Home

Search form

  • Home
  • Getting Started
  • Inside Publishing
    • Editing
    • Design & Production
    • Marketing & Publicity
    • Rights
    • Distribution
  • FAQs

FAQs

Publishing is a business in flux. Everyone has questions, even long-timers. We've aggregated the questions we hear most frequently at Bowker, but please let us know if there are others we should address.

Getting Started

Do I Need An ISBN To Publish My Book?

If you wish to sell your book, most vendors require an ISBN.

Can I use the same ISBN for a print book and an ebook?

The book supply chain relies on the ISBN standard, which specifies that an ISBN uniquely identifies a product. Because an ebook and a print book are two different products, they need two different ISBNs.

Editorial

I need an editor. Where do I find one?

There is a service called Bibliocrunch that allows you to post a writing project, and then take submissions from publishing professionals interested in working on it with you. This includes editors. There are also two other great online sources to find an editor - the Editorial Freelancer's Association and Writers and Editors.

Production & Design

Where do I put my bar code on my printed book?

The Book Industry Study Group has a great resource about bar coding books in the US. Bar code positioning is covered here. Additionally, Bowker includes an FAQ about bar codes on its My Identifiers website.

I bought a bar code from Bowker. Now I have this image downloaded onto my computer. What do I do with it?

The image gets placed on the back cover of your book. As you're putting images on the cover (illustrations, typography), you can add the bar code as one of those images, and it will be saved onto the cover when you save your file.

What do I do if I've already printed the book, and there's no bar code? Do I need to reprint my book?

You will need to generate labels to stick on the printed books; you will not have to reprint the book. BISG has a list of bar code suppliers here.

What's the difference between an EPUB file and a Kindle or mobi file?

EPUB is a file format (like Word or Excel) for ebooks. It is an industry standard, maintained by the International Digital Publishing Forum - meaning many ebook vendors (such as Barnes & Noble or Kobo) sell EPUB files. Amazon is not one of those vendors. Amazon's format is a proprietary one, which it acquired from a company called Mobipocket, so it is sometimes abbreviated as "mobi". Amazon has upgraded that format - for books that are heavily illustrated or use a lot of charts, for example - to something called Kindle Format 8. Amazon will accept EPUB files and convert them to mobi or KF8, but the quality of those conversions may have issues if they are heavily formatted with a lot of pictures.

Marketing

How Can I Get Readers To Find My Book?

The competition for shelf space in physical bookstores is shrinking. Online discovery is how most books are getting found. Using keywords, BISAC codes, and remembering that good marketing is a great conversation are all good ways to drive discovery. You can also heighten awareness by creating a "View Inside" widget, or using a QR code. Most importantly, maintaining your metadata will ensure that potential readers see an accurate and robust listing for your book on websites.

What's the difference between a book app and an ebook?

It's a matter of where the book is sold. A book app is available in the various app stores - Apple's iTunes, the Android app store, Google Play. It's a standalone ebook. A good example of a book app is The Elements (beware - sound plays automatically). An ebook is one of many books offered in an ebook environment such as Kindle, nook, or Apple's iBookstore, where readers are already shopping. Apple tends to reject apps that are better suited as ebooks, preferring to sell primarily text in the iBookstore, and favor those apps with a lot of interactivity.

Distribution

Do I need a distributor?

It depends on how you want to sell. If it's sufficient for you to put your book up on Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble and Kobo, then no, you don't need a distributor. If you'd like to get your book into bricks-and-mortar bookstores, libraries, specialty stores, and other locations, it makes sense to partner with a distributor, who has a lot of reach into venues you might not be able to pitch to. We include a list of ebook distributors here.

FAQ with the ISBN team

by ISBN Agency
Bowker | Tue May 8, 2018

What is a ‘publisher imprint’, and why does Amazon/CreateSpace ask me for one?

An imprint of a publisher is a trade name under which it publishes a work. A single publishing company may have multiple imprints, often using the different names as brands to market works to various demographic consumer segments (for example, to differentiate between your cookbooks and general fiction novels).

When Amazon/CreateSpace asks for your ‘publisher imprint,’ it is the name you have registered with us at myidentifiers.com (and appears as your publishing company name on Books in Print). This name is displayed to the public wherever you sell your book and in distribution channels. It is also listed on your book’s copyright page, and assigned to your ISBN.

Inside Publishing
FAQs
  • Read more about FAQ with the ISBN team
  • Obtain ISBNs (click here!)
  • Convert your file to ebook (click here!)
  • Acquire a bar code (click here!)
  • Increase discovery (click here!)
  • Purchase a QR code (click here!)
  • Register your copyright (click here!)
  • Find out who you write like (click here!)
  • Promote your book online (click here!)

Getting Started

Create a Culture of Quality in Your Publishing Company

Thu, November 13

How to Write a Business Plan as Narrative (Part 2 of 2)

Wed, September 10

A Novel Planning Technique for Book Publishers (Part 1 of 2)

Fri, September 05

Do You Have the Write Stuff?

Wed, September 03

Today's Great American Novel (Part 2 of 2)

Wed, August 20

© 2021 R.R. Bowker LLC. All rights reserved.
Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use |