Why it’s essential for authors to own your ISBNs

Be free! Own your own ISBNs

If you are an independently published author who wants to self-publish professionally, you absolutely must buy your own ISBNs. This post will show you the many reasons why you should invest in this for your independent author-publisher business.

First of all, an ISBN is an International Standard Book Identifier purchased in the country you do business in. In the USA we get them from Bowker, which is owned by ProQuest, a private company, and they're expensive. In other countries, ISNBs are issued by government funded entities like libraries, so they're free (thanks to taxpayer dollars). Find your ISBN agency at the International ISBN Agency website.

The key word is "professionalism"

CIP Block

A CIP (Cataloging in Publication) block is necessary for two reasons. First, to make your book indiscernible from any other professionally published book. But mostly it's to make your book attractive to libraries, and this is not an insignificant market.

Your CIP block is listed on your copyright page and, like the old Dewey Decimal system, it gives librarians the information they need to shelve your book.

Library sales

Future-proof your book

In the future, you may want to partner with a small press or make some kind of hybrid publishing deal. These professionals will evaluate how easy or how difficult it is to manage your book data and get it on over to their catalog before they make a decision.

When you control your book data - that is, when you own your ISBNs - you can access your ISBN records and "forward" your old ISBNs over to the new publishing company. 

Will Amazon, IngramSpark, Draft2Digital, StreetLib, and other good distributors do that? No, certainly not.  So you may have a much longer period of transition where the "old" version of your book is out of print and the industry does not know that it's available under a new ISBN.

You'll never be trapped with a vanity press

One format + two ISBNs = confusion

When you use an Amazon ISBN for your book and then want to distribute it more widely, your ISBN will not transfer to IngramSpark, PublishDrive, Draft2Digital, Smashwords, or elsewhere. That ISBN is owned by Amazon. So if you've done that, and now you want to own your own ISBN for your book, you have several options:

Bestseller status

If your book has two ISBNs you may be missing out on bestseller status. The industry counts book sales by formats. So if you've sold 2500 ebooks on Amazon and 500 ebooks on Kobo under two different ISBNs, and 3000 is the magic number to be considered a bestseller in your category,  you won't get that publicity because the industry simply won't know.

Bookstores don't like Amazon

You should be friends with your local independent bookstore. Want to do a reading there? An Amazon brand on your book is not good for making friends with them.

Create your own publisher imprint

Independent authors are often encouraged to create a business or publishing house name (your publisher imprint). In the US, you can obtain an EIN in your own name or in a company name. If you have already decided on a publishing house/imprint name, and have applied for a Fictitious Business Name (FBN) and obtained DBA (Doing Business As) in your county, you may use the DBA, instead. In this case, you'll purchase your ISBNs in your business name. 

Note these business and tax terms apply to US authors. Your business and tax procedures are probably different (though similar) in your country.

According to Bowker, "An imprint is a trade name, or brand name, used by a publisher to identify a line of books or a publishing arm within the organization. You may have multiple imprints. The imprints may be developed to market works to different buyer interests."

For example, I have registered two imprints under my company Misadventures Media. Self-Pub Boot Camp is the imprint I use for my self-publishing guides. Motorcycle Misadventures is an imprint for my motorcycle adventure travel books.

These imprints are associated with my business (and publisher name) Misadventures Media. So I don’t need DBAs or EINS or separate business bank accounts for Self-Pub Boot Camp or Motorcycle Misadventures. They’re both associated with (reside under the umbrella of) Misadventures Media. I've registered Misadventures Media as a business with a DBA (Doing Business As, or Fictitious Business Name), a business license for my city, and a business bank account. I've also registered an EIN (tax ID) for that business.

Find out more about how to create your own publisher imprint in this post.

A note for authors living outside the USA

Until recently, authors living outside of the US had to obtain an EIN to avoid being taxed 30% on royalties earned in the US. That’s no longer the case, but there’s so much misinformation on the internet today that I feel obliged to clarify. If you are selling books in the US but you don’t live in the country, you do not need an EIN any more but you do need to apply for ITIN (Individual Tax Identification Number) using Form W-7. You’ll also need to complete a W-8BEN form, which allows distributors to pay your royalties without withholding taxes as specified in the tax treaty for your country. Some companies, such as IngramSpark and Amazon, will automatically pop the W-8BEN form up when you need it during the publishing process. For more information  check Smashwords’ checklist of the steps you need to take. You can use roughly the same procedure for other distributors and vendors.

Translated versions of your book

You'll need a new ISBN to identify your Spanish language paperback, your German language paperback, your French language paperback. Your Spanish language EPUB, your German language EPUB, your French language EPUB...  are you getting it? 

Why miss out on foreign sales? You can do this easily and for free with StreetLib and Bablecube, sharing the royalties with the translator.

See the Author Friendly Podcast episode #5 with AC de Fombelle of StreetLib.

Your first step to becoming a professional author-publisher

Obtaining an EIN is a good first step to doing business as an author. It’s easy and it’s free, and it keeps your business expenses separate from your personal expenses. When tax time comes around, you’ll be ready to present your case as a small business with Schedule C. Obtaining an EIN will get you set on the right path to your career as a professional author-publisher.

Which book formats need their own ISBN?

You'll need one ISBN for your hardback, another for your paperback, and stilla another for your ebook. If you create an audiobook, that's a fourth ISBN. It doesn't matter where you distribute - it's the format that counts.

How to purchase your ISBNs

Read more on how to make your book look just like those from the traditional publishing houses in my post 20 Rookie Interior Book Design Mistakes to Avoid.