Getting your ISBN & Barcode

Yesterday, my fiance and editor, Krystal realized how much work is ahead of us when she picked up my heavy stack of writing. I have printed all of the pages of my book, double spaced, so they can be edited more easily. We will go over them several times, first focusing on grammar and flow, before the book is ready for it's final edit. The book will not be ready for print until it is gone over with a fine toothed comb, after the layout is complete.

A few months ago, before I was finished writing, I applied for my ISBN (International Standard Book Number). By the way, I am Canadian, so this process may be a little different, depending on the you reside in. I went to

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/isn/041011-1030-e.html and joined CISS (Canadian ISBN Service System).

*By the way, all these links are on the side of this blog.

Once you join, within a few days you will be given a login and a password. Then you will be able to assign an ISBN to your book. You will be required to submit all of the information you have about your future best seller. All of your book information may not be finalized, but you can update it later.

Once you have your ISBN you can purchase a barcode for $25 from Simply Barcodes,

http://www.upccode.net/barcodes_for_books.php. There may be other websites who offer this service, but I used this one. I received my barcode the same day. You'll need to include your ISBN in the information you send them, along with your suggested retail price and preferred currency. Now I have a barcode that can be placed on my back cover.

To figure out what your suggested retail price should be, you'll have to do a little research. Check out bookstores and find out what price books on your subject are selling for. Make sure you are competitive but not too overpriced. There are also other things to consider when pricing your book. If you intend to sell locally or from your own website, you will pocket most of the profit. If you want your book to be available in bookstores you may have to sell to a distributor or the store itself. They usually buy the book from you at a 40 - 50% discounted rate. The Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter goes into more detail about pricing your book.

A few months back I designed a 'working cover.' I posted this on my website and other social sites. Today, I will focus on finalizing the cover.