one step forward, two steps back

I received the second proof of my book a few days ago! It looks fantastic. I'm happy with the internal layout and with cover adjustments. So it's time to hit Approve and publish the thing already, right?

Not so fast.

It turns out that once you publish a book, you cannot assign it a Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN). Without this number, it seems, it's hard to get into libraries. It looks like the easiest way to get one is through the Library of Congress website using the Preassigned...