Self-Publish Advice: ISBNs
Hello everyone,
Starting out as a self-published author, I had to learn quickly all of the different things that my books would need. One of the things that all books need nowadays are ISBNs. ISBNs are the little code you see on books that have 13 digits following it. These help to identify our books from others. An example of Missing's ISBN is below: 979-8-9859309-1-7
Depending on what website you are joining to distribute (a whole different topic!), they may offer different choices for you. Most websites will offer to give you a FREE ISBN that they will pay for. The ONLY time you would want to take this offer is if you ONLY plan on selling your book on that website. Most stipulate in the terms and conditions that if you use their free ISBN, you CANNOT sell your book anywhere else. That may be okay to some, but many like me, want our books to be sold at many different places. DO NOT TAKE THIS OFFER IF YOU WANT TO SELL YOUR BOOK IN MORE THAN ONE PLACE.
If you are in the United States, you need to go to Bowker.com. Once you register, you are able to buy ISBNs. It is currently the ONLY place that is reputable to buy ISBNs. They have multiple packages bundles: (as I'm reading it currently, this may change).10 ISBNs for $2951 ISBN for $125100 ISBNs for $575What you choose is up to you. I have, personally, bought the 10 ISBNs for $295 which means that each ISBN cost $29.50 (approx.). If you only plan one making 1 book, your best bet is to only buy 1 ISBN. If you plan on making many books, the 100 is the best deal. It all depends on what YOU want to do.
Ebooks are different. You do not need an ISBN for an ebook. However, I have ISBNs on all of my ebooks so that they can be sold in different places (libraries, book stores, Kobo, etc.). I do not go through Bowker for my ISBNs for ebooks. Instead, I use Smashwords. After reading their terms and conditions, it seems that their ISBN is free, but also doesn't tie us down as they distribute their ebooks through Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and others.
Is there any other advice you may need help with? If so, comment down below. I may not know everything, but I'd rather share my advice than keep it to myself and watch others make the same mistakes I did.
- Amy
Starting out as a self-published author, I had to learn quickly all of the different things that my books would need. One of the things that all books need nowadays are ISBNs. ISBNs are the little code you see on books that have 13 digits following it. These help to identify our books from others. An example of Missing's ISBN is below: 979-8-9859309-1-7
Depending on what website you are joining to distribute (a whole different topic!), they may offer different choices for you. Most websites will offer to give you a FREE ISBN that they will pay for. The ONLY time you would want to take this offer is if you ONLY plan on selling your book on that website. Most stipulate in the terms and conditions that if you use their free ISBN, you CANNOT sell your book anywhere else. That may be okay to some, but many like me, want our books to be sold at many different places. DO NOT TAKE THIS OFFER IF YOU WANT TO SELL YOUR BOOK IN MORE THAN ONE PLACE.If you are in the United States, you need to go to Bowker.com. Once you register, you are able to buy ISBNs. It is currently the ONLY place that is reputable to buy ISBNs. They have multiple packages bundles: (as I'm reading it currently, this may change).10 ISBNs for $2951 ISBN for $125100 ISBNs for $575What you choose is up to you. I have, personally, bought the 10 ISBNs for $295 which means that each ISBN cost $29.50 (approx.). If you only plan one making 1 book, your best bet is to only buy 1 ISBN. If you plan on making many books, the 100 is the best deal. It all depends on what YOU want to do.
Ebooks are different. You do not need an ISBN for an ebook. However, I have ISBNs on all of my ebooks so that they can be sold in different places (libraries, book stores, Kobo, etc.). I do not go through Bowker for my ISBNs for ebooks. Instead, I use Smashwords. After reading their terms and conditions, it seems that their ISBN is free, but also doesn't tie us down as they distribute their ebooks through Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and others.
Is there any other advice you may need help with? If so, comment down below. I may not know everything, but I'd rather share my advice than keep it to myself and watch others make the same mistakes I did.
- Amy
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