For book/ebook authors, publishers, & self-publishers

LSI and Publication Date

Lightning Source asked me for the publication date of my book. They said it wasn't the street date. What is the street date? Now I am confused.

I was under the impression that the publication date was the date 3 or 4 months after the day you receive your printed book in your hand. (That is for reviews.) So if I receive my books Dec. 5th wouldn't my publication date be considered April 5th? Or should I put the date I put for the ISBN and LCCN numbers? That was, I believe, in April.

I am pre-publication selling but planning to send copies to reviewers. So the date is throwing me big time.

Can anyone help me, Please!

Thank you!

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Permalink Reply by Peter N. Jones on November 24, 2007 at 9:32am

I believe this question was answered in another forum, but here it is again.

The copyright date is the date the work was committed to page (in this case 2007). It is also usually the date you file for copyright (if you chose to, not necessary but some people do it).

The publication date is the date that the book was printed. Because you are using LSI, it technically should be 2007.

The street date is the date that the books are available for sale. In your case 2008. Since you already sent your manuscript to the printer, it may be tough to fix. What you CAN do is get the proofs (I assume you ordered proofs if you are sending out ARCs) and REJECT the proofs. Then, upload a new file to LS with the 2008 date printed in it (rather than the 2007 one) and now you will have 2008 on your books. Also, you can not accept your proof until 2008 and that should also give you a 2008 publication date. Similarly, in your BowkerLink account, put in 2008.

Peter

___________________________________________
Director and Editor: Bauu Institute and Press
Publisher: New Great Books
Editor: Indigenous Issues Today

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Permalink Reply by SusieSunshine on November 24, 2007 at 1:15pm

Yes, Peter you are right some of this was in another forum. I printed it out. However, you answered directly what I needed to know specifically for my own personal use. Thank you so much for that!

I really appreciate the time you take to answer on the forums. I find it hard to get the time to post questions, let alone to answer any. So I give you cudos for what you do here!

Thanks again, Peter! It really helped me!