Your possible illusory poisoned chalice: the free ISBN.
Help and information regarding the all important ISBN for publishing, Book 2 in the ISBN series.
Self-Publishing platforms offer free ISBN but you can bet that there are drawbacks!
You have just found out that some self-publishing sites offer free ISBN. Great, less that you have to pay for when publishing your book but is this a scam? No, it’s not a scam but there is a catch!
Amazons Free ISBN.
Amazon has a self-publishing platform called KDP (kindle direct publishing). This platform is particularly popular with authors because of many reasons. Amazon is one of the most popular places for readers to search for books online. The site is easy to use. It’s free to publish there and free to fix your mistakes. They push their own products to the top of their algorithms. The list goes on. In addition to this they offer free ISBN.
Be weary when choosing their ISBN though. Instead of ISBN they use ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) every product on amazon has this ASIN, book or not. This means that Amazon is publishing your book, like a traditional publishing house but without any help except the ISBN. Of course when Amazon can control it they won’t let their products be sold anywhere else. This means that with the Amazon ASIN (as it isn’t actually an ISBN) you cannot sell your book on any other site or any shop or any library. Nowhere but Amazon. Keep that in mind when you try the free ASIN option.
There are other free ISBN!
Yes, there are. Draft2Digital for example provides a free ISBN. An actual ISBN that you can use on other platforms as they are a wide distributer. However, you are stuck to the places where any of these free ISBN self-publishing companies distribute.
Lets say your dream is to see your book in a library. With a free ISBN you wouldn’t be able to achieve that as the self-publishing company doesn’t distribute to them.
So check which vendors you want to sell your book from and where the free ISBN from whichever company you are publishing through can sell to.
Any other warnings.
If you choose whosever free ISBN then they will count as your publisher. It is kind of like a traditional publisher but with more creative freedom. Yet it does limit your freedom with the book once published.
For example, you decide you want the book to be published from a different self-publishing company. You can’t because the book is bound to them by ISBN!
Or you want to use multiple, KDP for Amazon (they will push your sales more) and Draft2Digital for all other vendors (everyone can access your book), you can’t use a free ISBN and have both!
So where do you get that ISBN from then. Well I have a few more articles on that!
Where to buy an ISBN in the UK. Where to buy ISBN in the UK.. Help and information regarding the all… | by Fern-Leta Mowots | 1-minute-reads | Sep, 2024 | Medium
Where to get a cheaper ISBN in the UK. Where to buy cheaper ISBN in the UK. | by Fern-Leta Mowots | 1-minute-reads | Sep, 2024 | Medium
Avoid scammers when buying discounted ISBN. How to avoid scams when looking for cheaper ISBN’s in 3 simple steps. | by Fern-Leta Mowots | 1-minute-reads | Sep, 2024 | Medium
Case studies on ISBN for you to understand your books needs. How to know which ISBN option to pick through studying famous authors. | by Fern-Leta Mowots | 1-minute-reads | Sep, 2024 | Medium
What is an ISBN actually: What even is an ISBN and why do I need it to publish my book? | by Fern-Leta Mowots | 1-minute-reads | Aug, 2024 | Medium
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