 An ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is the product number of your book that usually appears on the back cover above a corresponding barcode.
ISBN references are used by publishers, booksellers and libraries for ordering, listing and stock control purposes. It enables them to identify a specific edition of a specific book from a specific publisher.
There is no legal requirement to have an ISBN and barcode and it conveys no form of legal or copyright protection. However, if you wish to sell your book through a major bookselling chain, or Internet booksellers, an ISBN will be required.
To obtain an ISBN in the UK and Republic of Ireland publishers (and authors who are also acting as publishers) must contact the UK International Standard Book Numbering (ISBN) Agency Ltd directly.
The standard service time is 10 working days although a fast-track 3 working days is also available. There is a charge to obtain an ISBN, however this is an one-off registration fee payable by all new publishers regardless of the number of ISBN references required. Unfortunately it is impossible to obtain a single ISBN reference as they are only issued in minimum blocks of 10.
Should you decide to include an ISBN reference on your new book, Proprint will generate a corresponding barcode for it at no extra cost for inclusion on your back cover.
The UK International Standard Book Numbering (ISBN) Agency Ltd:
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