Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

So you've read all the wikiHows articles on character creation, story building, and a book. Congratulations, that's a great achievement! Now you want to publish your book online, and be asked for an ISBN number. You say, "Sure". But "What is that, and how much does it cost?"

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number, and is a unique number assigned to a book so that it can be internationally identifiable. This code lets sellers and readers know about the book they're buying, what genre it's about, and who the author is. This is part of the process, we have done this many times and will show you how to get your own code.

Steps

1. 

   
   
   Find your local ISBN agency. Open the search page and enter http://www.isbn-international.org/agency.
   • Click on the menu - select group agency -. This list lists almost all countries in the world. Choose your local agency. We will choose the United States as an example.
     
     
   • We see R.R Bowker in New Jersey as our "local agency", even though this company is on the opposite coast. The list includes addresses, telephone and fax numbers, contact names, email addresses and web addresses.
     
     

2. 

   
   
   Click the URL link. You will be taken to an eye-catching site where you can research all about ISBNs, and you can freely look it up as long as your eyes can process the information.
   • For our purposes, we will choose an ISBN code.

3. 

   Click on the big orange button "Get your ISBN TODAY". You will be taken to another page with a little more information about the ISBN numbers. Feel free to do your research as you like or go to the exact ISBN buying page.
   • From here, you can buy as many ISBNs as you think you will need.
     
     
   • Important: you will need to divide the ISBN code for each edition of the book you want to publish. That includes hardcover, plain, ePubs, PDFs, apps, and reprints.

4. 

   
   
   Fill in the form. You can purchase an ISBN before you need it, and when it's time to publish, log in to the publisher's website and fill in the required information.
   • Remember that this information belongs to the US agency. Prices and procedures will depend on your region. If you don't live in the United States, the first step is to determine where you need to go.
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Advice

• Each publisher has their own number of ISBNs. These numbers cannot be shared or sold.

Warning

• Be wary of anyone offering to sell you an ISBN number, unless they are an authorized agent of the ISBN agency. Using this number means you will not be listed correctly as the publisher in the business data. The US ISBN Agency does now allow self-publishers to generate individual codes from their portal. In addition, official vendors (www.isbn-us.com and www.lulu.com) may provide separate ISBN numbers.