Paid ISBN vs Free ASIN from Amazon - How to Buy ISBNs

About this video

Dale explains ISBNs — the International Standard Book Number identifying a specific edition by metadata, format and trim size — and when to take a platform’s free ISBN versus buying your own. The catch with free ISBNs is imprint: the platform owns it, so the publisher line reads ‘Independently Published,’ whereas a purchased ISBN lets your own company be the publisher. In the US, he explains, Bowker holds the monopoly, charging, as he reports, $125 for a single ISBN down to about $1.50 each in a bulk of 1,000; he warns that discounted third-party US sellers may still keep the imprint themselves, making them no better than free, so check reputation and fine print. Canadians, he notes, get ISBNs free from their national agency but must submit a copy of the book. His recommendations: hobbyists, beginners and high-volume low-content publishers should use free ISBNs and not spend money before a first book exists; serious publishers building an imprint should buy in bulk. A free-ISBN book can later be delisted and relaunched under your own ISBN — warn KDP first if nothing else changes — and Lulu unusually lets you set your own imprint even on a free ISBN.

Key takeaways

• An ISBN identifies one specific edition/format; each format needs its own
• Free ISBN = platform owns the imprint; purchased ISBN = you are the publisher
• In the US buy from Bowker; discount resellers may secretly keep the imprint
• Hobbyists and low-content publishers: free ISBNs are sufficient
• You can relaunch later under your own ISBN as a new edition

Episode details: published March 7, 2019 · 8:47 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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