If a title doesn’t have an ISBN and is not registered in an ISBN database, there’s no way for your many friends in the book business to know about it, including retailers (brick-and-mortar or online), distributors, wholesalers, and libraries. These are the key players who receive ISBN data and the prime people you want to receive it. You will not be able to sell your book, via retailers, without an ISBN. No ISBN means fewer opportunities for your book to be discovered and purchased. Here are the most important facts regarding ISBNs:
In essence, an ISBN is your book’s identification number, similar to any product number you would find in the barcode on other things you purchase, such as a box of cereal or a pair of shoes. The ISBN is the piece that identifies your book as your book, the barcode is something separate. ISBNs can come either with or without the barcode. The barcode is how the actual number is translated and readable by a scanner. If you do not plan to sell your book in brick-and-mortar bookstores, you do not need a barcode.
Use IngramSpark’s free cover template generator to receive a free barcode.
As mentioned in Chapter 4, it’s recommended that you purchase your own ISBN so that you are listed as the publisher of that work. The "I" in ISBN stands for "International" and ISBNs are sold by country. U.S.-based authors purchase from Bowker, authors in the UK can buy them from Nielsen Book, authors in Australia from Thorpe-Bowker, while Canadian publishers get ISBNs at no charge through the government. Does that mean you have to get separate ISBNs for your book in every country? No; you purchase an ISBN for your book in the country in which you live, but you can sell your book anywhere in the world using that same ISBN.
If you make your self-published paperback available in ebook, hardcover, or any other edition, then each must have its own separate ISBN to identify each individual version. Every ISBN is unique. There can only be one ISBN assigned to one book in one format.
In the U.S., ISBNs can be purchased individually from Bowker.com for $125 each or at a discount directly through your IngramSpark account for $85 each. You can also buy a block of 10 ISBNs from Bowker for $295. If you plan on publishing a print version and an ebook version of your book or writing more books in the future, purchasing the block of 10 ISBNs offers you the best deal.
Your book does not have to already be published to purchase an ISBN; you can buy one ahead of time and then assign it to your book whenever you’re ready to publish it.
This chapter includes content from the following post on the IngramSpark blog:
"ISBN: International Standard Book Number Facts for Self-Publishers" by IngramSpark
