ISBN for Self-Publishers: Answers to 20 of your Questions
From book designer Joel Friedlander:
One of the areas that I get the most questions about is the use of the ISBN, the unique numeric identifier that’s used around the world to identify books. New self-publishers are especially concerned with making sure their books are registered properly, that everything is done so that their book can be sold without any problems or confusion.
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3. Why do we need ISBNs?
We need them to identify each book that is published, and each edition of the same book. ISBN also identifies the publisher of the book. It is the standard ID number used to identify books by booksellers, libraries, book wholesalers and distributors
4. Should I get an ISBN?
If you plan to sell your book in bookstores, to libraries, or through online retailers like Amazon.com, you will need an ISBN.
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13. What do ISBNs cost?
A single ISBN today costs $125, while 10 ISBNs cost $250, 100 cost $575 and 1000 cost $1000. Note that the price per ISBN drops from $125 to $25 to $5.75 to $1.
14. Isn’t it just a number? Why does a number cost $125?
Many people are pondering this question, so far without an answer. Obviously, it’s not because of the cost of the product. Could there be another reason?
Link to the rest at The Book Designer
Passive Guy says the current ISBN number system is a mainframe archetype stumbling around an internet world — way, way too expensive and outmoded. Bowker is the official and only provider of ISBN numbers in the US, which is part of the problem.
If Amazon wanted to throw another curve past Big Publishing, it would allow anyone to obtain as many free ASIN numbers as they wanted, whether they published on Amazon or not, so long as the author or publisher provided the metadata that Amazon collects for books sold there, including the book’s ISBN number, if any.
Amazon could also assign an ASIN number to each hardcopy book offered on Amazon and list it alongside the ISBN numbers in the product description. Then Amazon would have a ready way of accessing the kind of book metadata that’s currently trapped in ISBN World.
Bowker would probably squawk, but Amazon wouldn’t be creating new ISBN numbers, only recording the existing ISBN number as one of many facts associated with a book. Is an ISBN number protected by copyright? PG has his doubts on the grounds of a lack of creativity, but is happy to hear contradictory arguments in the comments.
In case you haven’t discovered it, you can already search for a book on Amazon by using its ISBN number and do the same thing for an ebook with the ASIN number. Ditto on the Barnes & Noble website for the ISBN.
, Amazon will pay Passive Guy a small affiliate commission on any of your purchases. 
As usual, some things are different in Canada; for one thing, ISBNs are free! But you have to do business with the government.
The place to start is http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ciss-ssci/index-e.html but if you google ‘isbn canada’ you will find some other useful sites.
This is very cool, I didn’t know about this, thanks!
Getting free ISBNs is one of the reasons I decided to go the self pub route.
“A single ISBN today costs $125, while 10 ISBNs cost $250, 100 cost $575 and 1000 cost $1000. Note that the price per ISBN drops from $125 to $25 to $5.75 to $1.”
So if an independent or small publisher needs one the have to shell out big bucks or buy in big volume. On the other hand a large publisher will buy in such volume that the costs a tile’s ISBN could be paid by the interest on a late payment to its author. That doesn’t sound like discouraging low volume Publishers at all, at all. (snark)
B.S.
I thought that Amazon and smashwords gave out free ISBN numbers. That’s what Dean Wesley Smith said on his blog and I’m also sure that’s what it said on the Amazon & Smashword sites, that they would provide you with one for free. I’m from Canada also but I didn’t think it made any difference.
Smashwords gives a free ISBN with the caveat that you can only apply it to the Smashwords edition (so if you have an Amazon and B&N edition through their KDP and PubIt and not through the Smashwords distribution channel you can’t use the Smashwords ISBN). Amazon does not require an ISBN but I know iBooks does and possibly B&N (someone who uses PubIt not Smashwords for them maybe can say for sure on the Nook store…I feel like this was the reason I just had Smashwords distribute to B&N but I can’t recall for sure).
Amazon provides a free ASIN when you use KDP–it’s a number only Amazon uses, not a universal product number.
Yeah, PubIt does the same thing as Amazon–they provide an ASIN.
I agree with PG. The ISBN system is expensive and outmoded. IMHO, it won’t be very long before it is completely gone altogether.
When I published my books, I didn’t even bother with ISBN and I’m not sure if I ever will. I suppose it depends on if I want to make a print version of the books available, which I haven’t done yet. I’ve been waiting and watching. From what I’ve seen, I don’t think it will be worth my time or money to do it. I might do it for my family, friends, or readers if they ask for a print version of the books but other than that, no.
DWS uses CreateSpace (owned by Amazon) to make his print copies and they give you the option to use a free CreateSpace ISBN or assign your own ISBN that you purchased separately. DWS uses the free ISBN provided by CreateSpace.
Smashwords will give you a free ISBN if you publish your book with them. I imagine one reason that individual ISBNs are so expensive is that the amount of work Bowker has to do to record the fact that X numbers are now allocated to publisher Y is the pretty much constant, regardless of what X is. (And hey – be grateful you can buy individual ones. In the UK, you have to buy them in blocks of at least 10.)
Individual ISBNs might not be copyrightable, but collections of them (plus the associated book metadata) might be, in countries where the law provides a database right. It’s not clear to me whether the right prevents anyone else from compiling their own database of the same information, or just prevents them from copying the original database.
(And hey – be grateful you can buy individual ones. In the UK, you have to buy them in blocks of at least 10.)
In the US 10 ISBNs at once cost the same as 2 individualy. If an Author is going to be a Writer (as defined by Dean Wesley Smith) then they might as well buy more.
B.S.
So, for people with big sales numbers, if you want to ‘hit a list’ – ie. USA Today, NYT, etc. then you REALLY should be attaching your ISBN to *every* outlet that’s selling your work, because sales are tracked with the ISBN. Not a concern for most of us, but I thought I’d throw that out there.
But if you’re selling like Hocking or Chan, then you won’t have to worry about getting on a list. People will be talking about you anyway. Just MHO.
ISBN? What’s that?
Some Norwegian playwright, I think…
Wow, I’m glad you told me! I thought it might have been a TV network or something.
Wait, wait, wait. Only one place you can get ISBNs? And the prices are really high? Almost sounds like one of those monopoly things that we should be worried about if Amazon ever get control of this industry. Hold on a second! I’ve figured it all out!
Amazon’s ASINs are free!!! How can Bowker compete? This predatory pricing from Amazon must be stopped. Because if Amazon, with their horrible free pricing, ever got control of this market they might one day… charge as much as Bowker!
LOL! Good point!
Author Guild Memo-of-Doom incoming: ASINs, made with puppies or just causes cancer? The truthiness of Turow!
Yeah, can you all be quiet. Let’s not give Amazon any more monopoly ideas. BTW, I’m about to Kindlize, but I’m giving the ebook one of my ISBNs even though Amazon doesn’t need one. Because each type of format should have its own ISBN, in my books at least.