How Much Does an ISBN Cost, and Do You Need Your Own?

An ISBN from Bowker, the US agency, costs $125 for one and $295 for ten. KDP and IngramSpark give you one for free, but a free ISBN ties the book to the company that gave it. Whether you need your own depends on where you sell the book and what shows up as the publisher.

What does each way of getting an ISBN cost?

Each format has its own ISBN. An ebook, a paperback and a hardcover need three. That is why the ten-pack looks better than it is: most authors use two or three.

Do I need my own ISBN?

It depends on where the book will be sold.

If it is an ebook sold only on Amazon, you do not need one. KDP gives the ebook an ASIN, and an ISBN adds nothing.

If it is a paperback sold only on Amazon, the free KDP ISBN does the job. The cost is that the publisher shows as “Independently published”, and you cannot use that number anywhere else.

If you want the paperback in bookstores and libraries, you need an ISBN that is not tied to Amazon. Bookstores order through IngramSpark (see IngramSpark vs Amazon KDP), and a book with a KDP ISBN cannot be used there. A free IngramSpark ISBN solves that one problem but works only on IngramSpark. Then you hold two numbers for one book, and they cannot be the same.

An ISBN of your own, from Bowker or your national agency, works on both. That is the cleanest answer if you plan to publish many books under your own name.

What is an imprint service, and when does it fit?

An imprint service publishes your book under its own imprint. I do this under Urgesta AS. I register one ISBN per format with Bowker, send you the ISBN and the barcode, and you publish from your own KDP or IngramSpark account. You keep all rights and royalties.

There are limits, and you should know them before you order:

• The publisher name on Amazon and in bookstore databases is Urgesta AS. In KDP the publisher field is typed exactly “Urgesta AS”.
• The ISBN stays with Urgesta AS. If you later start your own imprint, that book needs a new ISBN and counts as a new edition.
• An honorific such as “Dr.” cannot appear in the author name on the Bowker record.

It fits when you want one ISBN that works on KDP and IngramSpark, you do not care whose name is in the publisher field, and $125 per format is more than the book will earn back. It does not fit if you want your own imprint on the book from day one. In that case get one from Bowker or your national agency.

What about the barcode and the Bowker record?

The barcode comes from the ISBN, and both KDP and IngramSpark can make one for you. If you use your own ISBN, put the barcode on the back cover, lower right. Bowker can take a few days to update the global index that Amazon reads, so register the ISBN before you set a launch date. I cover the field-by-field steps in where to get an ISBN number and, for imprint ISBNs, in my ISBN upload guide.

Which one should you pick?

• Ebook on Amazon only: no ISBN.
• Paperback on Amazon only, and you do not mind “Independently published”: the free KDP ISBN.
• Paperback in bookstores, publishing many books under your name: Bowker, or your national agency if it is free.
• Paperback on KDP and IngramSpark, one or two books, and you are fine with Urgesta AS as publisher: an imprint service.

Want to publish under my imprint, Urgesta AS? You can start on my publishing services page. It has a 7-day money-back guarantee, and I deliver within 2 business days of getting complete book details.