- Your book needs an ISBN.
Luckily,
Amazon will give you this
book identification number for free,
but if you have bigger goals for your book,
it might not be the best choice.
If you're wondering if you should accept
Amazon's free ISBN or buy your own,
or maybe you still don't even know
what the heck I'm talking about, (laughs)
well, then, stick around,
because this video is for you!
(upbeat music)
Hi, I'm Julia the Book Broad with Book Launchers,
your professional self publishing services team.
Get ready, there's a lot of acronyms coming,
like publishing alphabet soup. (laughs)
ISBN stands for (wind whooshes)
International Standard Book Number.
(wind whooshes) It's that number right here,
(wind whooshes)
(laughs) on the bar code
on the back of the book. (wind whooshes)
This 10 or 13 digit number identifies a specific book,
or an edition of a book,
or a book-like product like an audio book.
It also identifies a books physical properties,
like trim size, page count and binding type.
Retailers, libraries and distributors
use this number to search for books
'cause it helps simplify the whole supply process
and makes your book discoverable in inventory systems.
An ISBN is not the same as the ASIN,
which is the Amazon Standard Identification Number.
That is a block of 10 letters and numbers
to identify products of all kinds,
not simply books,
and only used on Amazon. (wind whooshes)
You can find the ASIN in the product detail section
of a product page on Amazon,
where you find your book metadata.
(wind whooshes)
Once your ebook is published on KDP,
Amazon assigns a unique ASIN
which will help it be identifiable on Kindle,
and Kindle only.
If you don't want your ebook
to be accessible through other retailers,
you can call it a day with the ASIN,
but keep in mind that this is a unique identifier
exclusively for Amazon and Amazon marketplaces.
So if someone's hunting for your book
on Amazon, (loud thud)
they can search by ASIN, (loud thud)
(wind whooshes) but if they're searching on
other retailers or distributors,
like Barnes & Noble or Chapters or their local library,
the ASIN is useless, (melancholy whistle sound)
(wind whooshes) it only works on Amazon.
Your ISBN, on the other hand,
works for the entire global supply chain.
So, with the ISBN,
readers can search for your book on Amazon,
(loud thuds) Barnes & Noble, Apple,
Google play,
there're local libraries in Greenland,
(wind whooshes) (laughs) if they need to.
You do not need an ISBN to publish an ebook on KDP,
but you will need an ISBN to publish a paperback on KDP.
Now, you have the option of getting a free ISBN
provided from Amazon,
or you can purchase your own ISBN through Bowker,
which is a supply chain services company,
and the exclusive place to snag a legit ISBN in the US.
If you buy your own ISBN,
you'll be able to provide that number to Amazon
during your title setup.
So, now, I know you're wondering,
"Why bother buying your ISBN with your hard earned money
when Amazon's just handing them out for free?"
I'm so glad you asked.
A free ISBN won't let you be listed as the publisher.
If you go with the free ISBN,
KDP or Amazon are listed as the publisher,
you will still own the copyright to your book,
ownership stays yours,
but!
This can make you look just a little less professional
compared to having your own imprint,
(wind whooshes) which you can learn more about
in this video right here. (wind whooshes)
But, more importantly, (digital alarm softly sounds)
(wind whooshes) this is the big thing
that you're sacrificing
with that free ISBN.
Like an ASIN,
KDP's free ISBN can only be used on KDP
for distribution on Amazon.
You won't be able to use that free ISBN
with another publisher or self publishing service.
So you can't just take that free ISBN
and upload your book to Ingram and sell through there.
That free ISBN sounds like a hot deal,
but it locks you into KDP print.
(wind whooshes) Sure.
You can sign up for expanded distribution on KDP print
and, in theory,
that would make your book widely available,
but, the reality is,
you need your book on Ingram's catalog
to be truly widely available.
Ultimately,
bookstores and other online retailers
won't buy from Amazon.
Now libraries do buy from Amazon
so you can still potentially get
your free ISBN labeled book into a local library,
but you're going to have challenges
with almost all other distribution channels.
So if you want to sell your book anywhere else,
you'll need to get your own ISBN.
Now, good news (xylophone rings)
for my fellow Canadians,
ISBNs are free!
You can get your own through ISBN Canada online system
and not spend a penny.
In the US though,
you'll have to buy them through Bowker.
Remember,
you need one for every format of your book that's available.
So, ebook, print, audio book,
every format gets its own unique ISBN.
By the way, if you're doing a soft cover and hard cover,
you need one for each,
those are different formats.
A single ISBN from Bowker currently costs $125.
So you might as well use their pack of 10 for $295,
rather than just getting one.
Especially if you have multiple formats.
It's obviously a better deal
and you're going to need numbers for every format anyways,
and these numbers don't expire,
so you can use them for future books.
Want a bonus tip? (glass chimes)
(wind whooshes) Okay, but, first,
you need to hit that like button.
(slap sound)
Thanks.
All right, so here's that bonus I promised you.
Do not buy anything else.
Nothing else from Bowker, just the ISBN.
They try to sell you a barcode and some other stuff
that you do not need!
You can create barcodes for free
using free tools on the internet.
KDP print upload will do it,
or your book cover designer can do it.
Do not pay for that.
You're welcome.
Now, while you're counting how many ISBNs you need,
maybe you're also wondering
if you should make an audio book.
This video right here will help you with that decision.
If you're good with that,
then YouTube recommends you check out this video right here.
Either way, head on over, I'm waiting for ya!
(upbeat electronic music)