If you wish to sell you books through any retail outlet you will need an ISBN and a barcode on your product. The ISBN also provides access to Bibliographic Databases which are organised using ISBNs as references. These databases are used by booksellers and libraries to provide information to customers.
We can provide a single ISBN for your book for £55 which includes the creation of a barcode, registering your title with Nielsen UK ISBN Agency (so that it will appear on Amazon and other online retail outlets) and sending out the 6 obligatory copies to the copyright libraries (see below). Please note that these 6 copies will be taken out of the quantity that you order.
You will be registered as the distributor so any orders placed for your book will be sent directly to you.
Please note that when we supply the ISBN Biddles Books will be registered as the publisher of your title. However we do not take any royalties or have any involvement with orders for your book.
The ISBN that we supply will be valid for selling books anywhere in the world as long as you are a resident of the UK, Ireland or a British Overseas Territory.
Alternatively you can purchase ISBNs online directly from Nielsen – a single ISBN costs £89 or a block of ten costs £164.
If you are publishing a paperback and a hardback version of a book then you will need to assign a separate ISBN to each edition.
Contact details for Nielsen UK ISBN Agency:
Tel: +44 (0)1483 712 215
Fax: +44 (0)1483 712 214
Email: isbn.agency@nielsen.com
Website: https://nielsenbook.co.uk/isbn-agency/
ISBN Store:https://www.nielsenisbnstore.com/
Post: Nielsen UK ISBN Agency, 3rd Floor, Midas House, 62 Goldsworth Road, Woking, Surrey GU21 6LQ, United Kingdom
Legal Deposit Libraries
Books published and distributed in the United Kingdom and in Ireland are liable for deposit at the six legal deposit libraries regardless of whether they have an ISBN or not. There is no charge for depositing books. The requirement remains, irrespective of the number of copies in a published edition, the price of individual copies, or the size of the publishing body.
The Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 (UK) and the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 (Ireland) make it obligatory for publishers and distributors in the United Kingdom and Ireland to deposit their publications.
Legal Deposit Office
The British Library
Boston Spa
Wetherby
West Yorkshire
LS23 7BY
Tel: 01937 546268 (books) or 01937 546267 (serials)
Email: legal-deposit-books@bl.uk or legal-deposit-serials@bl.uk
Other Legal Deposit libraries
The deposit regulations of the Copyright Acts apply also to the other five legal deposit libraries:
the Bodleian Library, Oxford
the University Library, Cambridge
the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
the Library of Trinity College, Dublin
the National Library of Wales
These libraries are entitled to receive, free of charge, and inclusive of postage and packing, a copy of every work published in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Copies for these 5 libraries should be sent to:
Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries
21 Marnin Way
Edinburgh
EH12 9GD
There is a useful explanation about the system on the National Library of Scotland’s website.
Barcodes
Barcodes are created from an ISBN (either your own or we can provide one). We can create a barcode for you and they will be printed in black, in a white-out box, with an approximate size of 25 x 40mm. They can include the price of the book but don’t have to.
