Posts Tagged ‘Bowker’

by Bill Ruesch

In the details, that’s where.

We all have to start somewhere. All over the Internet, you can find advice for self-publishers. Why? Because self-publishing has become big business, really big business.

The problem is that they, the advisers that is, don’t want you to be too self-sufficient. Most of them have something to sell. The strategy is to give up a little bit of information, just enough to whet your appetite, but not enough to go it alone. You see, the big secret of self-publishing is that it is simultaneously much easier and more difficult than you can imagine.

“The devil is in the details,” is truer for self-publishers than for just about anybody.

Are you surprised? Did you think it would be easy? Maybe you believed that printing a book would be like going to the quick printer for lost dog fliers.

Actually it can be just about that simple if your audience is family and friends, but if you want to sell your book there are other considerations that go way beyond ink on paper. For example do you know about ISBN’s?

ISBN is like a social security number for books.

The ISBN

1. What is it? It stands for International Standard Book Number.
2. Why does my book need one? Over 750,000 books were published in the US last year alone. This numbering system provides a method to track, account, and organize them. Libraries, bookstores, and even the Library of Congress require the numbers.
3. What does an ISBN cost? It depends on how many you buy. A block of 10 from Bowker will run $275.00 plus $25.00 for each bar code you order. A single ISBN can  be purchased from other retailers for $125.00 each plus the $25.00 each for bar codes. Here’s a note of caution, if someone is attempting to sell you a number for more than $125.00, run the other way. There are sad stories out there of gullible people paying up to $1,000.00 for one.
4. Who is Bowker? Bowker has the exclusive US rights to assign ISBN’s.
   
5. Why would I need more than one ISBN? The code does more than identify the title of the book it also tells the library, bookstore, or others what the format is. For example, is the book hardcover? Is it a paperback, audio-book, eBook, or some other media? Can you imagine the returns coming back because they thought they were getting a hardcover book and received audio-books instead?
6. Can I publish my book without an ISBN? Of course you can. You probably won’t get any bookstore distribution, or be picked up by libraries, but it is your choice. Remember publishing is not just a synonym for printing. Publishing includes distribution and sales.