Writing the copyright page is legitimately giving me a heart attack. Either that or I’ve fucked up my meds. Aaaaah. I’ve only ever had to do this for other people before. I can’t believe I’m writing my own copyright page.
Also hi it’s 4am and I’m still a raging insomniac, how we all doing?
Oh, educational moment, just in case you ever need to write one of these things, they are actually really simple. All it consists of is
The Copyright Statement
“All rights reserved.”
And that’s pretty much it. You can totally get away with “© 2017 Author Name. All rights reserved.” if that’s all you want to write but it must include either the © symbol with date, or use of the actual phrase Copyright followed by date and name. Otherwise it doesn’t mean anything.
You can also get away with writing just all rights reserved if you want, but it’s often better to go into more detail, things like “all rights reserved, no element of this book may be recreated or distributed except with the express permission of [either your name or your publisher]” tend to hold up a lot better when it comes to suing someone for stealing your work, as does adding in the disclaimer spiel that all elements of the book are fictional and you totally didn’t base that one character on that one guy/place etc etc. You don’t technically need one, but it’s good to have. Like underwear ie cover your ass.
The copyright page is also a good place to give your contact details, such as author website or email, and to also credit your artists/editors/people who helped you get the book in print. If you are going through a place like Barnes and Noble for distribution, I think you need to buy your own ISBN regardless of whether epub or not, but I’d need to look that up. As it stands you don’t need an ISBN for kindle publishing or self distribution, although I know some people think it’s a good idea to, and honestly it’s good if you can afford it. I can’t at the moment but I likely will at some point.
This is how the Hunger Pangs one currently looks:
Hunger Pangs. First Edition. © 2017 by Joy Demorra. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact: [info @ weblink]
(This does not include fanfiction written for fun, you are welcome to play in my sandpit <3)
Please only purchase authorized electronic copies of this story. If you have somehow obtained this book through other means and have enjoyed it, please consider buying an official copy from [weblink].
The author appreciates your support and despite popular belief, does not subsist on the tears of readers alone.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book contains content of an explicit and mature themed nature, and is intended to be enjoyed by those of and above the age of consent.
The author does not assume responsibility for third-party websites or their contents. (As an aside, <—this is how I get out of saying I’m not responsible for the weird vampire kink y’all are gunna post on Ao3 just in case some puritan mob gets their pantaloons in a twist over it and decide I’m responsible for your lack of morals lol)
Cover art by _____; cover design and layout by _____. Edited by _________
Digital copies of Hunger Pangs are available for purchase on Amazon, Patreon or by contacting Joy at [info @ weblink]
For Trade Paperback visit [weblink].
I’ll likely edit this again and run through it a few more times before I consider it finalized but yea. Job done. That’s a copyright page.
