CHAPTER TWO
I
’ll start from the end. For some reason, I have often been asked how to get that code that you find on books at the bookshop. This code is called an ISBN code.
The ISBN code of our book
All the books in the world* have an ISBN code - an International Standard Book Number. The rules to obtain a number vary from country to country.
We self-published our book and obtained this number ourselves. That’s right, we are really published it ourselves, 100% self-published.
We publish the book in Poland. It isn’t too difficult to get a code here, anyone can do it via this website e-isbn.pl.
* Technically, this is not entirely true, as you can make a book without an ISBN code. A book with photos of your cat, for example, and publish it at your local printing shop. It won’t be any less of a book. ISBN codes often affect how your book is taxed in a particular country. For example, in Poland, the VAT for books with an ISBN code is 5 percent, but 23 percent for books without a code.
I have also heard that in some countries, getting an ISBN number opens up opportunities for additional funding for publishing. But I’m not sure.
The interface of e-isbn.pl
Numbers are not issued one by one, but in groups of 10, 100 and 1000. Obtaining a book number for publication in the future comes with some obligations: a copy from each edition must be given to libraries at the expense of the publisher. In our case - from our own pocket.
You can also reserve 10 numbers for yourself and never use them. But to get an ISBN code, you must first make a book.