ISBN numbers, etc.
publishing, writing August 3rd, 2008
Lyn Chamberlain of Arcadian House Writing & Publishing is back for a final installment of her series on self-publishing.
- Missed Part 1? Read So you want to write a book …
- Missed Part 2? Read What do I do first?
- Missed Part 3? Non-traditional publishers are all over the place. Can’t I just pick one?
- Missed Part 4? My book is written and I’ve seen the difference in production at the bookstore. What should I ask a publisher?
There are a bunch of numbers on every book. Can I just make them up so I have some, too?
Nope. Sorry. The numbers on the back of the book and on the copyright page provide important information.
The copyright page is part of the front matter, those pages that come before your text begins. While there is some variation, you’ll find a title page, a copyright page, dedication, acknowledgements, and table of contents. You may also find an introduction, forward, preface, and a frontispiece or illustration that precedes the book and usually faces the title page.
And those numbers. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. This 13-digit number is comprised of groups of numbers unique to each book. The first number identifies the language group: 0 means the book is printed in English. Next comes the publisher code; 9766666 stands for Arcadian House. Then comes an item number followed by a mathematically-produced check number designed to prevent errors.
If a book will be sold through an electronic system, it will need a barcode. The barcode allows electronic identification of the ISBN and the price for which the item was sold.
Your book also needs a Library of Congress Control Number available to all books published in the U.S. It allows librarians and book vendors to locate your book in national databases.
The first two copies off the press go to the U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright is a public record that says you own the way the material is presented.
The term prepress refers to gathering all the above in addition to creating a design for the book, making a template from the design, and fitting the manuscript into it. A good layout artist will tend to details like avoiding widows and orphans (single lines separated from their paragraphs), assuring that no pages are too long or too short, and seeing that chapters begin and end consistently throughout the book. These details are often unavailable from an online publisher.
Well, it’s been fun writing these blog entries and I hope you’ve enjoyed our short spin into self-publishing. Once again, thanks to Jan for inviting me. If you have questions feel free to call me at 614-451-5479 or email me at lyn@arcadianhouse.com. And of course, visit the web site at http://www.arcadianhouse.com/ at any time.
October 28th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
People should read this.