There have been several steps to this self-publishing process that have been especially fun for me, and they also happen to be the nerdiest parts of it, too. Go figure. 😉
There are certain childhood dreams that surround becoming a published author. One dream is to walk into my local book shop and get to see my book up on the shelf. Another is to walk into my local library and do the same thing. (I spent a lot of my childhood at the library, something that has persisted into adulthood.)
Thus, when I sat down with my friend, Carol (who is a reference librarian at the college where I work, and a legit magician – I’ve yet to stump her on finding a source, and I’ve asked for some pretty out there things), and we created the LC classification for the book, little me shed a tear. One step closer to living the dream, which you will one day be able to find at PS3609.R54 W547 2023*. 🤓
The Dewey designation was much easier to figure out 🤓:
And to round out the nerdiness, I just submitted my application to register my copyright. 🤓
It’s been a busy couple weeks for me and Lucy. ❤
*If you are nerdy like me and curious about what these classifications mean:
- PS – These letters designate this book as American Literature within the Library of Congress classification system.
- 3609 – When it comes to fiction, the four numbers that follow the class letters represent the first letter of the author’s last name. In this case, 3609 = ‘I’.
- This is specific to works of Fiction. For other classes, the letters classify the topic (such as D = History, DA = History of Great Britain) and the numbers would indicate the subtopic (such as a specific country like Wales, DA700-745, or Scotland, DA750-890).
- .R54 – This indicates the next three letters of the author’s last name – in this case, ‘rme’. Depending on the name, a library cataloguer may choose a longer designation. (There aren’t many “I” authors, so Carol figured this would suffice.)
- W547 – This indicates the first four letters of the title – in this case, ‘wher’.
- If I were to publish another book in the same year with the same starting four letters, we’d take this designation further. If it were published in a different year, then the date of publication would be enough to differentiate between the two books.
- 2023 – Year of publication.
(I also applied for a Library of Congress Control Number, and once the book is published, I have to send them a copy – which they might add to their collection!! 🤓🤓🤓)
Ami Maxine 