ISBN Numbers

What is an ISBN?

The International Standard Book Number is a 13-digit code used by publishers and retailers as a worldwide standard for classifying and identifying books. Each individual version of a book receives its own unique ISBN code–for example, a hardcover and paperback edition of the same book will be assigned separate codes. If the book is updated as a new edition, it will also receive a new code.

The ISBN can be found at the start of every book where the publishing and copyright information is. The numbers in the ISBN provide information about the book’s language, the publisher and the title, and are used by booksellers everywhere to find and order specific titles. The ISBN also appears in the form of a bar code on your book’s backcover, which allows for easy scanning.

Every book published with us will receive a free ISBN code. We do this because the ISBN is a necessity in order to effectively market and sell your book to as many markets as possible.

How Much Does It Cost?

ISBN numbers are typically sold by the ISBN Agency in blocks of 10 numbers, each block costing $24.95 and a $225 service fee. This works out to about $25 each, but for the average author, it’s a lot to pay if only one or two codes are needed.

Alternatively, some self publishing companies will sell you one ISBN number and bar code for a mark up, for example, $34.95 at Lulu. At Powerful Films and Books though, we provide the ISBN free of charge for all our authors.

Do I Need an ISBN for my eBook?

We recommend that you get an ISBN code assigned to your book (we’ll do it for you free!) because while online distribution doesn’t strictly require an ISBN, certain retailers like Apple iBookstore have made the ISBN mandatory for all books sold through them.  In any case, leave it to us to navigate all the different retailer requirements for you!