In the last two posts, I discussed ISBN – Who Really Cares? and ISBN – What Does it All Mean, Anyway? Now, let’s consider how to extract some information from an unhyphenated ISBN.
Some people, mostly self-publishers who own a block of only ten ISBNs, think they can disguise the size of their block (and, they hope, the fact that they are self-publishing) by always listing the ISBN without the hyphens. Unfortunately, this won’t work for two reasons:
- It is too easy simply to look up the book and/or publisher-of-record to see who exactly is listed. Everyone in the book industry knows who the big and medium-sized players are.
- Even without doing that kind of research, you can recognize at a glance a 10-number block — if the group identified is a ’0′ and publisher prefix starts with 95 through 99, it’s a 10-block; if 90-94, it’s a 100-block (if the group identifier is ’1,’ a 10-block has a publisher prefix starting with 9990-9999).
If you want to determine specifically where to insert hyphens in an unhyphenated ISBN, there’s an easy decoding method.
First, always insert a hyphen after the initial ’978′ or ’979′ — it you’re looking at a 10-digit ISBN format you can skip this first step. Second, insert a second hyphen after the fourth digit (which will be either a ’0′ or a ’1′ for books in the English group). Third, insert a hyphen before the final (check) digit since it is always a single digit. (See ISBN – What Does it All Mean, Anyway?)
Since the publisher prefix can be from two to seven digits, how can we determine where to place the remaining hyphen? You have to look at the digits immediately following the Group identifier. Here’s the official key:
Group Number Hyphen ID "0" Between After ------------------------------------------ 00-19 00-19 6th digit 200-699 20-69 7th " 7000-8499 70-84 8th " 85000-89999 85-89 9th " 900000-949999 90-94 10th " 9500000-9999999 95-99 11th " Group Number Hyphen ID "1" Between After ---------------------------------------- 00-09 00-09 6th digit 100-399 10-39 7th " 4000-5499 40-54 8th " 55000-86979 5500-8697 9th " 869800-998999 8698-9989 10th " 9990000-9999999 9990-9999 11th "
So, let’s consider a couple of examples.
Real World Example 1
ISBN 9780375721151
First, let’s insert the three hyphens that always go in the same places: 978-0-37575115-1
Then, refer to the appropriate chart above (in this case, the one for Group Identifier ’0′). Since the very next digits fall in the range 20-69, we place a hyphen after the seventh digit: 978-0-375-75115-1
So, from how big a block does this particular ISBN come? Since there are five digits between the publisher prefix (375) and the final check digit (1), this is a block of 100,000 ISBNs (00000-99999). Must be a big publisher, right? Yup. The 375 prefix happens to belong to Random House, and this specific ISBN is assigned to the book Spunk & Bite by Arthur Plotnik (it was the closest large-publisher book on my reference shelf…and an excellent book, by the way).
Real World Example 2
ISBN 9781934631157
First, let’s insert the three hyphens that always go in the same places: 978-1-93463115-7
Then, refer to the appropriate chart above (in this case, the one for Group Identifier ’1′). Since the very next digits fall in the range 8698-9989, we place a hyphen after the tenth digit: 978-0-934631-15-7
So, from how big a block does this particular ISBN come? Since there are two digits between the publisher prefix (934631) and the final check digit (1), this is a block of 100 ISBNs (00-99). The 934631 prefix happens to belong to our own Slipdown Mountain Publications LLC, and this specific ISBN is assigned to the book Rough War by Walt Shiel (scheduled for publication in November 2008…and sure to be an excellent book, of course). Our company actually owns two different blocks of ISBNs — this 100-number block plus an earlier 10-number block.
Now, you can see why merely deleting the hyphens will not disguise the size of the ISBN block. So why bother trying to be deceptive? Might as well list them with the hyphens and make them easier to read. At Slipdown Mountain, we believe our small size is an asset, not a liability, so we never try to hide it by any method (including using phony names on press releases…a topic for a subsequent post).
