20 Publish Your Book
When is your book considered published? Whenever you decide!
You can make your book publicly available online and make it available for export at any point. It’s easy to make changes and updates, so you can “publish” as many times as you need to.
We encourage you to share your book freely under an open license (discussed in the next chapter). However, you may wish to offer your book for sale through an online bookseller such as Amazon Marketplace, or another e-book platform. It’s your responsibility to ensure you have the rights necessary to enter into a commercial agreement with a vendor.
There are some factors that should be considered if you are hoping to feature your book in the JMU Libraries catalog or make it more widely available. The following table presents an overview (in no particular order) of these considerations and the circumstances in which they might be relevant to your needs and goals.
| Step | Library Service? | Purpose | Guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proofreading and copyediting | No | Finalize text for publication | Contact Liz Thompson, thomp3ea@jmu.edu, for details about contracting with Scribe for these services. |
| Peer -review | No | Finalize text for publication | Learn about peer review at Rebus’ Peer Review Process Guide |
| Add subject areas | No | Facilitate discoverability if book is featured in the catalog | Authors can add terms in Pressbooks in Book Info > Subjects |
| Get set up to sell your book online | No | Provide students and/or other readers with an option to purchase a hard copy via print on demand services | Pressbooks recommends IngramSpark or Amazon’s CreateSpace. |
| Get an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) | No | Unique identifier for published books, used for distribution in libraries and bookstores | Visit Bowker for details about securing ISBNs |
| Get a DOI (digital object identifier) | Yes | Unique and persistent identifier for publications even when a platform or URL changes | Request via email to Liz Thompson, thomp3ea@jmu.edu |
| Create a MARC record | Yes | Enable book to be discoverable in the JMU Libraries catalog | Request via email to Liz Thompson, thomp3ea@jmu.edu |
| Deposit the work in JMU Scholarly Commons | No | Exposure beyond campus. | Download PDF from Pressbooks and upload to JMU Scholarly Commons |
| List the work in the Open Textbook Library | No | Exposure beyond campus. Encourage other textbook authors to adopt or adapt your work. | Four requisite criteria for listing (Notably: Must be Creative Commons licensed and allow derivatives). Submit your book here. |
| List the work in the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) | No | Exposure beyond campus. Support scholarly credibility. | Book must be peer reviewed and your department will need to qualify as a publisher. |
| Register work with the Library of Congress | No | Exposure beyond campus. Online, searchable public record of your work. Necessary to pursue litigation for any infringement. | Copyright Office charges $45 for single-author registration (see copyright registration form). |
