How do i get an ISBN number?

Question

I'm publishing with Lulu and they don't give out ISBN numbers, so, I was wondering, how do I get one?

Answer 1

If your work is being handled by a publisher, they will provide one. If not, you need to get one yourself from the UK ISBN Agency. You can find contact details and an extensive FAQ at www.nbdrs.com/isbn_agency.htm

Answer 2

Lulu is a print-on-demand service, it is not a publisher (just clarifying the question another member asked). Lulu DOES have an ISBN service. It costs $159 and Lulu has an arrangement with Bowker's to get an ISBN assigned in your name for your book.

Of course, the bigger question is, Do you need one? Unless you have a serious marketing plan in place and have the resources to promote the book, it's not like it will get listed in any bookstores or be reviewed by the NYT. If you are only going to sell the book directly yourself, you might not even need one. I've seen a lot of folks lay down serious money for ISBNs, but then expect everyone to miraculously find their book on Amazon and buy it. If you don't advertise, you won't sell any books whether you have an ISBN or not.

Answer 3

ISBN numbers are assigned by a group of agencies worldwide coordinated by the International ISBN Agency in Berlin, Germany. In the United States, ISBNs are assigned by the U.S. ISBN Agency: R.R. Bowker is the independent agent in the US for this system. It's easy to remember their website: ISBN.org.

You can apply for an ISBN on their Web site - it takes about two weeks for one to be assigned, and there's a publisher registration fee of $24.95 plus a service fee that starts at $225.00 for 10 ISBNs, no rush service (if you need something immediately, there's a $125 express processing surcharge). There's also a $25 annual fee for each publisher, so whether you have one ISBN or a thousand, you'll have to pay that additional amount too.

All told, for a new publisher to get an ISBN (or ten) will cost $250, or $25/ISBN. Since you can get 10 ISBNs for the same price as one, it's worth applying for books on your horizon too, rather than just the one you're about to publish.

Here's the critical link: Apply for an ISBN.

Note that there's a print application too, if you'd prefer not filling it out electronically and paying by credit card.

I hope this gets you started with your ISBN application. Once you've done that, don't forget to also register your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office too!

Answer 4

Who the heck is Lulu? My faher was in the book business for 47 years....all books are supposed to be issued an ISBN # upon publication. I know a LOT of publishers (grew up in a book store) and I have NEVER heard of Lulu....are you sure they're legit?

Answer 5

Not issuing ISBN numbers is one good reason NOT to publish with Lulu. Among many others. From what I read on ISBN's site, you cannot get one yourself. Basically that's what this says. The prefix of an ISBN is the # assigned to a particular publisher, and since Lulu doesnt have one obviously, you cannot get a number. They are pretty clear here about who can get numbers. Pax - C.




Who can assign ISBNs to a publisher?
There are over 160 ISBN Agencies worldwide, and each ISBN Agency is appointed as the exclusive agent responsible for assigning ISBNs to publishers residing in their country or geographic territory. The United States ISBN Agency is the only source authorized to assign ISBNs to publishers supplying an address in the United States, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico and its database establishes the publisher of record associated with each prefix.

Once an ISBN publisher prefix and associated block of numbers has been assigned to a publisher by the ISBN Agency, the publisher can assign ISBNs to publications it holds publishing rights to. However, after the ISBN Agency assigns ISBNs to a publisher, that publisher cannot resell, re-assign, transfer, or split its list of ISBNs among other publishers. These guidelines have long been established to ensure the veracity, accuracy and continued utility of the international ISBN standard.

As defined by the ISO Standard, the ISBN publisher prefix (or "root" of the ISBN) identifies a single publisher. If a second publisher subsequently obtains an ISBN from the assigned publisher's block of ISBNs, there will be no change in the publisher of record for any ISBN in the block as originally assigned. Therefore, searches of industry databases for that re-assigned ISBN will identify the original owner of that assigned prefix as the publisher rather than the second publisher. Discovering this consequence too late can lead to extensive costs in applying for a new prefix, re-assigning a new ISBN, and potentially leading to the application of stickers to books already printed and in circulation.

If you are a new publisher, you should apply for your own ISBN publisher prefix and plan to identify and circulate your books properly in the industry supply chain. You may encounter offers from other sources to purchase single ISBNs at special offer prices; you should be wary of purchasing from these sources for the reasons noted above. There are unauthorized re-sellers of ISBNs and this activity is a violation of the ISBN standard and of industry practice. A publisher with one of these re-assigned ISBNs will not be correctly identified as the publisher of record in Books In Print or any of the industry databases such as Barnes and Noble or Amazon or those of wholesalers such as Ingram. If you have questions, contact the US ISBN Agency for further advice.

Who is eligible for an ISBN?
The ISBN Agency assigns ISBNs at the direct request of publishers, e-book publishers, audio cassette and video producers, software producers and museums and associations with publishing programs.

Pax - C.

Answer 6

Here is link on web search
http://www.google.com/search?q=Registering+an+ISBN+Number&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7SKPB

Good Luck

Answer 7

Easy!

http://www.nbdrs.com/isbn_agency.htm

also check out

www.excaliburonlinepublishing. com

Answer 8

There is information and application forms at http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/index.asp .

Answer 9

(by not publishing with Lulu...use albris or xlibris or any of them.)

Answer 10

i don't know, but I'll give you my phone number