What Is An ISBN And Why Is It Important?

ISBN is an acronym for International Standard Book Number - a unique identifier barcode given to a commercial book. Each variation and each edition of the same book gets its own ISBN. If a book has a hardcover, a paperback and an ebook version, each of these will have their own ISBN.

The original ISBN was 10 digits, but this changed to 13 digits with effect from 1 January 2007. All commercial books published after this date must have a 13-digit ISBN. ISBNs are only assigned to once-off publications and not to journals, newspapers, or other similar publications.

Why You Need An ISBN

An ISBN is a must-have for all books made available to the public as it is what publishers, booksellers, internet retailers, libraries, wholesalers, distributors and other such supply chain participants use as an identifier for a particular book when they are listing, ordering, recording sales, taking stock and for other related purposes. The ISBN is what is used in identifying the registrant and specific details like title, format, and edition. You will, therefore, need an ISBN to sell your book through any store or online retailers like Amazon. Even when your book is not intended for sale, as long as it is to be made available to the public, it must have an ISBN.

How To Get An ISBN For Your Book

Even when you self-publish, as long as your book is meant for the public, it must have an ISBN. In most countries, ISBNs are issued free of charge through an administrative branch of the government or the library system. If you are in the US or UK, you can get your ISBN from Bowker and Nielsen.

Ordinarily, it is your publisher who is responsible for getting the ISBN, but there has been a huge shift in the industry towards self-publishing with countless new authors choosing to publish on their own. Should you choose to self-publish then you, the author, can apply for the ISBN. The ISBN agency in your country can advise on the process.

The 5 Elements Of The ISBN

The ISBN has 5 sections with each separated by either spaces or hyphens. The length of 3 out of the 5 sections may vary.

The Prefix Element: This section is always 3 digits and currently it can only be either 978 or 979.

The Registration Group Element: The section is meant for identifying the geographical region, country or the language area and it may be anywhere between 1 and 5 digits.

The Registrant Element: This section can be up to 7 digits long and it is the element that identifies the specific publisher or imprint.

Publication Element: The section may be up to 6 digits and it is the part of the ISBN that identifies the title's particular edition and format.

The Check Digit: This section is always a single digit used to mathematically validate the rest of the numbers.

For most countries, the publishing system is quite detailed so be sure to get in touch with your national ISBN agency early enough to avoid last minute delays.