For Authors Who'd Rather be Writing

The new thing for hackers is to ride on your coattails because you don't have a copyright.

Here's the problem: You think you can prove it because you have kept copies of your first draft to last.

Case in point: Amir Tsarfati, international speaker and writer, wrote The Elijah Mandate. An unscrupulous 'author wrote a hurried book with the same name, with a slightly different cover and different interior, but purposefully riding Tsarfati's coat tails. The publisher. Ashe Whitlock has no imprint. But the authentic is published by Harvest House. Is it copyright infringement? Potentially. But it's not taken down. This is not the first book Whitlock rode in on someone else's name.

But not so fast. The U.S. Copyright minions don't care about it. It may swing sort of in your favor. Most of the time it's a huge battle, and so is getting a copyright from the U.S. Copyright Office who spend time combing through your book to prove yay or nay if it was written by AI. That's another subject, but equally as important.

So One Candle Press presents the least confusing way to address the copyright process. Still, it's long.

HOW TO REGISTER YOUR BOOK

with the U.S. Copyright Office

Avoiding Copyright Migraines (Mostly)

A practical walkthrough for indie authors who would rather be writing

One Candle Press

Before I begin and before you read:

This is a practical walkthrough, not legal advice. Copyright Office screens, fees, and procedures can change, so check the official site before filing. The instructions below are written for a single book, not a group registration.

I sweated.

You shouldn’t have to.

First: copyright and registration are not the same thing

You already own copyright when your original work is fixed in a tangible form, such as a Word document or printed manuscript. Registration does not create your copyright. It creates a public record and gives you important enforcement benefits. For a U.S. work, registration (or refusal) is generally required before filing an infringement lawsuit in federal court. Timely registration can also preserve eligibility for statutory damages and attorney fees.

The © notice is useful, but it is not a substitute for registration. And no, screenshots of your drafts are not the same thing as a federal registration. Humanity has built an official system, so naturally we must use it.

What to gather before you log in

·       Exact book title and subtitle as they appear in the book

·       Series title, if you want to list it separately

·       Year the manuscript was completed

·       Publication date and country, if the book has been published

·       ISBN, if this edition has one (an ISBN is not required for copyright registration)

·       Your legal name, pen name, mailing address, email, and phone number

·       Any earlier U.S. Copyright Office registration number and year, if one actually exists

·       A complete deposit copy: an upload for an eligible electronic/unpublished work, or a physical copy for a published print edition

Preregistration?

Skip it for an ordinary novel. Preregistration is optional and designed mainly for works at serious risk of pre-release infringement. It does not replace the regular registration you must file later.

1. Choose the right application

Single Application	Standard Application
·       One work ·       One individual author ·       That same individual is the sole claimant ·       Not a work made for hire ·       All copyrightable material being claimed was created by that person	·       A revised or reissued edition with appreciable preexisting material ·       More than one author or claimant ·       Third-party material or complicated ownership ·       Any situation that does not clearly meet every Single Application requirement
Current fee: $45 (check before filing)	Current fee: $65 (check before filing)

For a revised book previously published by another publisher

The Standard Application is the practical, low-drama choice. “Previously published” does not automatically mean “previously registered.” Only enter a prior registration number if you can verify an actual U.S. Copyright Office registration.

2. Get to the actual application

1.  Go to the official U.S. Copyright Office Registration Portal. Avoid commercial services that imitate the government site and charge extra for doing what you can do yourself. Not a knock-off—like— “Bubba’s Fast Copyright Service, act now! 3 hours 5 minutes and 22 seconds for this offer!”

2.  Log in to the Electronic Copyright Office (eCO) Registration System. Create an account if you do not already have one.

3.  Under Register a Work, choose Single Application or Standard Application.

4.  Do not use paper Form TX unless you deliberately want the slower, more expensive paper process. For ordinary online registration, back away from Form TX and let it live its best 1987 life.

5.  Click Start Registration.

6.  For a novel, choose Literary Work as the Type of Work.

3. Complete the application screens

Title

Enter the exact title and subtitle as they appear in the book. You may add the series name separately as a Series Title. Do not invent punctuation or wording merely because the form looks lonely.

Publication / Completion

·       Answer Yes if copies have been distributed or offered to the public for sale. Answer No if the completed work is still unpublished.

·       If published, enter the exact first-publication date and country.

·       Enter the ISBN if this edition has one. If it does not, leave the field blank. An ISBN is not required for registration.

·       Leave the preregistration number blank unless you actually preregistered the work.

Author

·       Use your legal name as the individual author if you want it in the public record.

·       If the book identifies you only by your pen name, check Pseudonymous and enter the pen name.

·       Leave Anonymous unchecked unless no author name appears at all.

·       Choose No for Work Made for Hire unless the work truly meets the legal work-for-hire rules.

·       Year of birth is optional and becomes part of the public record if supplied.

Author Created

·       Check Text for the novel.

·       Check Artwork only if you created the original cover art or illustrations being claimed.

·       Do not check Computer Program merely because the manuscript is a Word file, PDF, ebook, or was created on a computer. Computer Program means software code.

·       Ordinary formatting, font choice, placement, and typesetting generally are not separate authorship claims.

