This post has been moved to my new site on self-publishing, The Global Indie Author. Click here to be taken to the post.
ISBNs and the Self-Publisher Part II: How to Purchase an ISBN
This entry was posted in Self-Publishing and tagged Are ISBNs free?, Books in Print, Bowker, How much does an ISBN cost in Australia?, How much does an ISBN cost in Canada?, How much does an ISBN cost in New Zealand?, How much does an ISBN cost in South Africa?, How much does an ISBN cost in the UK and Ireland?, How much does an ISBN cost in the US?, How to purchase an ISBN, Library and Archives Canada, Library of Congress, literary registry, My Identifiers, National Library of New Zealand, National Library of South Africa, Nielson BookData, Nielson UK ISBN Agency, Self-publishing, Thorpe-Bowker. Bookmark the permalink.
I’m a NZer – there is no vetting for us to get a ISBN – I enquired thru the website you mentioned above, I got a response back within a working day with my ISBN – one thing I thought was funny that they ask if the book is publishing in NZ – I said yes because anyone can download it from Amazon in NZ or elsewhere – but its a concept that doesn’t really apply to eBooks
Hi Lissie:
Where a book is published is different from where it is distributed, so the concept does still apply to ebooks to some extent. When you upload a book with a NZ ISBN to Amazon, you are still “publishing” in New Zealand but “distributing” to the U.S. and anywhere else the book is downloadable. The agencies are a bit behind the new semantics of digital publishing. It’s the same technologically: here in Canada, for example, LAC still has not listed the various ebook formats in the section on format, and Legal Deposit has no means to read a Kindle file. Eventually they’ll catch up.
These questions were sent to me via email, but they made me modify this post (and the upcoming third section) to answer them, so I feel it would be useful to post them here (and actually, it’s best to ask questions via comments because then the answers are for everyone’s benefit):
Q: It seems from the Bowker webpage which sells ISBNs online that you need to enter your address and phone number. I want to avoid being harrassed at home or being stalked, etc, so I’m concerned about making my address and phone number public. Please let me know, if you know — what does Bowker do with the address and phone number which is required to open an account with Bowker? Do they publish the address and phone number or release it to others?
A: They are made available only to those with a Books in Print subscription, ie., libraries and such, but not to the general public (and I could not log in with my Bowker account name and password).
Q: Can I use a pen-name to open the account to buy the ISBN from Bowker?
A: No. You can write and copyright under a pen name, but you cannot open an account under a pen name. Your account name is not disclosed to anyone; just your publisher information.
Q: As the book is completed and the details of it become known I may be overseas, will I be able to add in those details for the ISBN in Bowker when I’m overseas?
A: As long as you have Internet access.
Q: It seems that in addition to $250 for 10 ISBNs Bowker also charges a $25 annual fee — is this true?
A: Not that I am aware of.