Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need an ISBN? If you’re printing for family and friends, no. If you want anyone else to be able to buy it, almost certainly yes: most retailers and e-book platforms won’t sell a book without one.

Can I get an ISBN from you? Yes, if you live in the UK or Ireland. Our ISBNs can be used for publications in the UK and Ireland, and for overseas sales. Join the network here.

I live elsewhere. Can I still join? No, you’ll need your national ISBN agency, which you can find through the International ISBN Agency. If there’s no agency in your country, contact them directly, and they’ll point you to the nearest one.

How quickly will I get it? Immediately. Your ISBN and barcode images are emailed automatically once you’ve ordered and paid.

Nothing has arrived. Check your junk folder first. If it’s still missing after 24 hours (Monday to Friday), email us. Hotmail addresses are the usual culprit. If you’ve used one and can’t find our email anywhere, let us know an alternative address, and we’ll resend.

One for each format. Paperback, hardback, e-book and audiobook are four different products and need four different numbers.

One for each translation.

A new one for a new or revised edition. That means substantial change: new content such as a preface, appendix, extra chapters or images; changes big enough that a reader might feel it wasn’t the book they expected; a redesign; or a new title.

Not for a reprint. More copies with no substantial changes, including minor corrections and grammatical fixes, keep the same ISBN.

Can I reuse an ISBN from a withdrawn book? No. Once assigned, an ISBN stays with that publication permanently.

Order additional ISBNs.

ISBNs are for one-off publications that are text-based, or mostly text-based, and available to the public:

• Printed books, pamphlets and maps
• E-books and other digital publications
• Audiobooks
• Educational or instructional software and films — these need a specific educational outcome, so general-interest documentaries don’t qualify.
• Mixed media where the main component is text

Ongoing publications, regularly updated or have no defined end, aren’t eligible:

• Journals, periodicals, serials and newspapers — though a single issue or article published separately may qualify. Magazines may be eligible for an ISSN instead, available from the British Library
• Sudoku and crossword books
• Sheet music, art prints and greeting cards
• Advertising material
• Games and software that isn’t educational

Will Independent Publishing Network be listed as my Publisher? Yes. That’s the imprint recorded against your ISBN in Nielsen’s system and shown on retail sites like Amazon. It’s an administrative label; we don’t hold stock, take orders or distribute books.

Do I keep the rights? Yes. Copyright and all rights and proceeds remain with you. Copyright is automatic in the UK as soon as you create original work, including illustrations and photographs; an ISBN has nothing to do with it, and a copyright notice in your book is optional. See gov.uk/copyright.

Who is responsible for the content? You are. Please make sure before going to print that your publication contains nothing defamatory. We accept no responsibility or liability for the content of publications using our ISBNs.

What’s the difference between an ISBN and a barcode image? The ISBN is the 13-digit number. The barcode image is the scannable set of bars printed on the back cover, which encodes the number for the till. E-book only? You need the number, not the image. Printing physically? You need both.

Where does the barcode go, and how big should it be? Bottom right corner of the back cover. We supply images at 38mm × 29mm; you can scale down to a minimum of 30mm wide × 20mm high, but no further. That measurement includes the white margins on either side and the ISBN digits printed below the bars. All of it is part of the barcode, and cropping stops it from scanning.

Some publishers also like the ISBN written out in text above the bars, as “ISBN 978-…”. That’s conventional, and it doesn’t affect scanning either way. Let us know when you order if you’d like yours supplied that way.

The ISBN also needs to appear on the copyright page inside the book.

Placing your barcode. Sample images.

What file formats do the barcode images come in? Three: PNG, SVG and PDF. Use whichever suits your designer or software. For print, SVG or PDF are safest, because they stay sharp at any size.

My book is already printed without a barcode –  no reprint needed. Self-adhesive barcode labels go straight onto the back cover.

What do I put on the copyright page? Templates for both self-distributed and distributor-handled books.

Where can our ISBNs be used? Members use ours on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Waterstones, Foyles, AbeBooks, Barnes & Noble, Biblio, eCampus, Chegg and others. To the best of our knowledge, every UK publisher, wholesaler and distributor accepts them, though policies can change at any retailer’s discretion, so check first if you’re unsure.

Wherever you list, two answers stay the same: enter your ISBN without hyphens, and give Independent Publishing Network as the imprint or Publisher.

Amazon. Full instructions for listing.

Kindle Direct Publishing. Use your own ISBN rather than KDP’s free one, which is registered to the imprint “Independently published” and only works on KDP.

Barnes & Noble Press. They check that your imprint matches what’s on file with Nielsen for your ISBN, so enter it exactly. Remove any barcode from your cover file before uploading — B&N add their own during the build, and leaving yours in can cause a rejection or a double barcode. Their free ISBN, like KDP’s, only works within their own service.

How do I find my Thema code? Look it up at ns.editeur.org/thema/en.

How do I convert between 13-digit and 10-digit ISBNs? Use the ISBN converter, which will also show you where the hyphens belong.

What does registration do? It puts your book on the Nielsen Book Database, which is how UK bookshops, libraries and distributors find out your book exists. Registration is included in every membership package; whether to use it is your choice. It usually results in an Amazon listing too, so if you’d rather your book didn’t appear there, don’t register. More about registration.

Do I have to send free copies to libraries? One copy of every UK publication must go to the British Library within a month of publication. This is the law for all UK publications, with or without an ISBN, and it applies whether or not you register with Nielsen.

Five other legal deposit libraries can request copies through the Agency for Legal Deposit Libraries within 12 months. Not every title is requested, but plan on six free copies when you’re working out your print run and costs, so a request doesn’t come as an expense you hadn’t budgeted for. If one arrives, it reaches you through us by email. Addresses and details.