ISBNs — What, Where, When, & Why

What?

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

noun.

A unique, internationally used number code assigned to books for the purposes of identification and inventory control.

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Where?

As suggested by the title, ISBNs are numbers that are recognized internationally. These numbers are assigned to books by their publisher. The publisher purchases these numbers (often in bulk) from designated national standard book numbering agencies. Examples of these agencies include

• Bowker in the United States

• Nielsen Book in the United Kingdom

• The National Library in Brazil

• The Agentur für die Bundesrepublik in Germany

• The Library Authority in Ghana

Do or Die Publishing is based in the United States and has the most experience with Bowker. As listed on their website, Bowker is the only book numbering agency in the USA. If a number does not originate from Bowker, it's not a real ISBN.

Their website (www.bowker.com) is rich with in-depth information about how ISBNs are made and why they are necessary. That said, finding where to actually buy a ISBN for use can be tricky at best, and aggravating at worst. Bowker's website operates more as an information desk than a service provider. Instead, buying and tracking ISBNs are done at myidentifiers.com which is owned and operated by Bowker. The site boasts a variety of paid self-publishing services and packages, but the only detail that truly matters is the ISBN.

Can only publishers buy ISBNs?

Conveniently, no. Anyone with a bank account can purchase their own ISBN—with a caveat.

ISBNs are expensive.

The "best deal" for a self-publisher comes in at just under $300 for 10 individual numbers, which is leagues cheaper than $125 for one. The silver lining is the price is a one time fee. Once an ISBN is bought, it belongs to the buyer forever. The MyIdentifier's website also helps keep track of purchased numbers through the buyer's account. Creating an account is necessary to make a purchase.

Indie authors often don't have money coming out of their ears, but if there was anything in the publishing process worth investing money, ISBNs would be it. If an author has the means to buy 1, then we highly suggest jumping to 10 for the economic value AND because an ISBN is only good for one format of book. If an author means to publish an ebook, a paperback, and a hardback of the same book, they would require three individual numbers. If an author released a 2nd edition in the same formats, three new ISBNs would be required for a total of six.

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When?

Obtaining an ISBN can be done at any time before publication, but can wait until the author is ready to start printing and distributing their book. Reputable distributors and retailers will request an ISBN while collecting information on your work.

Ideally, an ISBN is assigned to a book during the creation of the copyright page at the front of the book. Most commonly, the bottom of the copyright page will include the date of publication, name of the author and publisher, and the ISBN. Some books will list additional ISBNs for other formats of the same book. For example, a paperback could include the ISBN for the paperback and the ebook.

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Why?

The purpose of the ISBN is to serve as a single unique identifier for a specific written work. Book retailers (especially textbook retailers) commonly allow customers to search for books with the ISBN because the ISBN guarantees the customer will receive the correct edition of the correct book by the correct author, regardless of similar names or titles. In this way, the ISBN is much like a person's fingerprint. No two are the same, even if a set is for the same hand.

Amazon/Draft2Digital/Lulu/IngramSpark/etc is offering a free ISBN.

Can I use that instead?

The short answer: sure. There is nothing inherently bad with using a distributor's free ISBN.

The long answer: we wouldn't advise it.

While using a distributor's number will allow a book into that distributor's store, the distributor owns that number. Remember that Bowker is the only company in the USA that can create ISBNs. Some distributors (like Amazon) don't use real ISBNs, and instead implement an in-store numbering system—Amazon specifically uses the Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN). Both numbering systems assign unique numbers to products, but where an ISBN can be pulled from Amazon and moved to a different store, Amazon's ASIN is only good at Amazon. These differences extend to any company offering "free ISBNs".

The advantage of Bowker purchased ISBNs is in the first word. They are internationally recognized in a digital database of written publications. This database can be accessed by publishers, authors, retailers, distributors, and libraries. This means that a paperback published in Canada can be sold in England with the same ISBN (assuming the book is not translated to another language).

There is no right or wrong answer, but if an author wants to get their work in as many retailers as possible, we suggest investing in Bowker ISBNs.

(Note: Do or Die Publishing is not sponsored by Bowker.)