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Hi everyone! I've been looking into purchasing ISBN's and I'm a little stumped. I'm a US citizen residing in Germany, so my question is should I buy a German ISBN for my novel (written in English) or buy an ISBN from the US source, Bowker?

Any advice would be much appreciated! :)

Cate wrote: "Hi everyone! I've been looking into purchasing ISBN's and I'm a little stumped. I'm a US citizen residing in Germany, so my question is should I buy a German ISBN for my novel (written in English) ..."

HI Cate. Generally, a publisher should purchase ISBNs from the national ISBN agency in the country where they are based. So I guess if you permanently live in Germany, you should use the German agency. However, if you are only temporarily in Germany, and would register/pay with a U.S. address, then it would probably be Bowker.

Hi Dale! Thank you! That makes sense. Since I'll be here for the foreseeable future, I guess I'll be buying from the German agency. :) Actually their ISBNs are less expensive than Bowker so that actually works in my favor LOL

Cate wrote: "Hi Dale! Thank you! That makes sense. Since I'll be here for the foreseeable future, I guess I'll be buying from the German agency. :) Actually their ISBNs are less expensive than Bowker so that ac..."

You're quite welcome! Saving money is always a plus. Personally, I think Bowker's pricing borders on the ridiculous, but they have a monopoly on it in their region, so I guess that's to be expected. The thing to do is buy in bulk if possible, which makes the initial purchase kind of pricey but saves money over the long term.

I agree, the prices are outrageous. I don't blame anyone for opting for the free ISBNs. The German agency charges 150 Euros for 10, so still not cheap but if you think about it as 15 Euros ($17) per book, it's a better much deal than Bowker.

Cate wrote: "I agree, the prices are outrageous. I don't blame anyone for opting for the free ISBNs. The German agency charges 150 Euros for 10, so still not cheap but if you think about it as 15 Euros ($17) pe..."

Yeah. we bought 100 when we were publishing other people's books, which worked out to $5.75 each, as I recall, but of course you have to have plans to publish enough books to justify buying that many.

I hope one day I'll have 100 books to publish! For now 10 will last me a few years. ;) The price for 100 German ISBN's would be $2.75 per book. Still too big of a chunk to pay right now. The pricing definitely favors publishing houses.