You have finished the manuscript, chosen a trim size and paid a designer. Then someone asks for your ISBN and the project stalls for a fortnight while you work out what that actually means. It is a common sticking point, and it need not be. The rules around ISBNs, barcodes and legal deposit in the UK are bureaucratic rather than complicated, and once you know which bits apply to you, the whole thing takes an afternoon.
What an ISBN does, and what it does not
An International Standard Book Number is a thirteen-digit identifier. That is the entire job. It identifies a specific edition of a specific book from a specific publisher, and it exists so that bookshops, wholesalers, libraries and online retailers can order and track the right product without confusion.
It does not register copyright, which you hold automatically as the author. It does not protect your title. It does not guarantee a shop will stock you. And it is not a barcode, though the two are often mentioned in the same breath.
The key principle for self-publishers is that every format needs its own ISBN. Your paperback and your ebook are separate products. If you produce a hardback, that is a third. If you later revise the paperback substantially, that is a new edition and gets a new number. A second printing with minor corrections is not a new edition and keeps the original.
Buying ISBNs in the UK
In the UK, ISBNs are issued by Nielsen BookData, the national agency. You buy them in blocks, and the price per number falls sharply the more you buy, so it is worth thinking about your next two or three books before you place an order. If you only ever publish one paperback, a single ISBN is fine. If you plan a series, or a print and ebook version of everything, a block of ten will serve you better and cost less per book.
There is one thing to be careful about. Some self-publishing platforms and printers offer a free ISBN as part of their service. This is genuine, but the number is registered to them as publisher, not to you. That affects how your book appears in retail systems, and it can make it awkward to move the book elsewhere later. If you want to be the publisher of record, buy your own and enter it manually when you set the book up.
The barcode on the back cover
A barcode is a machine-readable rendering of your ISBN. It is not a separate registration and you do not need to buy one. Retailers scan it and the number comes up, the same number you already own.
Book barcodes normally use the EAN-13 symbology, with the ISBN converted into a thirteen-digit number beginning 978 or 979. Most use a Bookland EAN format, and if your book has a price printed on it, the barcode can include a five-digit add-on that encodes the currency and price. That add-on is optional and, for most self-publishers selling through online retailers, best left off. A printed price becomes a problem the moment you want to discount or sell in another market.
Three practical points save a lot of pain:
- Get the barcode as a vector file, not a JPEG. Vector scales cleanly to any trim size; a bitmap will look soft and may fail to scan.
- Leave a clear zone. Keep the area around the barcode free of artwork, text or images, as scanners need quiet space to read it.
- Print it at a sensible size on the back cover, typically around 40mm wide, in black on a white or very pale panel. Dark or busy backgrounds are the most common cause of failed scans.
Your cover designer can generate the barcode, or you can create one yourself using a free online generator that accepts an ISBN. Either way, check it before you sign off the proof. Print the cover, then scan it with a phone app or a handheld scanner. It takes thirty seconds and catches the sort of error that otherwise surfaces in a customer review.
Do ebooks need barcodes?
No. An ebook has no physical cover, so there is nothing to scan. It still needs its own ISBN if you want retailers and libraries to identify it distinctly, though some retailers will assign an internal identifier if you do not supply one. Supplying your own keeps your records consistent across formats.
Legal deposit: the part most self-publishers miss
Legal deposit is a statutory requirement in the UK. Publishers must send copies of their publications to designated libraries, which preserve them as part of the national published record. It applies to self-publishers just as it applies to the big houses, and it applies to print books published and distributed in the UK.
The bodies entitled to receive copies include the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the National Library of Wales, the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford, Cambridge University Library and Trinity College Dublin. Depending on the format and where your book is published, the number of copies required and which libraries ask for them can vary, so it is worth checking the current guidance rather than relying on a summary.
Practically, you will usually need to send one copy to the British Library and further copies to the other libraries on request or as directed. The process is free and straightforward, but it must be done within a set period after publication, so diarise it for the week your book goes on sale. Postage is at your own cost.
Ebooks and other online publications fall under a separate voluntary scheme rather than the statutory print requirement, and the arrangements differ. If you publish digital-only, look up the current guidance for electronic publications before assuming the print rules apply to you.
This is general information rather than legal advice. If you are publishing in unusual circumstances, in multiple territories, or on behalf of an organisation, take advice from a qualified professional.
A short checklist to work through
- Decide how many formats you will publish and how many titles you have planned.
- Buy your ISBNs direct from Nielsen and record them in a spreadsheet with the format each one covers.
- Assign the correct number to each format and enter it accurately on your title's metadata.
- Generate a vector barcode for each print edition and place it on a clear panel on the back cover.
- Scan the barcode on a physical proof before approving the print run.
- Note your publication date and send legal deposit copies within the required window.
None of this is glamorous, and none of it will sell a single copy on its own. What it will do is keep your book orderable, scannable and preserved, which matters more than most new publishers realise. Sort the paperwork early, then get back to the part you actually enjoy.
Photo: un-perfekt / Pixabay