How many isbn numbers can a book have

An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition and variation except reprintings of a publication. For example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book will each have a different ISBN. For more than thirty years, ISBNs were 10 digits long. Now all ISBNs are digits long. A digit ISBN cannot be converted to digits merely by placing three digits in front of the digit number. Thus a hardcover edition of a book will carry a different ISBN than a paperback edition of the same book, and a revised edition of a book gets a new ISBN even if it carries the same title.

What is an ISBN used for? An ISBN is essentially a product identifier used by publishers, booksellers, libraries, internet retailers and other supply chain participants for ordering, listing, sales records and stock control purposes. ISBNs are assigned to text-based monographic publications i. Any book made publicly available, whether for sale or on a gratis basis, can be identified by ISBN. In addition, individual sections such as chapters of books or issues or articles from journals, periodicals or serials that are made available separately may also use the ISBN as an identifier.

With regard to the various media available, it is of no importance in what form the content is documented and distributed; however, each different product form e. You can find examples of types of qualifying products and more information about the scope of the ISBN here.

The ISBN is an identifier and does not convey any form of legal or copyright protection. However, in some countries the use of ISBN to identify publications has been made into a legal requirement. For booksellers and librarians, ISBNs are important in streamlining inventory and ordering processes. For metadata aggregators, ISBN enables bibliographic databases with rich metadata to be compiled and updated. For publishers, an ISBN is often assigned to and associated with a project from the very point of commission or contract signature.

All the costs related to bringing the book to market may then be detailed against ISBNs, just as the individual sales histories for an ISBN will later be captured and analyzed.

Publishers may want to know — which parts of our list have increasing sales this year? For author A, is it better to release the hardback version first, or go straight to paperback? Should we do an audiobook version? What kinds of covers work best for detective novels sold in Spain? It may require complex data gathering before the information can be analyzed to answer these questions, and it is often the ISBN that provides the unifying link and bridge to all that detail.

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