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The Publishing Game - How to Play Better and Sell More Books

This Month: Sixty Day Deadline to New ISBNs

by Fern Reiss, CEO, PublishingGame.com

If you independently publish books, you have exactly sixty days to transition to new ISBN numbers. (If you don’t self-publish, you can stop reading now; come back next month :*) Here’s what you need to know about the new ISBNs:

ISBNs are getting longer
Because of worldwide standardization issues, Bowker is in the process of changing all ISBNs from a ten-digit number to a 13-digit number. The official changeover date is January 1, and after that date, all books should have the new 13-digit ISBN. Don’t delay making the transition—if you do, you’re sure to lose sales.

You don’t need Bowker for existing books
If you already have a ten-digit ISBN for your book(s), you can automatically transition over to the new 13-digit ISBN, without involving Bowker. Information on how to do this is detailed on Day Number 8 of my book, The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days, or you can use the free converter on the home page of the http://www.PublishingGame.com website. (Likewise, if you still have a stockpile of ten-digit ISBNs, you can continue to use them until they’re exhausted; just remember to convert them to the new 13-digit format.)

While you’re at it, grab an extra digit
Although the official requirement will be for 13 digit ISBNs, I recommend transitioning over to 14 digits when you reprint your books. Most of the book industry has decided to adopt (yet) another number, called the Global Trade Identification Number, or GTIN, which consists of 14 digits: The new 13-digit ISBN, plus a leading digit that indicates the packaging of the book. (A leading digit of zero indicates a single copy of the book; other leading digits mean carton quantity, skid quantity, etc.) GTIN is likely to become the standard for electronic book ordering, so as long as you’re making this transition, do it correctly and go to 14 digits right away. For most publishers, this just means adding an initial zero before the new ISBN.

Keeping track of new books
While publishers can convert their ten-digit ISBNs to 13 digits simply by adding the prefix 978 and changing the ‘check’ (last) digit of the ISBN as detailed above, sometime in 2007 Bowker is expected to run out of 10-digit numbers (they’re not sure exactly when.) So the new 13-digit ISBNs will start with the new 979 prefix, and there will be no ten-digit equivalent. This is mostly important to the extent that it will tell you which publishers are new on the scene---those with the new 979 prefixes.

Maintain a dual system
Although the official change-over date is January 1, the entire industry won’t be converting over on that date; for some bookstore and library systems, it may take many, many more months. So be sure you’re including both the ten and 13-digit ISBNs on everything—from your marketing materials to the books themselves. It will probably be a while until everyone is totally converted over, and you don’t want to lose sales because you’re too quick (or too slow) to change over.

Good luck with the transition—and let me know how it goes..

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Fern Reiss of PublishingGame.com/Expertizing.com, is the author of The Publishing Game book series. She consults with authors on how to find a literary agent, how to self-publish, and how to successfully promote a book. Sign up at www.PublishingGame.com/signup.htm for her complimentary monthly email newsletter on how to get more media attention for your book and business.

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Links to previous Publishing Game articles:

Create a National Association

Use an Email Newsletter to Promote Your Book

Five More Things Your Literary Agent Won’t Tell You

When Your Topic is Timely

When NOT to Publish a Book.

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