The copyright page

 
The copyright page is a must for any book and usually contains the following information, although not all of these are necessary:
  • Copyright notice
  • Edition information
  • Publication information
  • Printing history
  • Cataloguing data
  • Legal notices
  • ISBN and/or other identification number
  • Year published
  • Credits for design, production, editing and illustration.
Why it's important:

The copyright page is where your book is represented to retailers, libraries, bibliographers, quantity sales buyers etc... 


The most important element:

Not surprisingly the most important element on the page is the copyright notice itself. In fact this is the only element that MUST be included. This is usually presented as © or the word copyright followed by the year the work was produced and the name of the author. e.g. © 2012, Jo Linsdell

Example copyright page:

This is the copyright page for my children's picture book 'Out and About at the Zoo'


I decided to include my book dedication to my sons and acknowledgements of those that helped in it's creation. The title of the book and copyright message stating that the book was both written and illustrated by myself in 2012. I also included a text that protects my rights and the date of publication. My website address is also included so that I can be referenced and contacted easily.

Where does the copyright page go?

Always on the left hand page. In most books it's positioned across from the title page or on the back of the title page. 

The copyright page should either be a half page or full page (depending on the number of citations you need to include).

What information did you include on your copyright page?

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