Now Try This One
ISBN 0974655317See if you can apply the rules above to insert the hyphens properly in this 10-digit ISBN. Can you determine the title, author, publisher, and publication date using only freely available online resources?
Feel free to post your answers as a comment!
Mr. Shiel -
Thanks for this very informative series of articles about ISBNs and related matters.
Regarding CreateSpace (CS) ISBNs, you previously warned writers to beware of the fact that the ISBNs provided free of charge by CS are registered in CS’s name, not the author’s or imprint’s name, and that this is to be avoided. One reason you mention is the fact that if the book goes into subsequent printings, the author whose ISBN was provided by CS must either go back to CS for subsequent print runs or pretty much start all over with a new printer/publisher.
After thinking this over, I’m still not sure why it’s a problem in the specific case of a truly Print-On-Demand (POD) service like CS. Since my books are printed one at a time, and only after they’ve been ordered and paid for, the concept of ‘print runs’ doesn’t really apply. My books will never go into second or third printings because they’ll just continue to be printed one at a time to fulfill orders as needed. If I’d like to publish revised editions, it seems I’d have to obtain new ISBNs and EANs for those new editions anyway.
In a truly POD situation like mine, it still seems to me there’s no risk or downside whatsoever to the author in accepting CS’s free-of-charge ISBNs and EANs. Is there something I’m not getting, or misinterpreting? I truly do appreciate your expertise in the matter.
April,
You have misunderstood me on this point. In my post ISBN – Who Really Cares? I said: “Two years later, you decide you prefer to print your book with another printer or even a different subsidy publisher. Your book MUST be assigned a new ISBN, since the original one was owned by the original publisher (CreateSpace or BookSurge). And that original ISBN can never be reassigned to a different book, even if the publisher declares their edition of your book as out-of-print.”
What I was talking about was not a later print run but, rather, printing your book with a different printer (in this case, a printer other than CreateSpace). If the book was originally printed by CS with a CS ISBN, you won’t be able to reuse that ISBN even if there are NO changes in the book.
If you own the ISBN (i.e., bought your own block of ISBNs), you can print a specific title with as many different printers you want using the same ISBN. Even print some offset and some digital, if you wish.
There is one final point that should not be overlooked — if you want the book industry to take you seriously as a publisher, you must own your own block of ISBNs. Anything else tells the industry that you are cutting corners in a key area of publishing (including true self-publishing) and must not be funded well enough to take a risk on.
Harsh? Maybe. Nonetheless, true.
Mr. Shiel -
Thanks for your prompt and detailed response.
You said, “…if you want the book industry to take you seriously as a publisher, you must own your own block of ISBNs.” The thing is, I couldn’t care less what the book industry thinks of me or my books. I’m only interested in what readers and individual book-buying consumers think of my books. I don’t run an imprint, and I’m not one of those self-published authors who self-publishes to get the attention of mainstream publishers, hoping to someday see my work in print from a major house. Rather, I’m one of those who believes that in today’s world, where decades of consolidations have resulted in just a handful of major publishers that are now run like big movie studios (only interested in blockbusters and perceived ‘sure things’), self-publishing is evolving into an “indie authorship” movement to match the indie movements in film and music.
Just as in the film and music industries, the big boys will always dominate the industry with their mainstream fare, but there’s no reason authors shouldn’t have an indie movement of their own when so much quality work is being rejected by publishers based more on concerns about likely sales figures than on the quality of the work. Surely you know that big publishers aren’t interested in producing any book they think will sell 25K copies or less, regardless of how good the book is, because with their economies of scale sales on that order aren’t worth their effort. However, that doesn’t mean such a book wouldn’t be greatly enjoyed by up to 25K readers, nor that sales of that magnitude wouldn’t be worthwhile to an individual author.
So long as big, mainstream publishers keep offering 6- and 7- figure advances and huge marketing budgets to celebrities like Paris Hilton while slashing promotion and advances for their less-famous clients, and entirely rejecting manuscripts like ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’—until they’ve already been hugely successful in self-published editions, that is—, I think the need for an indie author movement is clear. I’m trying to support and grow that movement through my website, blog and recently-published reference book on self-publishing.
