This is one of the most unnecessarily overcomplicated dig-yourself-in-a-hole-and-hide-from-the-world-forever topics that I had to deal with early on as an author myself—right up there with copyrights, don’t even get me started. ISBNs were invented to drive new indie authors to insanity. Do you need to get them yourself or can you accept the free ones that come with so many ebook publishing platforms? There are just too many variables and it depends on what you’re trying to do and how you’re trying to do it. |
But there are a few questions about these that I can attempt to answer for you. This is going to be most useful if you are a Canadian Self-Published/Indie Author. If you’re looking at traditional publishing (searching for an agent, getting a publisher to publish your books), count your lucky stars because ISBNs are someone else’s problem in your case—you can stop reading because you do not need to deal with any of this nonsense!
If you’re American, all I can tell you is that most of what I’m saying here is still going to apply to you, but you, dear hearts, are probably going to have to pay for your ISBNs if you want to get them and I can’t offer much in the way of instruction on how to go about doing that. In my understanding, you have to find a website that sells ISBNs (see resources at the end), pay for a bunch of them (I hear bulk is the way to go because it’s cheaper—and they are outrageously expensive, wow!), and then you’re on your way. So in your case, I might recommend to avoid bothering with ISBNs and go with the free ones Amazon and others offer unless you really need them, if only to save yourself some money (and I’ll discuss how to decide if you really need them momentarily).
If you’re anywhere else in the world, your options for obtaining ISBNs are going to vary widely, so you’ll have to research based on your own specific country. Feel free to detail your country’s specifications and include some links to resources in the comments if you’re feeling kind and community-minded.
And if you are Canadian, congratulations, take a sip of your Timmy’s double-double, tug that toque down over your ears, and don’t worry about a thing because we don’t have to spare a loonie for our ISBNs! Indie Canadian Authors can head on over to ISBN Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/services/isbn-canada/Pages/isbn-canada.aspx), set up a free account, wait a few days (up to 10 business days but usually 1-3), log in, “Manage Your Logbook” and “Assign New ISBN” and set up individual ISBNs for each of your books (note: one book should have an ISBN for its paperback version and a separate ISBN for its ebook version, so you can have quite a few ISBNs happening—but they’re all free and created instantly!). |
Before we get too involved here, let’s answer the most basic question: what is an ISBN?
- An ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a unique identifying number that gets assigned to a book in order for bookstores to recognize it in their systems and sell it.
- It’s the number on the back of a book along the barcode.
- Every book gets an ISBN in order to be sold, and every edition of that book gets a new ISBN, and every different form of that book has a different ISBN—so one book will have an ISBN for the hardcover, a different one for the ebook, a different one for the paperback, a different one for the audiobook, a different one for the second edition than the first, and so on.
- It is not equivalent to a copyright.
- They cannot be reused once assigned.
- ISBNs are valid worldwide, so you could sell your book anywhere under the same ISBN—you don’t need a different one for every country.
- However, you must have your ISBNs assigned to you from the country where you legally reside. Good luck figuring that one out if you’re an expat or otherwise location-independent.
Books published before 2007 had 10 digits in their ISBNs and those ISBNs are now called ISBN-10s, and new publications are called ISBN-13s since nowadays ISBNs have 13 digits. The more you know, right?
You’ll want to include your ISBN information on your copyright page (inside your book), and it will also be on the back cover with the barcode.
The ISBN is part of the bookselling process that you don’t usually have to think about as an author, but if you’re self-publishing, you’re going to need to think about this. Not always, but sometimes. Which leads to the next section…
Do I Need to Worry About ISBNs?
Maybe! Let’s answer some questions and see where you fall on the do-I-need-to-care-about-this chart. Most research you’ll see is going to say yes, you always need to care about this and you should go pay a ton of money for the privilege. For the most part, I’d say it’s usually necessary to have and if you can get them you should—especially if you can get them for free (O Canada!), then it’s not even a question, just get them.
And keep in mind that most of the information out there about this topic is specific to the US, so don’t get tricked into paying for ISBNs, always research based on where you live.
