One of the greatest joys of writing abook is having the opportunity to share it with others. So mucheffort and creativity is put into a writer's work that the sharing ofit can be one of the most rewarding experiences of the process.
This is one of the motivators thatsends so many novelists in search of book printers andself-publishing companies. There they are inundated with vagueinformation (at least, that's how it was in the past when I firststarted Lily Ruth Publishing) about ISBNs, barcodes, LCCN's, booklayout, bleeds, etc.
So what are these items, and why arethey important? I'll start with the ISBNs in this article and coverthe other topics in later posts.
An ISBN is a 10 or 13-digitInternational Standard Book Number that identifies the publisher ofthe title. This number is assigned only to books published in theUnited States and can be purchased in blocks of 10, 100, 1,000,10,000 and 100,000 numbers. It is also possible to purchase just oneISBN for a self-published book.
Beginning publishers often ask if it isnecessary to purchase an ISBN for their book. The answer depends onwhat their publishing goals are. To publish a fiction or nonfictiontitle for the sake of sharing it with family members and closefriends might not warrant an ISBN, as an ISBN useful and necessary inmarketing.
I've heard it asked “Couldn't I put abarcode on my book and skip the ISBN?” While it is certainlypossible to purchase a barcode without first owning an ISBN, keep inmind that most bookstores use the Bookland EAN barcode becauseit allows for the embedding of an ISBN.
The U.S. Bowker ISBN Agency states ontheir website that “the purpose of an ISBN is to establish andidentify one title or edition of a title from one specific publisherand is unique to that edition, allowing for more efficient marketingof products by booksellers, libraries, universities, wholesalers anddistributors.”
So if you wish to market and sell yourtitle through bookstores and distributors (or even online, in mostcases) you will definitely want to purchase an ISBN.
Finally, make sure you purchase yourISBN(s) through the official U.S. ISBN agency, Bowker. This isespecially important because ISBNs purchased through Bowker areassigned to the purchaser and can't be reassigned.
There are websites out there that willtry to sell you a 'used' ISBN. I encountered this back when I ran thefirst print run of “My Weird Family Series: My Vampire Cousin.”At the time, the Bowker website was less than user-friendly and I washaving difficulty figuring out how to purchase a single ISBN fromthem. I ran across a handful of websites offering to sell a singleISBN and transfer ownership, and decided to call Bowker's customersupport number before making a purchase. At that time I was told ISBNownership could not betransferred and purchasing a single ISBN through another site orindividual would result in them owning the unique identifier to myclient's book.
Moralof the story? Always do your homework when it comes to bookprinting/publishing. There's a lot to learn and a lot of informationto take in at once, but it's better to study it all up front so youcan make decisions in the best interest of your book.
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