ISBN: What Is It, and Why Do We Need One?

Here we are, on the cusp of pre-launch of our first novel through Steemhouse Publishing. It’s an exciting time, and we couldn’t be happier with the way things have progressed.

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We’ve hit a bit of a wall now, though. The next order of business is the purchase of ISBNs, and for those who haven’t been watching our wallet, Steemfest cleaned us out. We sent our two admins to Krakow to speak about Steemhouse Publishing and Wordrow, and while the presentation was a success, the drop in price of Steem couldn’t have come at a worse time. We’ll recover eventually, but the book launch is on hold until we can purchase the requisite ISBNs.

What Are ISBNs and Why Do We Need Them?

“ISBN” stands for “International Standard Book Number.” It can appear as a numeric or a barcode, and typically appears as both. Each ISBN is unique and identifies books in a global commercial market. Each edition of a book must have its own ISBN. For example, an e-book will have a separate ISBN from a paperback of the same novel. This means that for “High Kill,” we’ll need two ISBNs.

The officially recognized ISBN agency for the U.S. is R.R. Bowker. We can purchase a bundle of 10 ISBNs (which will be enough for five books) from Bowker for just under $300 USD. It’s the smallest package offered for publishers. The ISBNs offered for free by Amazon won’t work for us, because those numbers are in a series that is not eligible for most bookstore chains. If we hope to place our books on national brick and mortar shelves at any point, we need ISBNs that are appropriate for that.

Then What?

After the ISBNs are purchased, we will order proof copies of the novel for different beta readers and ARC reviewers (Advance Review Copy) who’ve agreed to take it on. Once beta readers have sorted out whatever issues might still be lingering (for example, one of our beta readers is a Commonwealth Attorney who can spot problems with the legal argument in the book,) then it goes to Netgalley for advance reviews through their service. Only then will we near official launch.

The Book Cover

The book cover for “High Kill” is nearing completion. It’s a 3D rendering by our very own @GMuxx, with finishing touches still being applied with Photoshop. We’re very pleased with the results we’re seeing and hope to unveil the finished version here on Steem very soon.

How Can I Help?

If you've been following this project and believe it has merit, perhaps you'd like to contribute a little to help cover the cost of the ISBNs, or even just give our posts a healthy upvote. Steem prices are abysmal right now, but we believe that is temporary. We're also asking for delegations to help us curate and build our own stake. Any amount is appreciated. This post is an official Fundition update. Our original Fundition project post can be found HERE.

You can use these custom links to delegate to us:
50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1,000SP, 5,000SP or 10,000SP

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