If you are an Indie Author,
you know that publishing has a lot of costs. You might have been able to cut
some by having beta readers act as editors, or exchange services, etc. One of
the things that cannot be avoided is the cost of ISBN's, if you plan to go
wide. This means having your books available through bookstores and libraries.
Amazon and Ingram Spark offer their own way to get a free ISBN, on paperback
and e-book formats, but this will keep you locked into their system. For
example, in Amazon's KDP, you'll show up as 'Independently Published' and
libraries will not be able to access your paperback, and most bookstores will
not sell your book as they do not offer the same trade discount as standard
publishers.
By owning your own ISBN, you set up your own
publishing name and company, and then you can take your books through any
system you want. What tends to stop a lot of people is how expensive ISBN's are
in the US. You have to go through the Thorpe-Bowker site and they are $125 for
1 and $295 for 10. ISBN's are cheaper in other countries, like Australia, but
you technically have to purchase the ISBN in your own country if you're going
to own it.
Which is why I'm offering this. I own a
publishing company that was founded on accessibility. If the thing stopping you
from publishing is the cost of ISBN's, then I've got you covered! You will just
show up as published under one of our imprints (the imprint depends on your
genre) and retain your rights and indie publish per normal so you can go
wide.
The cost is $9 per ISBN, this covers the ISBN
and card processing fee.
If you plan to have paperbacks OR hardcovers
in Ingram (stores and libraries) and Amazon (KDP) but eBooks in Kindle Unlimited you
will need 1 ISBN
If you plan to have paperbacks AND eBook in
Ingram (stores and libraries) and Amazon (KDP) but not Kindle Unlimited you will need 2 ISBNs
If you plan to have paperbacks AND hardcovers
in Ingram (stores and libraries) and Amazon (KDP) but eBooks in Kindle
Unlimited you will need 2 ISBNs
If you plan to have paperbacks AND hardcovers
AND eBook in Ingram (stores and libraries) and Amazon (KDP) but not Kindle Unlimited you will need 3
ISBNs
If you haven't decided which route you are going yet, you can start with one ISBN for paperback and get more later if needed.
