To ISBN or not to ISBN?

Oh, that smug string of numbers.

If you’ve been thinking of self publishing a book, you’ve probably come across some information on International Standard Book Numbers. That’s how I found out about them–ignorance of their existence was bliss. Did I need to slap an ISBN on my book? They’re pricy, and not having to shell out money on them would be nice.

It was during that time when I was still getting over my crippling fear of self publishing, that I researched ISBNs. I did a lot of digging to find out what was going on between self publishing and ISBNs. Do they get along? I could’ve saved a lot of time if I just checked ISBN’s “it’s complicated” relationship status on Facebook.

I hope you’re not here for advice, because I’m not in a good place to give it. I’m more like Edmund in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe than Aragorn from The Fellowship of the Ring. These blog posts could be called The Chronicles of a Self Published Author.

Only… I’m technically not yet a self published author, seeing as my book isn’t out yet and is available for pre-order. Speaking of, you can order the Kindle edition of my book, Intersection, here. It’s only $0.99 while the pre-order is live.

Point is: I’m still learning in all this. I’m on a journey–and though it’s been a long one, I’ve still got a long way to go. I would hate to lead you astray by something I’m doing that might not be right for you. I found this article really helpful for information on ISBNs and self publishing.

I eventually decided that buying ISBNs was the right move for me. I did this about three years ago (around the same time I joined the Alliance of Independent Authors). I bought them through Bowker, and I’ve had a great experience buying through them–no problems to report. I bought a bundle of ISBNs (something like ten for $500). My logic was: I’ll need one ISBN per book format (eBook, paperback, audiobook), and I have a bunch of stories I can publish, so I’ll use ten for sure.

Solid logic. Hasn’t happened yet, but I have faith I’ll publish more stories.

So I’ve caught you up to speed on my self publishing journey during my dark ages. What’s left is everything that’s happened this year, when I decided to put aside my fear and just release something already.

I’d like to broaden this blog to other writing topics, so next time I’ll talk about how I handle infusing my characters with experiences from my life.

I hope you got something out of this. And I hope you have a wonderful day. Until next time,

Colin J Switalski

*This was originally posted on my old blog on June 6th, 2023.