Who can apply for ISBN?

The growing demand for the online bookselling market makes ISBN an essential solution for publishers, booksellers, and librarians to order, list or stock controlling books. Moreover, it enables them to find a particular publisher. In this article, we will discuss Who can apply for ISBN.

What is an ISBN?

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number is a 13 digit number consisting of 5 elements separated by spaces and hyphens.

Prior 2007 ISBN is of 10 digit number by prefixing it with a zero digit '0'). Moreover, post-2007 An ISBN must be 13 by adding a three-digit specified prefix element (978).

Benefits of ISBN

• ISBN works as a unique international identifier or monographic publication.

• Assigning ISBN will keep you away from handling long bibliographic records, moreover, it is a time-saving tool, hence reducing staff cost.

• The use of ISBN will help a publisher, facilitate the compilation and updating of book-trade directories moreover, bibliographic databases.

• An ISBN helps in listing the publisher's work in the fast process of ordering books. On the other hand, it helps to manage the sales system of your shop.

What does ISBN use for?

An ISBN is a 13 digit unique code that is printed either front or at the back of a book. It allows a user to identify any author/publisher/edition or title of a book with that particular 13 digit number.

What is not included under ISBN?

• ISBN does not provide any legal protection.

• It does not provide any protection for copyright.

• ISBN helps in searching a specific author in a specific format from a vast section of books especially in libraries, but it does not support a kind of distribution of the books.

What does ISBN symbolise?

• ISBN is the best solution that helps to assist in internal processing or ordering while bookselling.

• In libraries, it helps to provide complete bibliographic databases (used by the book industry) to users or students information about a specific book, whether in terms of edition.

• A publisher/author of the book who decides to publish the book by himself can apply for ISBN if he decides to publish.

Why ISBN is mandatory for Publisher/Author?

Earlier, publishers and authors don't want to obtain ISBN for their books. But after the spread of the online bookselling market, ISBN is mandatory as it provides a book with an international identity which helps in selling it to the bookstores, libraries and channelizes its supply worldwide.

When do you need a new ISBN?

• When a publisher or author releases their new edition, revised edition, changing of format, publishing new novels then-new ISBN is mandatory.

• For paperbacks, hardback, audiobook, electronic, publication different ISBN Number is required.

Is it mandatory to obtain ISBN in India?

As we have discussed earlier, ISBN was not much in demand but with time it is mandatory for the books to make your books available in every notch of the market. As a result, users can easily identify the particular author or edition to buy either online or offline for the sale of your books.

Who can apply for ISBN?

If a publisher publishes a magazine or any online publication, then this ISBN is subjected to identify the publisher of their given work. The same can be used for cataloguing books throughout the publishing industry.

ISBN is also mandatory for authors, to help their customers to identify or order the exact book that they want to purchase with this ISBN.

The universities/ institutions can apply for ISBN to allow the students to identify a specific book title/author/edition from the vast stock of books.

Know more about Who can apply for ISBN?, ISBN Registration

The author is an associate editor for Gst Registration, ISO Certificaton in India.