Posted by Mil on August 01, 2014 at 19:08:41:
In Reply to: agent inquiry posted by Collin on July 31, 2014 at 19:45:37:
: My book is done to my standards. I feel I should protect myself by getting it copy written before I send it out to Agents. There are going to be changes before it is published. Should I copy write now?
Not a simple question. Your words are automatically copyrighted as soon as you write them. You wrote them, therefore, they belong to you. It is okay to put a copyright statement on it right away (although literary agents sometimes look down upon those who do that).
But if you are asking how to keep somebody from plagiarizing your writing, that is a more complex question. Nobody can stop that from happening, but if it does, you can sue. A copyright certificate provided by the Library of Congress does not keep people from copying your words, and they won't take any action if it happens. However, it does provide solid evidence if later you want to sue somebody for stealing your words (if you sure you are actually prepared to do that).
On the other hand, is what you are writing something somebody would want to copy? If not, then why bother paying to send it to the Library of Congress?
By the way, publishers DO send copies of your work to the Library of Congress (under your name), so if you plan to publish with an established publisher, they will do it for you.
Hope that helps.