ISBNs, Imprints and Metadata: A Plain-Language Guide for Authors

ISBNs, imprints and metadata are the least glamorous parts of publishing, and they are easy to get wrong in ways that are tedious to fix later. They are also what allows bookstores, libraries and online retailers to identify your book and show it to the right readers. Here is a plain-language guide to what they are and the decisions you need to make.

A note before we start: rules, prices and procedures differ from country to country and change over time. Treat what follows as general background, and always check the current guidance from the ISBN agency in your country and from the platforms you plan to use.

What an ISBN is

An International Standard Book Number is a 13-digit identifier for a specific edition and format of a book. It does not protect your copyright, and it is not a license to publish. It is a product code that the book trade uses to order, track and catalog your book.

Because it identifies a format, each version of your book generally needs its own ISBN: one for the paperback, one for the hardcover, one for the eBook, and one for an audiobook if it goes through channels that use them. A new edition with significant changes usually needs a new ISBN too. Minor corrections, such as fixing typos, usually do not.

Where ISBNs come from

ISBNs are issued by national agencies, and you normally get yours from the agency for the country where you, as the publisher, are based. Arrangements vary widely:

• United States: ISBNs are issued by Bowker, which sells them singly or in blocks. If you plan several books or formats, a block often works out cheaper per number.
• United Kingdom and Ireland: ISBNs are issued by Nielsen, also on a paid basis.
• Canada: ISBNs are available free of charge to Canadian publishers, including self-publishing authors, through Library and Archives Canada.
• Elsewhere: many countries issue ISBNs free or at low cost through a national library or government body, while others charge. Your national library is often a good place to start looking.

Be cautious about unofficial resellers. In some countries, an ISBN bought secondhand may list someone else as the publisher of record, which can cause problems later.

Free platform ISBNs

Some self-publishing platforms offer a free ISBN for books published through them. That can be convenient, but read the terms carefully. A platform-assigned ISBN may list the platform, rather than you, as the publisher, and it may only be usable on that platform. If you later publish the same edition elsewhere, you may need a different ISBN, and the book may appear as a separate product. Authors who plan to publish widely, or to build a publishing name over several books, often prefer to hold their own ISBNs.

Our ISBN guidance service walks you through these choices for your country and formats. We guide the process; the ISBNs themselves come from the relevant national agency.

Imprints: your publishing name

An imprint is the name a book is published under. When you obtain your own ISBNs, you are registered as the publisher, and you can choose the name that appears in the publisher field: your own name, or a publishing name you create.

An imprint is optional, but some authors like one because it looks consistent across a series and keeps the business side separate from their personal name. A few practical points:

• Check that the name is not already used by another publisher, and search the trademark records in your country.
• Use exactly the same imprint name everywhere: ISBN registration, retailer listings, the copyright page and the spine logo if you have one.
• Depending on where you live, trading under a business name may have registration or tax implications. A local adviser can tell you what applies.

Metadata: how your book gets found

Metadata is the information that describes your book to retailers, libraries and search engines. Some of it is fixed bibliographic detail, and some of it is marketing. Both matter.

Core bibliographic metadata

• Title and subtitle, exactly as they appear on the cover.
• Author name, spelled the same way on every book.
• Series name and number, if any.
• ISBN and format.
• Publisher or imprint name.
• Publication date, page count, trim size and price.
• Language and, where relevant, edition.

Discovery metadata

• Subject categories: the book trade uses subject codes, such as BISAC in North America and Thema internationally, to place your book in the right section. Choose specific categories over broad ones where you can.
• Keywords: words and phrases readers might type when looking for a book like yours. Think about themes, settings, tropes and reader needs, not only words already in your title.
• Book description: the copy on your product page. It needs to hook the reader in the first couple of lines, since many retailers show only the opening before a "read more" link.
• Contributors: your author bio, plus illustrators or translators where appropriate.

Consistency is most of the job

Most metadata problems come from inconsistency rather than outright error: an author name with a middle initial on one platform and without it on another, a subtitle that differs between the cover and the listing, a series number missing from one edition. These small differences can stop editions from linking, split your books across two author pages, or leave a reader unable to find the next book in a series.

A simple safeguard is to keep a single metadata sheet for each book, recording every field for every format, and copy from it whenever you set up or update a listing. It is also useful when working with a distributor. If you are releasing in several formats or through several channels, our book distribution and self-publishing services include setting up consistent metadata on the platforms you choose, in accounts that you own.