What is and why you need an ISBN number? An ISBN number stands for International Standard Book Number. It used to be 10 digits now it is 13 numbers since January 2007 because of the growing number of publications. Those numbers are used in a formula to be validated.
The 5 elements of the ISBN number consist of:
- Prefix Element
- Registration Group
- Registrant Element
- Publication Element
- Check Digit
So why do I need to know this mumbo-jumbo? Example of what an ISBN number is on the photo above and you need to know this because it used for several things. The ISBN number will have all the information related to the book. It will have the author’s name and publication, besides the name of the book. Booksellers and publishers use it to identify the books and what type of book is it. Is it an E-Book? Paperback? Hard-cover? For a library, it is easier to have that information all put in the ISBN number so they can put that book on their inventory.
Besides having track of the information about the book there are many libraries and bookstores that will not pick up your book unless you have one of these bad boys. So that is when it gets tricky. What is your plan with the book? Do you only want it to sell it online? If so, then maybe uploading your book to a place like Create Space is just enough. Create Space will give you a similar ISBN number but it will be only be used on Amazon. You don’t have to worry about inventory, just let the magic of Create Space guide you and earn your money. Now not getting your personal ISBN, it would mean that on the one given by Create Space it would say that Create Space is the publisher of your book. Not the author or owner, just the publisher.
So if you wish to have your book sitting on a shelf beside your favorite author and/or books you might consider getting an ISBN. In some countries, it is even a legal requirement. The other thing to know is that, if you are doing different versions of your book, like ebooks, paperback between others, you need different ISBN. This would help know the difference between what type of book you have. Another thing to know is that different ISBN numbers would work as different books. This means that if you have an e-Book and a paperback instead of summing the whole sales it would look like the e-book version sold “X” units and the paperback version sold “X” units. So if you are starting, the best advice is not to go crazy getting a bunch of ISBN numbers for all your types of books. Concentrate on building your author platform and then invest in getting more books out.
Finally, where do I get the ISBN number? You can get it through Bowker. There are different packages depending on what you want and what you need. Explore it check what fits you best. Again it is not necessary but you can see some of the pros and cons of having it. What if you already published and you haven’t gotten one? It is never too late to get one. So don’t stress about that. Check if an ISBN best suites you and continue what you love doing best.