ISBN and Barcode

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number, a code for identifying commercial books that has been in place since 1967. Commercial booksellers and libraries use this code to identify books in a way that does not rely on the title. (Note: Titles cannot be copyrighted so in theory there could be six different books entitled “Gone With the Wind,” but each would have a unique ISBN.)

GCG Publishing will provide an ISBN with your first order. Our service includes assigning an ISBN to your book, creating a barcode, and registering the ISBN with Bowker, the United States provider for commercial book identification. We have purchased a block of ISBNs from Bowker and will, with your assistance concerning the sale price, category and description necessary for registration, submit the information to Bowker’s database.

Since barcodes indicate the unique version of any particular book, you will need individual barcodes for each version of the book you are producing.

The ISBN for your first order will be free but barcodes and registration for additional versions of the same book will incur a fee.