If you’re American and don’t want to shell out a ton of money, I think that’s a pretty fair argument in itself and the world isn’t going to come crashing to its end if you just use the free ISBNs that Amazon and all other ebook platforms provide, or if you sell your books in a store using the ISBNs that Amazon provided. The pro-buying-ISBNs arguments are very biased because there is a lot of money to be made there, so don’t get bullied into it; make a careful, informed decision and weigh your needs. |
Are you getting print copies of your book made with the intention of selling them?
- No
- Then you probably don’t need to worry about this, but if you have the option of free ISBNs then you still might as well.
- Yes
- Are you printing them with Amazon/KDP?
- Yes
- You can worry if you want to, and you should still probably have ISBNs of your own, but Amazon does provide free ISBNs and they will take care of putting them and a barcode on the back of your book for you.
- You can worry if you want to, and you should still probably have ISBNs of your own, but Amazon does provide free ISBNs and they will take care of putting them and a barcode on the back of your book for you.
- No
- You should get your own ISBNs and you might, depending on who you are printing with, need to make a barcode with your ISBN and put it on the design on the back cover of your book (or have your cover designer do this—but they’ll need your ISBN in advance in order to do this).
- You should get your own ISBNs and you might, depending on who you are printing with, need to make a barcode with your ISBN and put it on the design on the back cover of your book (or have your cover designer do this—but they’ll need your ISBN in advance in order to do this).
- Yes
- Are you printing them with Amazon/KDP?
If you are only selling ebooks, ebook platforms will provide free ISBNs (called ASINs on Amazon) for you and even though it might, arguably, still be better to have your own ISBNs even for ebooks, it isn’t technically something that you have to worry about. You could go your whole life without worrying about this and never even realize there was something you maybe should have been worrying about.
Are you planning on selling your books in brick-and-mortar bookstores?
- Yes
- Get ISBNs, unless you and your bookstore are fine with Amazon’s free ISBNs
- Get ISBNs, unless you and your bookstore are fine with Amazon’s free ISBNs
- No
- Optional—live your life!
When to Get an ISBN
You can get an ISBN at any time—when you’re ready to publish and have your publication date is probably best. You can get them before the book is published and you should, since you’ll need it to finish the final touches. You can get an ISBN at any point in the publishing and writing process, there are no limitations—even while planning or writing the book.
Barcodes
These are a different beast entirely. Barcodes go along with ISBNs in that they are a requirement for the back cover of your physical books. I know that ISBN Canada does not offer these. You might find yourself in the position of needing to make your own barcode if you are printing books with a print service other than Amazon, though most will do this for you (make sure that they do—never assume, ask if they can provide this service if you need it, otherwise make sure that the graphic file of your book jacket is already fully prepared). If you don’t know how to make barcodes and your printer doesn’t offer this service, or you just want to have your file fully prepped so you don’t have to worry about it, ask your graphic designer or cover designer.
If you’re savvy, you can make them yourself. They are offered by a variety of private companies online—you could buy them, but a quick google search of “make your own barcode” brings up about a million free options, so I wouldn’t. At the end of the day: make sure that on the back of your book you’ve got a barcode with an ISBN so that you’ll be able to sell your book in stores if you need to. |
Keep in mind that if you are planning on selling your books in bookstores, and assuming you’ve been invited to do so, you should be sure to give those bookstores your book information in advance so that they can enter it into their system—your ISBN is possibly the most important information that they need. I would recommend submitting this information a month or more in advance, as the bigger chains can be slower to get the data inputted and you don’t want to show up and be unable to sell your book.
They’ll use these ISBNs to track your sales as well, so when you contact them to invoice for your book sales, always include your ISBN information so they can easily look you up in their system and you can get paid.
Conclusion
In conclusion…ISBNs can be a pain, but they are a necessary pain. Go get them if you need them (especially if you can get them for free), but if you can get away without bothering, go get a drink instead!
Resources
Canada: http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/services/isbn-canada/Pages/isbn-canada.aspx#toc2
USA: http://www.bowker.com/ & https://www.myidentifiers.com/
CreateSpace ISBN Info: https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/ISBNs.jsp
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