This is a good questions to ask david. What I , understand from other authors.One does need a ISBN number and bare code to have a book within a bookstore. However, I don't know of authors or self-published books was accepted without at least the bare code. I have inclosed a link I hope helps with info. I hope someone who is a author or is knowledgeable than I can answer your specific questions.
David,
Self publishers with less than three published title are not eligible to recieve a LCCN. However, they may qualify for a "Preassigned Control Number", which I have yet to figure out what that is. If you are published through a traditional publishers then they will get the LCCN for you. Here is the link to the Library of Congress website where I got the eligibilty information: http://cip.loc.gov/eligibility.html
Nicole,
Thank you for clearing that up for me! I did think that the LCCN was part of the CIP. I'm glad there's people like you on this network to help out the 'newbies' like me :-)
David, I apologize for mispeaking on the LCCN. Hope I didn't cause any confusion.
I would like to add to Nicole's post because I have recently applied for a PCN. The PCN is for those publishers who have published 3 or less books. The LCCN is for publishers that have published more than 3 books. Hope this helps.
I'm trying to get this straight in my head as I had a difficult time before applying for my PCN.
I was under the impression that you couldn't get a CIP unless you had already published 3 books.
I was under the impression that the LCCN and the PCN were the same thing. One was for already published works (LCCN) and the other for works not published yet (PCN). That is why I applied for the PCN.