3 Benefits of Using Bulk Mailing Services for Book Publishing

One of the most important parts of the book publishing process is getting the books in your readers’ hands. In other words, sales and distribution. But this can be costly and eat into your profits if you don’t manage this expense well.

What is a Bulk Mailing Service?

A bulk mailing service can process your mailing list to make sure that it is CASS-certified. CASS stands for Coding Accuracy Support System and is a certification system used by the US Postal Service (USPS) to validate mailing addresses. This process standardizes your mailing list, updates outdated addresses, and verifies that existing addresses are valid and complete. A good bulk mailing service uses Intelligent Mail barcodes to help process the mail quicker and provide the customer with less expensive postage options when shipping your books.

Man in need of bulk mailing book self-publishing services

1 – Bulk Mailing Services Save Time

Sure, you can ship the books yourself, but this takes time, and sometimes a lot of time, especially if you have an extensive mailing list. Standardizing the mailing process automates the mailing process somewhat, allowing you to spend more time on what you do best: writing and publishing more books.

2 – Bulk Mailing Services Save Money

Postage costs when you have many packages to send are expensive, especially if you pay the standard postage cost. Bulk mailing services get you the best discounted commercial rates based on the size, weight, and the number of books you sell.

3 – Bulk Mailing Services Reduce Mailing Mistakes

Because bulk mailing lists are CASS-certified, the mailing addresses are verified and corrected, if necessary. This saves you time and money when shipping your book, ensures happy customers, and improves your mailing list’s overall quality and accuracy. Wrong or outdated addresses are flagged and either updated or removed from your mailing list altogether.

The time and cost savings of using a bulk mailing service make it worth it alone but eliminating the uncertainty and aggravation of handling the postage yourself is an added benefit.

InstantPublisher Provides Numerous Publishing Support Services

Not only are we a full-service self-publishing book printer, but we provide a wide variety of publishing support services such as book manuscript formatting, custom book cover design, and (of course) bulk mailing services.  . For more information, call 1-800-259-2592, fill out our online contact form, or send an email to questions@instantpublisher.com.

What All Self-Publishing Authors Should Know About Copyright

Copyright is one of those confusing gray areas in the world of self-publishing surrounded by misconceptions, but the whole process is quite simple.

What is Copyright Protection for a Book?

A copyright protects an author’s work from being stolen, reproduced, and sold without your consent. This protection establishes you as the author of the work and declares it to the government—namely the U.S. Copyright Office. A copyright mark claims the right to make copies, distribute, create derivative works, or display or perform your work publically. These rights are yours until you decide to sell them. For example, when you publish a novel or short story, you are not selling the story itself, but the right for the publisher to print and distribute your story.

Copyright symbol for self-publishing a book

How Do I Get a Copyright for My Work?

It is very simple. You already have it. From the time you begin filling a blank page with words until 70 years after your death your words are protected. Even though there is a severe taboo within the publishing industry for stealing another author’s work, to be fully protected, you need to register your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office.

Unfortunately, this process costs money. The cost of filing an electronic copyright claim is $35 at present. You can register it at the copyright.gov portal. This certifies you as the owner of a written work, and provides you legal protection against copyright infringement, and allows you to sue for up to $150,000 damages and attorney fees if someone tries to violate it.

Do I Have to Register My Copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office?

No. But you do not get the legal protections mentioned above if someone steals your work to claim it as their own.

How Do I Present the Copyright on My Book?

Simply type the word “Copyright” insert the copyright symbol—that weird symbol with a small c in the middle of a circle like this ©. This can be found under the Symbol function on most word processors. And then add a notice of what rights you are reserving for yourself. Most people simply enter “All Rights Reserved.”

Example Copyright © 2021 Jane Doe

There are more extended versions of copyright statements that you can use if you wish. Just pull a book off the shelf and flip through a few pages in the front of the book until you find the copyright page. Replicate what you see there, find a copyright page template online, or allow your book publishing services company design it for you as part of the book manuscript format.

InstantPublisher Delivers High-Quality Book Printing and Binding Services

What good is filing a copyright without a book? InstantPublisher is a full-service book printing and binding company serving self-published authors since 2004. We are an affordable option for self-published authors everywhere. To learn more, contact us at 1-800-259-2592, fill out our online contact form, or send an email to questions@instantpublisher.com to get more information about our book publishing services.