Hello, all! Kimberly here from Jera Publishing. Today your Self-Publishing Short is on ISBNs. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It is a unique number assigned to all distributed books. (By the way, you should not say, “ISBN number,” because, technically, that would be “International Standard Book Number number!”)
If you want to sell your book on Amazon, or at any retailer, you need to have an ISBN assigned to it.
Every version of your book requires a unique ISBN. If you are publishing a paperback and a hardcover, you need two ISBNs. If you do a special edition cover, that also needs its own ISBN. Most eBook distributors, however, no longer require you to assign an ISBN to an eBook, but you can if you want to.
Part of the ISBN identifies the publisher of the book. As a self-publisher, this would be you. I suggest you set up a business name to publish under (or use your existing one) and buy the ISBNs under that business name.
If a company offers a “self-publishing” package that includes an ISBN and royalty payments, they are likely a subsidy or vanity publisher; the ISBN belongs to them, and you would not be self-publishing. It is crucial that you understand the difference, which will be the focus of my article in next week’s newsletter.
You can buy ISBNs through Bowker, United States’ ISBN Agency, at www.isbn.org. They sell a single ISBN for $125 or a pack of ten for $295. I recommend the ten pack.
Don’t buy the ISBN barcode from them, even though they will strongly suggest it—just ignore them. Most printers (CreateSpace, IngramSpark, etc.) offer these barcodes free of charge.
Memo to: Kimberly Martin
From: Nancee Schensema
Re: Indie Publishing
Thank you for your great information on establishing an Indie Publishing company.
I have two self-published books and am now seriously considering establishing a company to help other “vanity publishing writers”. (I consider this label a misnomer).
With 20 years in newspaper and advertising publishing in the now failing and almost non-existent print media I have taken time to consider how to use my years of expertise by establishing my own publishing business. Especially since I enjoy the formatting stages of printing most of all. Offering to help others put their self-publishing ideas together is right up my alley! I will follow more tips. Let you know how things work out.
Thanks
Thank you so much! This has helped expand my knowledge of self-publishing books.
Hi I also want to start a self publishing company, publishing my own books and doing it for others. I have an LLC already set up with multiple businesses under it, is it recommended that I can just DBA the name of my publishing company under my LLC and if so when I publish books through Amazon or Create Space would I need to mention the LLC name or can I just use the DBA name?
I am a songwriter and I want to start a publishing company for the sole purpose of protecting my work. I know that I must copyright my music too.
Am I going about this the right way?
Great article…loved it. I have 2 questions …
1. I would like to self publish standardized and Norm referenced assessments for children (similar to IQ tests). I know we have to screen buyers for qualifications (level A,B,C etc) …are there any other restrictions or governmental paper work and permissions I need to get?
2. I just incorporated a company to do other business …can I publish using this umbrella name or should I create a new company under the bigger company to become a publisher or Press…thank you so much again
Very useful and concise information! I’m just a but confused when it comes to purchasing the ISNB; how do you apply it to your book after purchase?
Great info! Out of all of the websites and YouTube videos, you seem to provide the simplest and best information and resources.
Two things: Because I will buy my own ISBN’s for my future publishing company, will that mean I own a big percentage of the author’s books? Secondly, how will I be able to publish books for my authors via Createspace? Will there be a publishing account I can set-up or will I have to log-in to their personal accounts?
If you will be publishing other author’s books under your own publishing company and assigning them your ISBNs, you should have contracts in place with each author that details how much money they will be paid by you when for each copy of their book that sells. This is typically a percentage of the book’s retail price or the profit made per book sold. For instance: say after the book is sold and the wholesale discount and printing cost is taken out of the sale, that you are left with $4.00 per book sold. You may have an agreement in place with the author that they get 25% of that and you get the rest, or perhaps they get 60% and you 40%. The details will be up to you and the author.
In addition, you will have an account at CreateSpace and publish each of the books through that account. The authors would not each have their own account. CreateSpace would pay you, and then you will need to pay the authors depending on the agreements in place.
At the end of the year, you will need to file 1099 forms and send them to each author that shows how much you paid out to the author over the course of the year.
So even though you may have your own publishing company you still work through CreateSpace to print your books? That sounds a little odd to me, I thought the company would have the printers and such to print and bind the books.
Createspace has a “free isbn” option when publishing books. Since i can get royalties of up to 70%, is this a good deal? Or is it better to pay for their isbns? I have never self published, and am working on finishing up my first books. I hope to hear from you soon, as i could use all the info i can get!
-J
Canadian ISBNs are free (2 copies must go to archives).
Yes, they are! This article is for USA ISBNs. Other countries have their own methods of obtaining ISBNs, and Canada makes them free. Lucky you!
Such valuable information….thanks for sharing! I too ride a motorcycle (Harley 883 SuperLow Sportster). What about you!
Sincerely,
Glenda
Currently riding a Honda CB500x. Used to have a Ducati Monster 796. Also have a Aprilia 250 Sportcity scooter.