PrePub Book Link

This is the form, not the program, so it matters only once you have decided you need a Library of Congress Control Number. If your book has a publisher you will not use it; normally you ask which program they submitted your title through and what number or data came back. If you publish the book yourself in the United States and meet the program's rules, the Author Portal is your entrance, the Publisher Portal is not, and the request has to go in before the book is published. Keep access to the right portal and record the number issued for the book.

PrePub Book Link (PPBL) is the Library of Congress web application that handles both the Cataloging in Publication (CIP) program and the Preassigned Control Number (PCN) program in one place. The Library describes it as a customer service application that brings the two programs together while keeping their shared purpose: providing prepublication data to publishers.

It has two entrances. The Publisher Portal is for CIP publishers (who submit CIP and Library of Congress Control Number requests) and PCN publishers (who submit LCCN requests). The Author Portal is for authors and self-publishers requesting an LCCN. Accounts from the older PCN system were not migrated, so anyone returning after several years must create a new account.

Access to the Library's prepublication programs. Whoever holds the account for an imprint submits the requests, receives the LCCN or CIP data, and is responsible for sending the published copy to the Library. The account does not control retailer or library records elsewhere.

If your book has a publisher, you will not use this system. Ask the publisher whether they submitted a request for your title, which program it went through, and what number or data came back.

If you publish the book yourself and meet the PCN program's rules (a U.S. place of publication on the title or copyright page and a U.S. address), create an account in the Author Portal and submit an LCCN request before the book is published. Publishing houses with more than one imprint need one account per imprint. The Library publishes separate step-by-step guides for CIP publishers, PCN publishers, and authors, in English and Spanish; read the one that applies before you start.

1. Sign in to your PrePub Book Link account and open the request for the title to see its status and the assigned LCCN.
2. Confirm the details on the request match the final book: title, author name, publisher, and ISBN.
3. After publication, confirm you have sent the required copy to the Library of Congress and keep the shipping record.
4. Search the Library of Congress catalog by LCCN once the book has had time to be processed.

PrePub Book Link is the application, not the program. Having an account does not make a self-publisher eligible for CIP; the Author Portal only issues LCCNs. It is unrelated to copyright registration, which uses a different Library of Congress system, and unrelated to ISBN purchase, which the Library does not handle at all.