ISBN Information

If you are new to publishing you probably have questions about the magical ISBN (International Standard Book Number). There is not any real magic about it. It is simply a unique number that identifies a specific book. The same book as softcover and hard cover will each have a different ISBN that identifies the style of cover. An ePub format eBook is also identified by an ISBN. So the same book as softcover, hardcover, and as eBook would be identified by different ISBNs.

The barcode on the print editions is made from the ISBN. All print books sold by retailers should have a barcode, it's how a retailer will identify the book in their software for selling books.

An ISBN is easily acquired either directly from Bowker (www.myidentifiers.com) or through one of their authorized resellers (www.isbnservices.com).

The difference between the two is:

1) The ISBN from Bowker ($125.00 for a single, or $295 for a block of ten) allows for you to enter the book data, metrics, and other information into the Books-In-Print database used by wholesalers and retailers when searching for a given book.

2) The ISBN from a retailer like ISBN Services ($22.99) is a valid ISBN but is identified as a book published by "Primedia eLaunch LLC". You can log into and add the Books-In-Print data about the book, but it does not name you as the publisher. Also, it is not valid with POD providers like KDP and Ingram/Spark, but you can get a free one from them for the purpose of their production.

Depending on how the book is to be marketed and sold, quantities produced, will dictate which to use. If you plan to make a broader approach to retailers and look to get into distribution then you’ll want the one direct from Bowker. On the other hand, if the marketing approach is going to be more modest (think pretty much just the regional area) and your production quantities will be less than a couple hundred copies then the less expensive one from the reseller is probably fine.