Sorry for the rant…as you can tell, I’m very passionate about this subject! =’D I don’t mean to imply that you necessarily agree with the new mainstream publishing paradigm, nor have any objection to the notion of an indie author movement, and I appreciate the opportunity you provide here for discussion of such matters.
Dear Walt and April,
Wow is this useful. I have sought out both of your advice on publishing and this point is the one I needed to better understand before I go with CreateSpace for POD. Specifically, I just bought my own ISBNs and intend to use them for my book. That seems to be no issue. The big question I now have is – If I self-publish (POD) via CreateSpace, and I use my own ISBN, and then one of the big publishers decides I am the next Michael Creighton or Spencer Johnson (considering my content), what happens when they want to print my book? Can I use my existing ISBN? Does it matter that I even own one in that any big publisher will want use their own right?
So I guess if I understand Walt’s point above, having my own ISBN is a big advantage if I want to have the book printed somewhere else myself. As long as I am ok with CS as a printer and want the option to print them somewhere else, then owning my own ISBN makes the most sense. If my book is picked up by “The Man” then they will likely use their own ISBNs (Is that true?)
Do either of you know what happens when a POD book is picked up by a major house? April I thought you said that even POD publishing may kill that option. Walt/April- any thoughts?
Thank you both for being so helpful and passionate about this byzantine process.
Chris,
First, you apparently realize that the odds are astronomically against any one self-published book getting picked up by the big publishers. You have to prove that you can sell a lot of books (thousands) but that there is a wider national audience that can still be tapped for more sales.
Second, if any other traditional publisher picks up your book they will absolutely use their own ISBN. In fact, they will re-edit and redesign it, too.
Finally, be careful about using the term POD. It can mean very different things to different people these days. As a result, I use the terms “digital printing” (when you use a printer like CS or LSI or some other PRINTER with your own ISBN) and “publishing mills” (for all those oxymoronic “self-publishing companies” and “POD publishers”). “Publishing mill” should be interpreted the same way the pejorative “puppy mill” has been applied to some dog breeders — it is nothing more nor less than a modern incarnation of the old subsidy or vanity publishing model.
Do you have Any info on your sources ?
I used many sources, including the documentation from the International ISBN organization. Publishing is what I do for a living these days, so I keep up with the industry and its standards through a variety of sources.
Sorry, but I don’t really have time to backtrack them all, so you’ll have to do your own background research if that’s what you’re looking for..
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Q. I purchased a block of 10 numbers about 10 years ago and never used them. Now I want to use them, but I only have the first-number of my block 0971513708. How can I find out what the other 9 numbers of my block are? Thank you
No sweat. Here they are:
ISBN-10
0-9715137-0-8
0-9715137-1-6
0-9715137-2-4
0-9715137-3-2
0-9715137-4-0
0-9715137-5-9
0-9715137-6-7
0-9715137-7-5
0-9715137-8-3
0-9715137-9-1
ISBN-13
978-0-9715137-0-9
978-0-9715137-1-6
978-0-9715137-2-3
978-0-9715137-3-0
978-0-9715137-4-7
978-0-9715137-5-4
978-0-9715137-6-1
978-0-9715137-7-8
978-0-9715137-8-5
978-0-9715137-9-2
I can do that because the numbers within any block follow and pattern and the final digit (a check digit) is generated by applying a simple formula.
Merry Christmas!
I am totally clueless about ISBN’s other than to know they’rerequired on books. Are ISBN’s only differentiated by publisher not country ?
If I expect to sell on a POD basis, what must I watch out for if I go with Create Space ? Other than not being able to have my printing done by another printer for my current book, what’s the problem if any ? I see that being taken over by a large publishing house essentially isn’t a problem.
What difference does it make whatever ISBN number you have ? Please spell it out to the blonde. Despite being clueless I am very eager to learn the ins and outs of the publishing industry.
Just click on the “ISBNs” link at the top of the page and take the time to read the list of blog posts I have made that cover everything you need to know (and then some) about ISBNs.