A Quick Guide to ISBNs for Self-Publishers
by Jennifer Tribe
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Published on this site: December 2003 - See
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ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It is a code
assigned to every published book that uniquely identifies it in
the marketplace. ISBNs make it easier and more efficient for libraries,
booksellers and others in the publishing industry to order, distribute
and catalog books.
When To Use an ISBN
You need to assign an ISBN to any content you intend to distribute
through outside channels such as bookstores, catalogues or libraries.
ISBNs should be placed on
- print books
- electronic books
- videos
- audio cassettes and CDs
- CD-ROMs, and
- other items as detailed by the International ISBN Agency.
You need to issue a separate ISBN for each edition of your book
and for every format. For example, if you issued the same book as
a print book, e-book, audio book and Braille book, you would require
a separate identifier for each. If one year later, you updated the
manuscript and re-issued the book, you would assign new ISBNs to
this second edition in each of its different formats.
Deciphering the Numbering System
All ISBNs are currently 10 digits. (The industry will slowly be
transitioning to a 13-digit system starting in 2005. See
www.isbn.org/standards/home/isbn/transition.asp
for more information on the change.)
The digits identify
- the group (country, area or language area of the publisher)
- the publisher, and
- the title of the item.
The last digit is a check digit.
The group number is comprised of one to three digits. Zero is the
number for the English language group that includes the United States,
English-speaking Canada, the U.K., Australia and other countries.
The publisher number is comprised of two to seven digits. The more
ISBNs a publisher uses, the small their publisher number.
Publishers that use more than 100,000 ISBNs are given a publisher
number of only two digits. If you apply for 10 or fewer ISBNs, you
will be assigned a publisher number withseven digits. Everyone else
falls somewhere in the middle.
Thus anyone in the book trade can look at an ISBN and know roughly
how big you are as a publisher by the number of ISBNs you have applied
to use. This is why self-publishing gurus like Dan Poynter recommend
acquiring your ISBNs in blocks of 100 to avoid being labeled "small
potatoes."
Poynter further recommends that you use an ISBN from the middle
of your list of 100 for your first book, since a 0 or 1 as your
title number will reveal you as a first-timer. The check digits
range from one to 10. Since there is space for only one check digit,
the number 10 is represented by an X.
How To Acquire ISBNs
ISBNs in the United States are administered by R.R. Bowker. Bowker
charges a fee to process your application. Ten ISBNs cost $225;
100 ISBNs cost $800. Visit www.bowker.com
for more information, or to complete an application.
ISBNs in Canada are administered by the National Public Library
as a free service. Visit http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/isbn/index-e.html
for more information or to apply on-line.
For more information on the ISBN system and how it works, visit
www.isbn.org
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