Calling ALL Indie Authors …
Own Your OWN ISBNs … Here’s How …
ISBNs are essential for books. All books should have one that is unique to their publishing efforts. In the United States, Bowker is the only authorized dealer. Oh, you can get them via Amazon, Book Baby, Lulu, IngramSpark, and a number of other publishing related sites. BUT they all get them through Bowker and either resell or offer the “grab to an author or other entity as an incentive to work with them. Amazon offers them as a freebie. And even if you ID yourself with your own publishing name, the dark side is that it is really under Amazon’s (or whoever you got the ISBN from) umbrella. AuthorU’s advice: own your own. And you do it via Bowker’s portal: MyIdentifiers.com
You can buy a single for $125, 10 for $295, 100 For $575, or greater amounts in the thousands.
Recommendation: Get at least TEN … you will need one for you paper edition; one for eBook; and a third for audio. With the AuthorU discount, you will save 15%.
Authors have access to getting a 15% discount by using our special code: AUTHORU2026.
If you are the publisher. and you find an error in any of the product details related to your book, please provide Bowker via the MyIdentifiers.com portal any updated information.
1. Set up an account on MyIdentifiers.com. It is free. Once you are in your account on My Identifiers:
Select the “My Account” link and click on “My Identifiers” in the menu. You can use your MyIdentifiers.com or BowkerLink username and password to sign-in. The page that opens up will be a dashboard of all your ISBNs. You may navigate to your ISBN by clicking on the title, or search for your specific ISBN in search at the bottom of the page by ISBN-13 format.
2. Make sure you complete the forms to add a description of your book, author bio, upload front cover, ISBN for all formats—digital and audio if appropriate. Include publication month and price of book.
3. This information will now be available whenever a bookstore looks up your book with the ISBN # for ordering.
Dr. Judith Briles started writing notes to her classmates in first grade … and got into “disruptive trouble” from her teachers. She’s now the author of 49 books and counting, still being a disrupter. Her books have won over 70 book awards and been Amazon bestsellers. You can follow her professional side at www.TheBookShepherd.com where she works with writers to become published authors. Listen in to her weekly podcast: AuthorU: Your Guide to Book Publishing at https://bit.ly/AuthorUPodcast
©2026 Judith Briles – The Book Shepherd™ All Rights Reserved.