ISBN, ASIN, BISAC: aka alphabet soup of book publishing.
Hello Dear Readers!
Today I want to talk about a bunch of random acronyms that probably don’t mean anything to you but are super important if you want to publish a book.
Let’s start with the ISBN. Out of all of these, I would guess this is the one you are most likely be familiar with. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. This is the number that is usually found on the barcode on the back of a book, and is a sure-fire way to find the exact book you are looking for. Here is how the American Library Association describes ISBNs:
The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a 13-digit number that uniquely identifies books and book-like products published internationally. The ISBN is intended for a monographic publication: text that stands on its own as a product, whether printed, audio or electronic. ISBNs are never assigned to music, performances or images, such as art prints or photographs. ISBNs are not assigned to magazines, academic journals or other periodicals. However, if a single issue of a periodical is being sold as a book, then that issue alone may be assigned an ISBN.
If you want to publish and sell your book, you need an ISBN. Especially if you are self publishing. If you are publishing with Amazon via KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) they will offer to give you an ISBN. Don’t do it. It’s a trap! Do not let someone else assign your book an ISBN or buy one for you because then they own the rights and distribution rights to your book. You should buy your own ISBN, and the only legitimate place to buy an ISBN is Bowker.
*Side Note: I’ve been told E-Books do not require ISBN numbers. So it’s up to you if you want to buy one for your e-book, but anything going into print needs an ISBN.
Moving on to ASIN. ASIN stands for Amazon Standard Identification Number. Amazon will automatically assign this number to any product you list on their website. This is important because if you plan on doing a GoodReads Giveaway, GoodReads will want to know your ASIN so they can connect to Amazon, figure out that your book is legitimate, and also know what to give it away. Outside of that, I haven’t figured out what else this number is good for, but it’s good to at least know what this is for and where it comes from. Thanks Amazon.
Finally, the BISAC code. BISAC stands for Book Industry Standards and Communications. According to the Book Industry Study Group, who manages the BISAC catalog, a BISAC code helps librarians, retailers, and book distributors how to categorize and organize your book. Basically it lets them know where to shelve your book relative to all the other books in the library/store/warehouse:
The BISAC Subject Heading list is an industry-approved list of subject descriptors, each of which is represented by a nine-character alphanumeric code. The descriptor itself consists of two, three or four levels in the manner described below.
For example, the code for the descriptor representing general southern travel in the United States is TRV025070 and the related descriptor is "TRAVEL / United States / South / General". There are 54 major sections, such as COMPUTERS, FICTION, HISTORY and TRUE CRIME. Within each major section are a number of detailed descriptors that represent sub-topics the BISAC Subject Codes Committee has deemed most appropriate for the major topic.
You will need to pick a BISAC code if you want stores and libraries to carry your book. The good news is… it’s free!!! Just head over to BISG.org and peruse their list, and pick the code that most closely matches your book. You will list this information on your copyright page in the front of your book.
And there you have it. Alphabet soup made clear. Some important letters that are really numbers, which are important for your book! I hope this was helpful for you.
Till next time dear reader, enjoy your acronyms and get your numbers in order! <3 Tiff
