There's a few more things I want to share. Let me just wipe the muffin crumbs from them. Righto. ISBN's; the little string of numbers on the inside left of most books in the world is something you have to look into yourself if you self publish. If a publisher publishes your book, the joy is theirs. What is it? Through the miracle of cut and paste, it shall all be explained:
The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a 13-digit number that uniquely identifies books and book-like products published internationally. Each number identifies a unique edition of a publication, from one specific publisher, allowing for more efficient marketing of products by booksellers, libraries, universities, wholesalers and distributors.
So bottom line is, though it is not always a legal obligation, it is in your best interests to have one. In Australia you can buy them singly or a group. I bought a block of 10 for Au$80. Not surprisingly they cost more if you buy one at a time. When you have published your book, you contact the ISBN people and tell them which number you used and the book details. There is lot's of plainspeak info on their site. You can also purchase barcodes from here via a link. One other thing, and you can find it mentioned also on this site is Legal Deposit which I think many people self-publishing may miss and it is actually the law. Now, I only know the Aussie rules but whomsoever publishes a book in Australia (with the exception of books made only for friends and family) must send a copy of their book to the National Library plus whatever libraries are also listed for your state. That is another 3 for me in NSW. So take a note of that if you self publish. It is not a bad thing to have your books in these places, in fact it is flattering, however the excitement or annoyance is a bill you have to foot yourself.
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