# Quick Question



## T.S.Bowman (Dec 9, 2014)

I have recently been contacted, through an aquaintance, by someone who supposedly has some pretty good connections in the publishing industry.

Knowing absolutely nothing about the business at this point, the only thing that seemed a little fishy to me was when the person mentioned that there is a 125 dollar charge for the ISBN number. They said every book needs one to be published. 

But, correct me if I am am wrong (and I probably am), doesn't the ISBN number get assigned WHEN the book is published and not before?

Thanks for any help.


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## Schrody (Dec 9, 2014)

DO NOT PAY THEM! You're the one who needs to get payed, not them! Every trade publisher will provide ISBN, and e-books don't need them, on CreateSpace (print-on-demand) you can get it for free!


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## Deleted member 56686 (Dec 9, 2014)

Yeah it sounds like a scam to me too TS, The ISBN I'm guessing is probably assigned at publishing. It's just really a UPC for books. At least that's how it was treated when I used to do inventory.


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## Terry D (Dec 9, 2014)

Yes. The ISBN is assigned at the time of publishing. A traditional publisher will provide the ISBN as part of the publication process (no charge to the author). If self publishing you can buy your own (I'm thinking that $125 would get you 10 of them), or you can let your on-demand service provide one for you free.


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## Blade (Dec 9, 2014)

According to Wiki:



> *United States: In the United States, the privately held company R.R. Bowker issues ISBNs. There is a charge that varies depending upon the number of ISBNs purchased, with prices starting at $125.00 for a single number.*



There seems to be a charge in the US for the number but I would not pay it yourself up front at this point.:upset:


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## TKent (Dec 9, 2014)

Createspace & KDP will issue you ISBNs for free (you'd actually get a different one for the paperback and kindle version).  The only thing is that if someone looks up the number, the publisher will be shown as Createspace & KDP (or whatever they call themselves). So if that isn't a problem, go with the free ones. IMO.


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## T.S.Bowman (Dec 9, 2014)

Schrody said:


> DO NOT PAY THEM! You're the one who needs to get payed, not them! Every trade publisher will provide ISBN, and e-books don't need them, on CreateSpace (print-on-demand) you can get it for free!



That is exactly what I figured. 



mrmustard615 said:


> Yeah it sounds like a scam to me too TS, The ISBN I'm guessing is probably assigned at publishing. It's just really a UPC for books. At least that's how it was treated when I used to do inventory.



I knew it was basically a UPC for books. That's why I was a little confused by being told I would have to pay for it. 



Terry D said:


> Yes. The ISBN is assigned at the time of publishing. A traditional publisher will provide the ISBN as part of the publication process (no charge to the author). If self publishing you can buy your own (I'm thinking that $125 would get you 10 of them), or you can let your on-demand service provide one for you free.







Blade said:


> According to Wiki:
> 
> 
> 
> There seems to be a charge in the US for the number but I would not pay it yourself up front at this point.:upset:





TKent said:


> Createspace & KDP will issue you ISBNs for free (you'd actually get a different one for the paperback and kindle version).  The only thing is that if someone looks up the number, the publisher will be shown as Createspace & KDP (or whatever they call themselves). So if that isn't a problem, go with the free ones. IMO.



Terry, Blade and TKent

I had always thought (given the very little reading I have done on the subject of publishing) that the ISBN came once the decision was made to publish the book. I remember reading up a bit on a couple of the self publishing services and seeing that they would provide a number as part of the package.

Thanks, everyone, for your replies.

I am going to go ahead and contact the person I referred to just for the heck of it. I want to check her credentials and let her know that I know better than to pay for a ISBN and see what happens from there.


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## TKent (Dec 9, 2014)

Hey T.S.,

Terry will know better than I for KDP but I assume it is the same, in CreateSpace, I have a book uploaded to see if the formatting is going to work but until I'm ready to actually publish it, I'm not doing the step that assigns an ISBN. So you do not need to get it ahead of time. It is just one of the steps that occurs when you actually upload and set the book up in KDP 9r Createspace.  Those are the only 2 I'm familiar with.


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## T.S.Bowman (Dec 9, 2014)

Ok.

Like I said, I am going to check this person out and see what she has to say. She currently is a high up nun of some sort so I wouldn't figure her to be dishonest. But if she is, I suppose I could use her in a story somewhere. Perhaps as a rider on Charon's ferry. LOL


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## bookmasta (Dec 10, 2014)

Besides KDP or Createspace, the regular Library of Congress ISBN is only $20, I believe, which is far short of $120.


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## Riis Marshall (Dec 10, 2014)

Hello T.S.

Ditto everything that's been said here.

When I published my only-one-to-date thriller on Kindle, I purchased *and* registered a single ISBN *in my name with me as the publisher* for $35 (the purchase of the number and the registration of it are two separate processes).

Having spent time looking around for the best deal, I discovered, as has been stated here, there are all sorts of deals out there. Check a bunch of them out before you buy. My only problem will be if I decide to publish a hard copy, change the title or the cover art, I will need to purchase and register another number. Never mind.

All the best with your writing.

Warmest regards
Riis


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## J Anfinson (Dec 10, 2014)

Smashwords also provides free ISBN's. You can buy your own if you plan on distributing outside their network of vendors, but I don't see the point in paying for one since they distribute to all the big retailers but Amazon.



			
				Smashwords said:
			
		

> The number is registered with the international ISBN agency and in theory it helps customers and sales outlets (retailers, libraries, distributors) discover your book and differentiate it from other books. In reality, however, customers search for books by title, author or topic, and rarely by ISBN.  If you want to learn more about ISBNs, or you'd like to purchase an ISBN directly from Bowker (the US ISBN agency) visit their myidentifiers.com site.  The quantity one purchase price is $125 (this is why we recommend our FREE ISBN - We buy them in bulk so you don't have to pay anything).


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