Inspiring

Answered

ISBN

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
June 25, 2024
3 replies
912 views

Hi,

I am about to publish a book (EPUB) on Apple Books.

Is ISBN necessary?

It looks meretricious.

Hosun

Publish online

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Barb Binder

Thank you very much for all of 3 who replied me.

I am planning to keep my EPUB on Apple Books only. I can conclude that ISBN has no merit.

And what is PoD?

Hosun

PoD: print on demand.

As an aside, I had to look up meretricious. 😂

mer·e·tri·cious
/merəˈtriSHəs/

apparently attractive but having in reality no value or integrity

I'm always learning something here. 😊

~Barb

Barb Binder

Community Expert

International Standard Book Number (ISBN-13): You don't need an ISBN-13 to publish to Apple Books, but if you have one, have it ready, as you can only enter it the first time you submit a book.

—https://support.apple.com/guide/pages/publish-a-book-to-apple-books-tan229f2ef0c/mac#:~:text=International%20Standard%20Book%20Number%20(ISBN,time%20you%20submit%20a%20book.

You will need it if you decide later to sell it through regular retail channels. Bookstores, libraries, etc use it as a unique identifier.

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

But as with Kindle, I am pretty sure an ISBN used for an Apple edition is unique to that edition and can't be used for, say, an Ingram or Smashwords EPUB edition. And not for any print version.

Except for major commercial e-books that will be released by multiple platforms, ISBNs are of far less use and value than they are for print editions. The Apple (or Kindle) ASIN is more than adequate. None matter to any but institutional buyers and large scale resellers, really.

The whole digital/PoD publication system has made something of a hash of traditional book numbering and cataloging.

But the reasons to assign a standard number to small/self/PoD books are... negligible. A platform catalog number is adequate for all reasonable needs.

HosunAuthor

Inspiring

Thank you very much for all of 3 who replied me.

I am planning to keep my EPUB on Apple Books only. I can conclude that ISBN has no merit.

And what is PoD?

Hosun

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

Ebooks don't need an ISBN. Nor would one be of much use in the usual way.

Note that each edition of a book must have its own ISBN. They can't be shared (or reused) by hardcover, softcover, mass paper back or any other different publication format or size.

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Community Expert

Not required, no, but if you plan on any other form of publication, it's not a bad idea.

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