This
week Frank writes:
Hello,
My book is about four to six months from completion, press of business, etc.
One question: If I buy 10 ISBN's from these folks,
can I resell, rent, give, or bestow the other nine?
Frank
Hi
Frank,
Each ISBN is linked to a particular publisher. (The prefix is unique to your set of numbers).
According to the ISBN agency's guidelines only the person who owns the rights can assign an ISBN to a
work. Therefore, if you give your ISBNs away, you are asserting that you are the publisher of those
works. All inquiries (and probably orders) will come to you. Now, although it's not really
allowed, you might be able to come to an agreement with an author who needs a single ISBN, but it's
not strictly within the rules.
You may find that you have more use for 10 numbers than you think at first glance. If you plan to
have an electronic edition of your book, it needs an ISBN. If you want to release electronic
editions in Adobe Acrobat format and Microsoft Reader format and the Palm format, each needs a
unique ISBN. If you release a second, or corrected edition of the paperback, it needs an ISBN. Audio
books, hardbacks, monographs (excerpted chapters published as a booklet for regular distribution),
all need their own ISBNs. Even if you don't plan to do those things now, you never know what will
come up in the future.
Hope this helps,
Best wishes,
Julie
***
I’d love to hear
your comments on this article: was it helpful? Have a question about getting started with
self-publishing? Is there anything I missed that you would
like to know about? Send your comments to
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