Claimant

If you are both author and claimant, list yourself and leave the Transfer Statement blank. Use the Transfer Statement only when the claimant is not an author and acquired the copyright by written agreement, inheritance, or operation of law. A publisher name or DBA does not become the claimant merely because it appears on the book.

4. The Limitation of Claim screen, translated into English

Brand-new book, entirely created by you

If the book contains no appreciable preexisting or unclaimable material, leave Material Excluded, Previous Registration, and New Material Included blank. Your Author Created selections already identify what you made.

For a revised or reissued edition, use the screen to separate the old material from the new material you are claiming now:

Field	What it means
Material Excluded	Identify appreciable preexisting or unclaimable material, such as the text from the earlier edition or artwork you do not own.
Previous Registration	Enter the U.S. Copyright Office registration number and year only if that preexisting material was actually registered before. Prior publication, an ISBN, or a copyright notice is not a previous registration.
New Material Included	Identify the new copyrightable authorship in this edition, such as revised text and new original artwork.

Example for a substantially revised edition: Material Excluded: Text. Previous Registration: blank if none exists. New Material Included: Text and Artwork, if both are newly created and owned by you.

Do not overclaim

Typos, routine copyediting, formatting changes, and font changes by themselves are not enough new authorship for a revised-edition claim. Claim the new original expression you actually added.

5. The remaining screens

Rights and Permissions

Optional. Complete it only if you want the public record to identify a person or business that may grant permission to use the work. You may use your publisher or business contact information here. Whatever you enter may become public.

Correspondent

Required. This is the person the Copyright Office should contact if an examiner has questions. Use an email address you monitor, and check spam while the claim is pending. Same human, different bureaucratic hat.

Mail Certificate

Enter the mailing address where the registration certificate should be sent if the claim is approved. There is no separate “Yes, mail it” box. The certificate is mailed automatically after approval.

Special Handling

Usually skip it. It is an expensive expedited service available only for qualifying urgent circumstances, such as litigation, customs matters, or a pressing contract or publishing deadline.

Certification

Enter your legal name, certify that you are authorized to submit the application, and confirm that the information is correct to the best of your knowledge. Choose Author or Copyright Claimant as your authority. No notary, wax seal, or blood oath is required.

6. Review, pay, and submit the deposit

1.  Review every screen. Check the title, dates, names, phone number, email, and authorship selections.

2.  Click Add to Cart.

3.  Choose Pay: Credit Card/ACH. Pay.gov will then let you choose credit/debit card or ACH bank transfer.

4.  Do not choose Pay: Deposit Acct unless you already maintain a funded Copyright Office deposit account.

5.  After payment, submit the required deposit copy. The application is not complete with payment alone.

7. Deposit copy: upload or mail?

Upload	Mail a physical copy
Generally used for an unpublished work, a work published only electronically, or another category the portal allows to be uploaded.	Generally used for a novel published in print. A published literary monograph usually requires one complete copy of the best edition.
Upload the complete work in the accepted format and finish the submission only after every required file is attached.	Generate the case-specific shipping slip, print it, and mail it with the complete book to the address printed on that slip.

Do not double-submit

Do not upload files and mail a hard copy for the same claim unless the Copyright Office specifically instructs you to do both. For a paperback, the complete physical book includes the interior text and the cover art attached to it.

If Pay.gov drops you in the lobby after taking your money

·       Do not pay again.

·       Sign back into eCO.

·       Find the claim under Open Cases and click the blue case number.

·       Use the case page to finish the deposit step or generate the shipping slip.

·       Save the payment receipt and shipping-slip PDF.

What to keep

·       A copy of the completed application

·       Payment confirmation

·       The shipping-slip PDF

·       Mailing receipt and tracking number

·       The rights-reversion or copyright-transfer agreement, if applicable

·       The final registration certificate when it arrives

The effective date of registration is based on when the Copyright Office receives an acceptable application, fee, and complete deposit, not the later date when an examiner finishes reviewing the claim.

Quick cheat sheets

Brand-new book, one author, all material created and owned by you

·       Single Application may be used if every eligibility requirement is met.

·       Author Created: Text; add Artwork only if you created it.

·       Claimant: you.

·       Transfer Statement: blank.

·       Limitation of Claim: blank.

·       Deposit: upload if unpublished/electronic-only and permitted; otherwise follow the physical-deposit instructions.

Revised edition previously published by another publisher

·       Standard Application is the practical choice.

·       Author: your legal name; add the pen name correctly.

·       Claimant: you, if the copyright has reverted to you.

·       Transfer Statement: blank when you are both author and claimant.

·       Material Excluded: the appreciable text or artwork carried over from the prior edition.

·       Previous Registration: enter only a verified U.S. Copyright Office registration number and year.

·       New Material Included: the new copyrightable text and artwork being claimed.

·       Keep the written rights-reversion agreement with your records.

SEE? EASY AS PIE.

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Official links

Use these rather than a paid “fast copyright” service wearing a government-colored trench coat.

·       Registration Portal

·       Current Fees

·       What Is Copyright?

·       Copyright Basics (Circular 1)

·       Single Application Requirements

·       Limitation of Claim Help

·       Publication / ISBN Help

·       Deposit Copy Help

·       Acceptable Upload Categories

·       Pseudonyms (Circular 32)

Fees and procedures verified July 31, 2026. The Copyright Office has proposed future fee changes, so always check the current fee page before filing.