Why do you need a legal page in your book? Well for starters, it’s how you own your written work. Beyond that, it lists who helped you create, legalize, and format your book. It is a nice way to acknowledge those who helped you in this endeavor.
Beyond that it makes you look professional. A well-done legal page takes away the self-published feel and creates an impression of a big-time publishing house. And don’t forget it’s a great way to market your project and drive traffic to your point of purchase if you have a need to do so.
Giving Credit
Think of your legal page like the credits at the end of a movie. Everyone who had a hand in making the movie is listed in the credits. Sometimes the credits go on for what feels like a longer time than the actual movie, yet everyone gets acknowledged. Even the grip guy. (I still don’t know what the grip guy does, but I know he is in every credit listing of every movie I have ever seen!)
Owning Your Property
The legal part of your legal page is your protection mechanism. It’s proof you jumped through all the legal hoops to file and claim ownership of said written work. It shows others you require them to have written consent to use any part of your published work.
Does this mean people looking to participate in piracy will steer clear of you? Not necessarily. But if you find out that someone has used your work without permission you will have a legal precedence based on, you guessed it, your legal page.
Marketing
Another perk to your legal page is that you can list information about you and where to get more info.
I don’t normally promote this part too much because things can change with regards to basic contact information and as a publisher, I like to keep this page clean so that all the legal info boldly stands out.
With that being said, if you list one point of contact in the legal page, one that you have had long term, it’s another good way to establish a legal precedence.
I hope this answered some questions about legal pages. If you would like to discuss this further, please reach out to us and let’s schedule a time to dive deeper into the subject.
Welcome down the rabbit hole of Conscious Publishing!
Conscious Shift Publishing consults, edits, formats, designs, publishes, and markets books. Whether writers wish to self- or indie-publish we inspire them through every step to promote their unique perspectives. CSP clients retain 100% of their royalties as well as 100% ownership of every digital file and image. Find out more at ConsciousShiftPublishing.com or contact publisher, Tracey Kern, at tracey@cscpubs.com to schedule a complimentary consultation. Write on!