I don't know when I should copyright my book. Everyone says it's a must but when, when I publish it? Or should I do it before I sent it to the publishers?

All Answers To Questions

No you can just mail a copy to yourself and DON'T open the envelope. Get a publisher interested first. You may be doing many rewrites.

visit http://www.copyright.gov/

Technically speaking, you already own the copyright to your book. When you fill out the forms (www.copyright.gov) and send in the $$$, all you're doing is registering that copyright. I've never been in favor of the "poor man's copyright" using the U.S. mail to date your material. Register your copyright before sending out to any publisher. If the publisher wants to acquire the copyright from you as part of the publishing agreement, they have attorneys that will do that paperwork.

DO NOT do it before you send it to the publishers -- they'll see the little copyright logo thingie as the mark of an amateur. Anything written is automatically protected, even as only intellectual property. If you self-publish, that's when you "get it copyrighted" -- if you go through a publisher, they'll take care of that for you. I self-published through another company. My work was protected from the beginning, and the fees I had to pay ($30-$75, I don't remember) were only so that IF I was infringed upon, I could sue for damages. Without that, all I could legally sue for was to cease publishing my work under someone else's name. This way, if my work is "stolen" I can collect damages.