What is an ISBN? - article

Michael Esser — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 14:52:43 GMT

Current Revision posted to ISBN by Michael Esser on 7/11/2018 2:52:43 PM

When it comes time to publish your written work there is a technical concern you cannot ignore. It is your book’s ISBN.

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. An ISBN provides a unique numerical identifier for each edition of a published book. One ISBN is assigned to the paperback edition of your book, while a different one will be assigned to the hardback edition. Yet another one will be assigned to the ebook edition.

The life of an ISBN begins in the early planning and production stages and proceeds all the way through a book’s publication and promotion.

The ISBN system is recognized in over 170 countries throughout the world and it will play a big part in your sales and distribution. First, it is a unique number that can be tracked for sales analysis and rights management. It can also be used to organize bibliographic data storage and library information management.

ISBNs are used for a broad range of publications and media. They are not just for printed media, but are also used to identify audiobooks on both CD and DVD, as well as other electronic media. For example, computer software that is used for educational purposes and publications that have components which are text-based will need ISBNs.

Products that don’t use the ISBN system include ongoing and unfinished work, like newspapers and periodicals. Other products that don't require ISBNs include personal resumes, advertising leaflets, printed music, art prints without text, and emails.

How do I Get an ISBN?

In the United States, you can buy your ISBNs from Bowker. Bowker can also help you to produce your pricing barcodes. Barcodes are something that self-published or independent authors need to acquire if you ever intend to sell your printed book in brick and mortar stores. ISBNs can be purchased individually for $125 or in bulk quantity for a savings. A block of 10 ISBNs for $295 is the most common purchase quantity since many authors publish in multiple formats or know they will be publishing additional books in the future. You can also purchase an ISBN bundled with a barcode for $150.

Authors or publishers outside of the United States must apply for ISBNs via their national ISBN agency.

Another option is to consider working with a supported self-publishing services provider or self-publishing website. Some of them may offer you a free ISBN in addition to the option of buying one through them. One important thing to note – whoever buys the ISBN is the publisher of record. So if you truly want to self-publish and want to create your own publishing imprint, you’ll need to purchase the ISBNs yourself. If that’s not important to you, the publishing service providers can be a great resource for many things, including securing an ISBN and barcode for your book.

Tags: article, fiction, Nonfiction

What is an ISBN? - article

Michael Esser — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 21:32:29 GMT

Revision 5 posted to ISBN by Michael Esser on 7/10/2018 9:32:29 PM

When it comes time to publish your written work there is a technical concern you cannot ignore. It is your book’s ISBN.

The life of an ISBN begins in the early planning and production stages and proceeds all the way through a book’s publication and promotion.

How do I Get an ISBN?

In the United States, you must buy your ISBNs from Bowker. Bowker can also help you to produce your pricing barcodes. Barcodes are something that self-published or independent authors need to acquire if you ever intend to sell your printed book in brick and mortar stores. ISBNs can be purchased individually for $125 or in bulk quantity for a savings. A block of 10 ISBNs for $295 is the most common purchase quantity since many authors publish in multiple formats or know they will be publishing additional books in the future. You can also purchase an ISBN bundled with a barcode for $150.

Authors or publishers outside of the United States must apply to their national ISBN agency.

Tags: article, fiction, Nonfiction

What is an ISBN? - article

Michael Esser — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 21:22:43 GMT

Revision 4 posted to ISBN by Michael Esser on 7/10/2018 9:22:43 PM

When it comes time to publish your written work there is a technical concern you cannot ignore. It is your book’s ISBN.

The life of an ISBN begins in the early planning and production stages and proceeds all the way through a book’s publication and promotion.

ISBN's are used for a broad range of publications and media. They are not just for printed media, but are also used to identify audiobooks on both CD and DVD, as well as other electronic media. For example, computer software that is used for educational purposes and publications that have components which are text-based will need ISBN’s.

In the United State you must buy your ISBN's from Bowker. Bowker can also help you to produce your pricing barcodes. Barcodes are something that self-published or independent authors need to acquire if you ever intend to sell your printed book in brick and mortar stores. ISBN's can be purchased individually for $125 or in bulk quantity for a savings. A block of 10 ISBNs for $295 is the most common purchase quantity since many authors publish in multiple formats or know they will be publishing additional books in the future. You can also purchase an ISBN bundled with a barcode for $150.

