WHAT IS AN ISBN? DO I NEED ONE?
ISBN means International Standard Book Number. An ISBN is a number used like a serial number so that bookstores can accurately order books. It is NOT a bar code. You don’t need an ISBN if you are selling your book on your own. But it is absolutely necessary if you want to place it with distributors, sell it in bookstores, and/or place it in libraries. ISBN numbers are assigned to publishers. River Sanctuary Publishing will provide an ISBN number for you.
Once the ISBN number has been assigned to your book, it is reported to R.R.Bowker, the database of record for the ISBN agency. Your book will be listed free of charge for you in Bowker’s Books in Print, a copy of which virtually every bookseller consults.
WHAT IS A BAR CODE? DO I NEED ONE ON MY BOOK?
A bar code is an image printed on your book so that bookstores and other retailers can sell your book. The kind of bar code used in book stores is called the EAN 13 bar code. River Sanctuary Publishing will either produce an EAN 13 bar code at the time we order your ISBN or obtain one afterward from a bar code supplier. If you are going to sell your books in retail or wholesale outlets, you will need a bar code.