In the back of every author’s mind is the need to ensure that their work is protected. This is true whether you publish through traditional publishers, online, or in self publishing. Essentially the moment you write your manuscript, or put your work in tangible form, it is considered to be your work. Your manuscript is informally copyrighted for your protection. However, many authors, including self publishers, wish to have formal copyright protection. Formal copyright protection fares far better if you have to defend your work in a legal matter.

It is critical that when you engage in self publishing that you formally copyright your work. There are two ways that you can formally copyright your beloved manuscript. Self publishing can cost you money and therefore you may be looking for ways to save money. Both copyright methods are low in cost.

One way you can copyright your manuscript cheaply is to seal your manuscript in an envelope and mail it to yourself. Make sure, however, that you do NOT open the envelope when it arrives. The envelope provides a postal date to verify when you sent the manuscript and thus infers that you wrote the manuscript before that postal date. In this case, the cost of copyright would be the postage required to mail your manuscript to yourself.

Another way a self publisher can copyright their manuscript is to register it with the U.S. Copyright Office. You must send a copy of your manuscript, the copyright application, and a fee. The fee is usually minimal and is currently around $30. The U.S. copyright will stamp a date on your application the day it arrives at their office. However, you won’t receive an official copyright certificate until a few months later. The copyright certificate will reflect the date your application arrived at the U.S. Copyright office so don’t worry about the delay.

Working through the U.S. Copyright office provides a reputable public record of your copyright on the material. It is recommended to spend the few extra dollars to obtain this official copyright certificate. This certificate is critical in the self publishing industry because as an author you are in legal control of your book. You can’t rely on anyone else should legal matters arise.

Copyrighting your work will help ease your mind as you see your self published book in print. You don’t have to worry about the validity of your copyright claim as it will be formally recorded with the U.S. Copyright office.