What’s a BISAC Code? Breathe, It’s All About Book Discoverability

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From Digital Book World:

Anyone producing a digital book or setting up an ISBN may come across the acronym BISAC. If you’re a self-published author wondering what a BISAC code actually is, here are some answers.

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BISAC is an acronym for Book Industry Standards and Communications, a very helpful tool put out yearly by the BISG (Book Industry Study Group). The BISAC code system is an alpha-numeric system of book classification. The book industry (libraries, universities, Barnes & Noble, local bookstores, and online bookstores) use BISAC code numbers to categorize books.

For example, if you’ve just written a graphic novel murder mystery, they have a BISAC code for that:

CGN004010 COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS / Crime & Mystery

In the BISAC code catalog, there are fifty-three (53) main categories with various sub categories – and in some instances, sub-sub categories.

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If you are buying an ISBN code for your book directly from Bowker, you will be prompted to select your BISAC code. When you set up your Bowker account when you purchase an ISBN, Bowker will ask you to identify or categorize your book. A list of 53 BISAC codes will appear (if Bowker is truly up-to-date) and you’re off to the races.

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How do you determine your book’s BISAC code?

The first category you choose should be what the book is about, which genre category it fits into. Think of it as a funnel: a wide opening at the top, narrowing down to a spout at the bottom. Start large, go narrow.

FICTION > ROMANCE > MYSTERY > PARANORMAL > VAMPIRES

Don’t let the process intimidate you. Don’t be sidetracked. Get your BISAC codes down so you can start talking about your book in an intelligent manner.

Link to the rest at Digital Book World

PG says BISAC and ISBN are mainframe ideas in an iPhone world.

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5 thoughts on “What’s a BISAC Code? Breathe, It’s All About Book Discoverability”

  1. But the BISAC helps in cataloging. We have too many books and not enough information to properly cross index everything in our catalog, even in fiction. Having an accurate BISAC helps a great deal with that.

    And I’m a Library Director for 6 public libraries. I don’t catalog, but I’m the person that the cataloger complains to.

    • Ah, that’s interesting. So it’s an additional source of information on content, but it hasn’t replaced your standard cataloging with regard to what call number goes on the book, if I understand you.

      I take an interest because I’m a former public library employee (kids’ librarian) and a current cataloger at the Library of Congress (contractor working on a special project) and a survivor of a couple of stints with Barnes & Noble and Borders.

      In both public libraries where I worked (granted, this was in the 1970s), genres like science fiction and mystery had their own sections where those books were shelved but still had the same call number as any other fiction, F for fiction and the first three letters of the author’s last name, plus a sticker for the spine to indicate which fiction section (spaceship for SF, skull for mysteries). Of course these were relatively small libraries.

    • Which is (mostly) great for library purposes.

      BISAC is a “tree index” system. When such is properly designed for the content, and the content is properly indexed – it is highly efficient and accurate.

      Libraries only have books that are published by the book industry. Oh, look who designed the tree? It is in the book industry’s interest to ensure that their books also have the right code. Win-win for libraries, so long as they stay chained to the book industry.

      As PG so pithily commented, though – you are the mainframes. This is an iPhone world. People do not find books by BISAC, nor the Dewey – they “free form” search by words. Every library (and bookstore) system that I have ever used is absolutely terrible at that – because they have the BISAC, and the Dewey, the author, and the title, sometimes one or two keyword tags. Nowhere near an Amazon quality search system.

      (Okay, I can walk into a library, read the ends of the shelves, and head for the right section, based on the Dewey range listed. But I’m 57 years old.)

      • Actually, the BISAC categorization helps to cross link “types” of fiction within our online catalog – it’s an additional source of connections within the “iPhone world.” It helps patrons with their discoverability when they aren’t browsing in person, and it doesn’t work the same way as browsing in person; fiction is grouped on the shelves by broad genre, while in the catalog, it’s grouped in much finer slots that can be connected in a multitude of ways.

        The bane of my existence is over-eager indie authors trying to sell their gritty urban fantasy novels to me when my patrons demonstrably don’t want to read it (we’re a very rural area.) The *delight* of my existence is when I get indie authors that are *right* for my patrons – it’s a whole different feeling being able to offer a sale than having to reject one. We have a significant number of indie published books on the shelves and in our eBook library. BISAC categories are wildly appreciated when we have to do original cataloging (my cataloger complains about those acquisitions, too.)

        A lot of libraries are trying to make sure that they get a nice selection of indie authors, as well as novels from the Big Five; not just the local “novelty” authors, or local history, but really, anything that the patrons will connect with. BISAC helps inform us for buying selections, although the lack of a monthly catalog makes it a secondary choice simply because of the time commitment it takes.

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