Registration on the NielsenIQ BookData
Registration is what makes your book findable. It’s included in every membership package, and it’s your choice whether to use it.
What it does
Registering sends your title details to Nielsen, who distributes them to UK bookshops, libraries and distributors, and to their international data customers. Nielsen holds title records from more than 70 countries and is the database the UK book trade runs on.
The practical effect is simple: a bookshop can look up your book. Someone walks in, asks for it by title or ISBN, and it appears in the shop’s ordering system with the details needed to order a copy. If bookshops don’t know your book exists, they can’t order it, and an unregistered book is invisible to every ordering system in the trade.
Worth knowing: the first time a retailer scans your barcode at the till, your ISBN will come up with no details attached. That’s normal, and separate from Nielsen registration. The shop enters the title and price into its own system once, and after that the scan brings up your book. More on what happens at the till.
Registration usually puts your book on Amazon.
Registered titles are generally listed on Amazon automatically, and sometimes in other databases as well. For most authors, that’s the point. If you’d rather your book didn’t appear there, don’t register, but bear in mind that an unregistered book won’t show in bookshops or library systems either.
How to register
We email you a registration link when you join. Complete it, and we’ll register your title with Nielsen. If you’d rather not register, just don’t complete it.
Two things to get right on the form:
- Put your own details in the distributor field. We appear there by default, but it’s editable, and we’d encourage you to change it, because you’re the person a bookshop will contact to order copies.
- Check everything before you send it. Changing your details after registration carries a fee, so it’s worth being accurate the first time. Registration change if you do need one later.
We can only register ISBNs issued under our own imprint. If your ISBN came from elsewhere, your original publisher or agency handles registration.
Registration and legal deposit
These are separate obligations, and it’s worth being clear about which is which.
Legal deposit applies to every book published in the UK, registered or not. You must send one free copy to the British Library within a month of publication. Not registering with Nielsen doesn’t exempt you.
The five additional copies are a separate matter. Five other UK legal deposit libraries can request copies within 12 months, through the Agency for Legal Deposit Libraries in Edinburgh. In practice, registered books are more likely to attract requests, simply because registration makes them visible. If a request comes, it comes to us, and we forward it to you.
Budget for six free copies plus postage when you’re working out your print run. Legal deposit addresses and full details.
Registration is included in both membership packages.