Tags: article, fiction, Nonfiction

What is an ISBN? - article

Michael Esser — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 20:35:29 GMT

Revision 3 posted to ISBN by Michael Esser on 7/10/2018 8:35:29 PM

When it comes time to publish your written work there is a technical concern you cannot ignore. It is your book’s ISBN.

The life of an ISBN begins in the early planning and production stages and proceeds all the way through a book’s publication and promotion.

ISBN's can be purchased on your own, but understand that they need to be bought in blocks of 10, 100 or 1,000. The total cost will range from $275 for 10 ISBN's to $1,875 for a block of 1,000 ISBN's.

There are also two fees involved. The first is a registration fee. The registration fee serves to allocate a publisher prefix to you, along with a block of numbers, one for each publication.

The second is a processing fee. The processing fee covers the processing of your application. The cost depends on how quickly you need your application processed.

Another option is to consider working with a supported self-publishing services provider or website. Some of them may offer you a free ISBN in addition to the option of buying one through them. They make dealing with ISBN's part of their service. One note – whoever buys the ISBN is the publisher of record. So if you truly want to self-publish and want to create your own publishing imprint, you’ll need to purchase the ISBNs yourself. If that’s not important to you, the publishing service providers can be a great resource for many things, including securing an ISBN for your book.

Tags: article, fiction, Nonfiction

What is an ISBN? - article

Michael Esser — Sat, 04 Mar 2017 09:16:36 GMT

Revision 2 posted to ISBN by Michael Esser on 3/4/2017 9:16:36 AM

When it comes time to publish your written work there is a technical concern you cannot ignore. It is your book’s ISBN.

The life of an ISBN begins in the early planning and production stages and proceeds all the way through a book’s publication and promotion.

ISBN's are used for a broad range of publications and media. They are not just for printed media, but are also used to identify audio books on both CD and DVD, as well as other electronic media. For example, computer software that is used for educational purposes and publications that have components which are text-based will need ISBN’s.

ISBN's can be purchased on your own, but the biggest catch is that they need to be bought in blocks of 10, 100 or 1,000. The total cost will range from $275 for 10 ISBN's to $1,875 for a block of 1,000 ISBN's.

There are also two fees involved. The first is a registration fee. The registration fee serves to allocate a publisher prefix to you, along with a block of numbers, one for each publication.

The second is a processing fee. The processing fee covers the processing of your application. The cost depends on how quickly you need your application processed.

In the United State you must buy your ISBN's from R. R. Bowker. Bowker can also help you to produce your bar codes. Bar codes are something that you need to create as a self publisher, especially if you ever intend to sell your book in stores.

Another option is to consider working with a publishing services provider, such as iUniverse or AuthorHouse, or a self publishing website like LuLu. These organizations exist to help new self-publishing authors and some of them may offer you a free ISBN in addition to the option of buying one through them. They make dealing with ISBN's part of their service. One note – whoever buys the ISBN is the publisher of record. So if you truly want to self publish and want to create your own publishing imprint, you’ll need to purchase the ISBNs yourself. If that’s not important to you, the publishing service providers can be a great resource for many things, including securing an ISBN for your book.

Tags: article, fiction, Nonfiction

What is an ISBN? - Article

Michael Esser — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Revision 1 posted to ISBN by Michael Esser on 12/14/2016 12:00:00 AM

When it comes time to publish your written work there is a technical concern you cannot ignore. It is your book’s ISBN.

The life of an ISBN begins in the early planning and production stages and proceeds all the way through a book’s publication and promotion.

ISBN's are used for a broad range of publications and media. They are not just for printed media, but are also used to identify audio books on both CD and DVD, as well as other electronic media. For example, computer software that is used for educational purposes and publications that have components which are text-based will need ISBN’s.

There are also two fees involved. The first is a registration fee. The registration fee serves to allocate a publisher prefix to you, along with a block of numbers, one for each publication.

The second is a processing fee. The processing fee covers the processing of your application. The cost depends on how quickly you need your application processed.

Tags: article, fiction, Nonfiction