ISBNs

Being forwarned is forearmed if have published, or are are moving in the direction of publishing a book. In Darcy Pattison’s article, she compares Y2K with ISBN numbers.

Do you remember Y2K? When the century turned from 1900 to 2000, computer programs were in trouble. For many programs, the date had been programmed as 19__ and there was no easy way to re-program it to 20__ or just ____. The book industry is having its own version of a computer programming meltdown.

ISBN – International Standard Book Number

The ISBN is a unique identifying number assigned to a book title/format. That is, each format—hardcover, picture book, ebook, audiobook—needs its own identifying number. The number is tied to both the title and format.

About fifteen years ago, the 10-digit numbers that had been used since the inception of ISBNs was becoming too full. To alleviate this, the industry converted to 13-digit numbers, starting with 978. But they warned that when that series of numbers was used up, they’d move on to 979 and other series.

The problem? Amazon still uses the 10-digit number ISBN number. If you look up your book title for a paperback or ebook, the 10-digit number is encoded into the URL.