From the Tool Shed Contacts for Key Players

For starters, one of the most essential addresses is that of R. R. Bowker, the company that is the agency for the International Standard Book Numbering system. Bowker assigns the publisher's block of numbers for ISBN; Bowker publishes the redoubtable (and vital) Books In Print, in which the titles reported are listed. Updates and changes for Books In Print should be reported to the Advanced Book Information center in Florida.

Other addresses will be added as needed.

• Essential Addresses
  
  

  ISBN Fee Schedule

  
  
  
• Talk to the Cat

R. R. Bowker is the designated agency for handling the International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN) for the United States of America. Request (on company's letterhead) a "Title Output Information Request Form," and "User's Manual." Now you may apply for a block of ISBNs electronically.

ISBN Agency

R. R. Bowker

121 Chanlon Road

New Providence, NJ 07974

Phone 877-310-7333 or 908-665-6770 Fax: 908-665-2895

E-mail: info@bowker.com

E-mail: isbn-san@bowker.com to provide feedback.

http://www.bowker.com/

Actually, R.R. Bowker has a number of sites which make it possible to do a number of the basic numbers chores through on-line connections or download a copy of the forms that can then be filled in and mailed, if desired, or, if credit card is at hand, the application may be made online. Start at ISBN/SAN for a description of the application process and a FAQ about ISBN.

In response to some questions about selling individual ISBNs, I got this response from one who knows:

Evidently there is a lot of misreading and misinterpretation by publishers of the fee structure on the ISBN Agency site.

There is indeed a registration fee of $14.95 for each publisher applying for ISBNs. But there is also a processing fee tier depending on the number of ISBNs chosen by the publisher (10, 100, 1000, etc). [Outlined below/} All this is spelled out in detail on the application and payment pages (I suggest you check this out on our site at www.isbn.org).

The Agency does offer a single ISBN on request (this is not part of the International ISBN Agency range of numbers which start with a minimum of 10).

We have taken a generic prefix and assign single ISBNs from this decentralized range. This particular prefix will NOT uniquely identify any particular publisher (like a normal publisher prefix does), and no publisher can claim to own it.

If you have any further question please contact me.

Don Riseborough

Senior Managing Editor

U.S. ISBN/SAN/ISMN Agencies

630 Central Avenue

New Providence, N.J. 07974

Phone: 908-219-0272

Fax: 908-219-0188

Don.Riseborough@bowker.com

The old fee structure was changed as of November 1, 1999, and is largely a result in the growing numbers of entering publishers and the growth of numbers of titles. The current fee structure is based on the number of titles projected by the applying publisher.

Comments or suggestions?
Write to catspawpress@aol.com; we'd love to hear from you. Thanks for dropping by, and come again--we'll be adding new "shelves" and "rooms " in the Tool Shed from time to time, and there's always new material to put in the Tool Shed!

You can also take a publishing class: Pat Bell is a faculty member of the Writers College, where she teaches an on-line class on publishing. Check out When is The Next Publishing Class? for her current schedule.

Don't have time to take a class? You can also arrange for consultations with her. Help is close at hand!