will be useful to many! (Sorry for the second comment, forgot to add this part to the first one!)
ReplyDeleteAngela's right, there's a lot more paperwork to self-publishing than I thought there was! You'll hear people say that it's easier to self-publish because you don't have to market your book to a publisher, but this makes it seem just as hard!! Thanks for the information, it was great to learn about!
ReplyDeleteLouise Fraser, who teaches Children's Lit at STU posted the following about publishing an I-book recently -- as a self-professed "blogging illiterate", she gave me permission to repost it here:
ReplyDeleteI have recently managed to publish my children’s picture book, Pong the not-BIG Pig on ibooks: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/pong-the-not-big-pig/id592770001?mt=11 This proved to be a more involved process than I had first imagined. Since ibooks is an American company, it meant first acquiring an American “individual tax identification number” (ITIN). You need the number before you can post a book online and, once you have the number (and are hopefully receiving an income), you can then apply for a tax exemption based on a mutual treaty between the U.S. and Canada. The acquisition of an ITIN ought to be an easy process, but it proved not that easy for those at the American tax office who were obviously not used to the circumstances of my request. It took me four attempts! Had I, like my sister-in-law, won $2000 in the States, they would have happily issued me with an ITIN. However, with the increase in the use of electronic media, it seems as though e-publishing may be the wave of the future and more of us may be inclined to publish in this way. Indeed, you may have seen the recent news that Barnes and Noble are closing some stores to concentrate on e-book business for growth.