THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BOOK NUMBER (ISBN)
The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) are 10- and 13-digit numbers that uniquely identifies books and book-like products (the 10 digit ones are being phased out).
The ISBN allows libraries and bookstores to find information about the author, the author's book, the book's price, ordering information, and other related information.
You’ll need an ISBN to sell your book through any online or offline bookseller. Each edition of a book, whether in paperback, hardcover, ebook, audio or other such form, requires a separate ISBN.
Almost all of the publishers in this book purchase ISBNs in blocks (the smallest is a block of 10). The publisher then assigns an ISBN to an author for each edition of the book the author has licensed it to publish. The ISBN attached to the book lists the publisher as the party to contact for information. A block of 10 is $245 for standard processing.
If the publisher obtains the ISBN for you, and you later terminate your relationship with the publisher and decide to self-publish, you'll need to get new ISBNs for each edition you plan to sell.
If you purchase your own ISBN, you can either purchase a single ISBN for $125 or a block of 10 for $245. If you purchase a block of ISBNs you can assign them to any versions of any books you write (e.g., if you write three books and each has an ebook, paperback, and hardcover edition, you’d use 9 of the 10 ISBNs purchased).
You can complete the entire process online at:
http://www.isbn.org/standards
A non-priority application takes about 10 days to process.
Keep in mind that if you purchase your own ISBN, most self-publishing companies won’t allow you to use it for the version of the book they publish. However, you will be able to then publish your own version of your book either during or after the term of your contract with the publisher.
Once the ISBN has been assigned to a book it should be reported to R.R. Bowker, the database of record for the ISBN agency.
Your book can be listed for free in Bowker’s Books In Print, so long as you submit the information about your title at www.bowkerlink.com.
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