ISBNs — Why Are They Important?

Would you like your book to be sold in stores?

You need an ISBN.

Would you like to market your book on Amazon and increase sales by participating in the “Look Inside the Book” program?

You need an ISBN.

Would you like to have your book available for searching, marketing and sales on the Google Books website?

You need an ISBN.

Do you want to increase your chances of book buyers and distributers purchasing your book?

You need an ISBN.

Do you absolutely HAVE to have an ISBN to PRINT your book?

Nope. You don’t need an ISBN to PRINT the book. But you do to SELL the book. Will you be missing out on some huge marketing and sales opportunities if you choose NOT to get an ISBN? Yep.

So, exactly what IS an ISBN?

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. This is a 13-digit number that uniquely identifies a particular book, or book-type product, such as an ebook.

And why do YOU need one?

Well, if the question and answers above weren’t enough to convince you to purchase one, hopefully this technical jargon will…

Assigning an ISBN to your book gives it a unique identification code that directs anybody (book sellers, distributers, universities, etc.) to an exact edition of your book. It is like a tracking number used to exclusively reference your product.

Let’s say you publish your book, ingeniously titled “My Fabulous Book” as a hardcover version, paperback version, and as an ebook. You will need three separate ISBN assigned to each separate entity of “My Fabulous Book.” That way, when a person places an order using the unique and specific ISBN for the hardcover edition, they know that they will the HARDCOPY version of “My Fabulous Book,” and not the softcover version. Or, they won’t get the hardcopy version of a book with a similar title, like Joe-Schmoe's latest release: “My Sort-of Fabulous Book.”

So, what is the easiest way for you to get an ISBN?

Check out this website: https://www.myidentifiers.com/index.php?ci_id=1479

Here you can purchase one or more ISBNs instantly! Remember, you can go through ISBNs quickly. If you plan on writing more than one title, or if you plan on publishing your book in more than one format, you’ll need to purchase a group of numbers. The bonus is that the more numbers you purchase, the cheaper the price per number.

And once you have your ISBN, be sure to place it on the copyright page of your book, and pass it along to your layout designer.

And now that you have ISBNs taken care of… you can get back to the more important task… marketing and selling your book! Happy writing!