Important Information

There are some key details about the Independent Publishing Network that should be understood before becoming a member of our Network:

PUBLISHER AND DISTRIBUTOR

“Independent Publishing Network” will be listed as the book’s publisher and distributor in Nielsen’s system.
Some websites (e.g. Amazon and CreateSpace) ask for an “Imprint” or “Publisher” name. If you are asked for this, please type “Independent Publishing Network”.
This imprint doesn’t affect self-publishers but may limit opportunities for publishing through established publishers, who could require an ISBN with their own imprint.

REGISTRATION

If you register your title with Nielsen, it ensures that title information will be sent out via their data products to UK bookshops, libraries and distributors, plus their international data customers. This means that if you walk into a UK bookstore, your book will be in their shop system, making it easier for them to order it. If bookshops don’t know about your book, they can’t order it!

Note, however, if your book is registered with Nielsen, then you will probably have to send five free copies of your book to the legal deposit in Edinburgh. The Agency for Legal Deposit Libraries (ALDL) seems to request this automatically whenever a book is registered on Nielsen.

* Please note that registration on Nielsen means that your book will be automatically listed on Amazon (and sometimes other databases). If you do not wish your book to show on Amazon, please do not register on Nielsen. 

 

WHERE OUR ISBN NUMBERS ARE ACCEPTED

To the best of our knowledge, our members are using our ISBN numbers on their books in a large number of places in the UK, including with Foyles, Waterstones, Createspace, Bertram Books, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Amazon.com Marketplace, Kindle E-Reader, AbeBooks, Barnes & Noble, Valore Books, Biblio, eCampus.com, TextbookRush, and many others. However, we cannot guarantee that any particular bookseller, distributor, wholesaler, or third party will accept the ISBN numbers that we issue (as policies/requirements of distributors and booksellers can change at any time)  – therefore, you will need to check with your distributor or bookseller directly to find out what their current ISBN policy is.

LEGAL DEPOSIT

You must send one copy of each of your publications to the British Library (free of charge) within a month of publication. This is a legal requirement. There is another organisation in Edinburgh called the Agency for Legal Deposit Libraries (ALDL). You are not required to send copies to ALDL unless they specifically request them, in which case ALDL will request five copies. You are legally required to send five free copies, should they ask. They will either do this via email or letter. ALDL don’t ask for every title. For more information, please see: https://bookisbn.org.uk/legal-deposit/.