Where is the isbn number
How to Get an ISBN Number
hi and welcome to task number 11 how to
get the ISBN before we get started make
sure you have downloaded the how-to
number 11 so you can follow along with
us let's talk about getting the ISBN
number for a book the ISBN or
international standard book number is a
number issued to each book by the
publisher and it's embedded in the
barcode on the back of a book in order
to sell through bookstores distributors
wholesalers and major retailers
each book must have a unique 13-digit
ISBN it is extremely important that each
self-published author has his or her own
set of ISBNs ISBNs can only be purchased
in blocks of 10 100 or 10,000 the cost
per book goes way down with the more
numbers ordered remember if your author
is self-publishing they are the
publisher the author is also the
publishing company putting this book on
the shelf you may also be wondering why
you need to buy blocks of ISBN numbers
surely you just need the one number for
the one book well remember each edition
of this book will need its own ISBN
number let's suppose that your author
prints a hard copy a paperback and an
e-book and in a year they write a second
edition of the book with four new
chapters also released in paperback and
as another ebook right there you have
used up five ISBN numbers just for the
one book you can see how easy it is to
go through blocks of numbers now our our
bow Coeur is the company that has the
responsibility for keeping the ISBN
system worldwide it is also the official
US agency responsible for assigning
ISBNs the system they designed makes it
easier for everyone to order books by
that specific unique number so there is
no confusion between titles or editions
many countries have their own ISBN
agency is responsible for allocating
ISBN blocks for books published in that
country to find the ISBN agency in any
country just do a Google search put an
ISBN agency and the name of the country
and hit search while it costs to buy an
ISBN block in the United
States ISBN blocks are free to
publishers in many other countries
including Canada and India
each of the 13 digits of the ISBN has a
meaning to help book stores and other
retailers with inventory and other
matters all 13 numbers are really
important
if the author is changing the books
prize or reprinting the book you can
keep using the same ISBN for that book
but there are times when the author must
assign the new ISBN to the book for
instance if the book is coming out in a
new edition because it has had
substantial changes you're going to need
to give it a new ISBN number
if the book's title is changed you need
a new ISBN number and any time you
create a new product from that book say
an e-book that product must carry its
own unique ISBN when the publisher is
assigned a block of numbers the numbers
are sent as what is called an ISBN
logbook it's usually sent by email have
a look at the screen above for a sample
ISBN logbook when the ISBNs are
allocated by the publisher for a
specific book the publisher just types
in the title next to the corresponding
number you can see that this publisher
has only two ISBNs left not assigned for
this block of ten ISBNs so on the screen
you're going to see the website ISBN org
when you go to get an ISBN number you
want to go to this website and click on
the English language forms right under
order ISBNs in bold in the middle of the
screen that will take you to the
application page for the ISBN publisher
prefix the publisher prefix is three
digits now it used to be the first three
digits when we had ten digit ISBNs but
now it's the second three digits that
will take you to the application page
for the ISBN publisher prefix the
publisher prefix is three digits now it
used to be the first three digits when
we had 10 digit ISBNs but now it's the
second three digits from this page you
will click on the link in the middle
that says continue your application
process on our secure server the
application process is pretty
straightforward what you'll need after
you start is the publisher name contact
and shipping information how many ISBNs
you want to buy whether it's 10 100 or
10,000 you will need a credit card as
well they will also ask you about the
type of products you produce
are they books videos software etc and
they want to know a little bit about the
subject is it for children's is it legal
or medical if you get stuck there is
also a separate page that gives you
hints if you don't know what they're
asking for
now something important to note it will
ask you as you finish the process if you
want to order barcodes as well say no
it's better to get them elsewhere and
we'll show you that in a minute
besides sending the ISBN log book with
your block of numbers via email they
will send you a username and password
and a link to an online ISBN logbook
where you can enter the titles of the
books and the format online it is useful
to put the information in the online
logbook because it is used to get the
books into books in print that's an
online service used by librarians to
find books by topic to order them for
their libraries the ISBN online log book
is handy and it's free for the first
year but is $25 a year to maintain it
after that so you may want to download
it and just keep it unless you do a lot
of books now here is a special note to
Canadian publishers and authors the
Canadian system for ISBNs is free to
publishers you will only need to do this
if you are publishing a book in Canada
it's called the CISS the Canadian ISBN
service system and it's pronounced kiss
if your author is planning on publishing
in Canada you will need to get a
Canadian ISBN number now I wanted to
talk to you a minute about ten digit
ISBN numbers and 13-digit ISBN numbers
now until a few years ago all ISBN
numbers had ten digits sometimes you'll
run into an author who will still have a
block of ISBN numbers that are ten
digits the 10 digit ISBN numbers should
be converted into the new 13-digit ISBN
numbers since this is the standard for
all new books now and it's easy to make
this conversion online all you do is go
to WWII SBN org forward slash convert
pub dot asp and of course you can find
that link on the VA headquarters online
just follow the instructions on the
website you input the old number and
it'll give you a new 13 digit number you
can use
and that's it for task number 11 getting
an ISBN number we'll see y'all soon
