Registration is the legal stage of the publishing process. This step is essential to make your book both legal and saleable. Better yet it instantly gives your book credibility as when someone turns you book over and sees a barcode they recognise that your book is in fact a book and not just a printed publication.

STEP 1: ISBN

The legal component of the registration process is getting an ISBN. ISBN stands for International Standard Barcode Number and as the term implies this code is alocated to a book when registered to give it an identification number that can distinguish it from any other on an international level as there is one standard system worldwide.

STEP 2: Barcode

The fact that your ISBN is a barcode number means 2 things. Firstly that you need a barcode to go with it and secondly that you already know what the number of that barcode is. Unless you have barcode creation software you will need someone to create this barcode for you but be very careful that what you are buying is infact barcode creation based on your ISBN and not just a barcode. There are many different barcode styles and numbering systems worldwide but only a 'Code EAN 13' style barocde matching your ISBN will be acceptable to make your book saleable.

STEP 3: Series Registration

It is also important to think about whether your book is part of a series or not at the ttime of registration as once a registration is completed it is finalised and cannot be changed. It is better to register a series of 1 just in case then to not register a series as you will not be able to add a book to a series after it is registered. Remember though you can't register a series without a name so it is best to be thinking about your series name at the same time as your book title and subtitle to give you time to confirm you are happy with it before you lock it in.

STEP 4: First Time Author Registration

Is this the first time you have published a book? If so it is important to make sure your registration goes through as a first time author so you book isn't tied to an existing author with the same name as you. These days so many people are publishing books worldwide it has become essential since January 2009 to distinguish authors based on their date of birth as too many people are publishing books with the same name as an existing author.

Once you submit your registration you have reached the most exciting stage of the publishing process and that is publishing itself! This is when you book actually goes to print or into production and become an actual book.