Special Considerations for Publishers

What Does ISBN-13 Mean for Publishers?
Manufacturing Changes
Notification to Accounts/Industry Partners
BISG Resources for Publishers

What Does ISBN-13 Mean for Publishers?

The ISBN-13 transition will require publishers (along with all other segments of the book industry) to begin using 13-digit product identifiers when transacting business with their retail and wholesale distributors.

Every publisher's system will need to accommodate 13-digit identification numbers. Some publishers may need to implement a systems change in order to accommodate this.

All information printed by a publisher that currently references an ISBN-10 will need to be changed to reflect the new ISBN-13 (i.e., catalogs, price sheets, new title cards, invoices, etc.).

Internal sources of ISBN, such as computer screens and reports, must be converted so that staff will be able to communicate with trading partners using ISBN-13.

Manufacturing Changes

Books with publication dates earlier than January 2007 may have both ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 on the copyright page as well as printed above the EAN bar code on the back of the book (i.e. Cover 4).

Titles with publication dates of January 1, 2007, or later must have only ISBN-13 on the copyright page and above the EAN bar code on the back of the book.

Backlist product reprinted after January 1, 2007, should have only ISBN-13 on the copyright page and above the EAN bar code. However, publishers may continue printing both ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 where their market requires both or where the publisher anticipates few, if any, subsequent reprintings.

As of January 1, 2007, UPC bar codes should not be printed on any titles, frontlist or backlist. The Bookland EAN-13 bar code with a human-readable ISBN-13 above it should be printed on Cover 4.

Notification to Accounts/Industry Partners

Submissions to the Library of Congress in ISBN-13 format began in October 2004.
Transmissions of data to trading partners (new book titles, changes to book titles, etc.) must be converted to ISBN-13. Partners will implement, as both are ready.

Publishers should be ready to transmit in both ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 as quickly as possible since implementation to ISBN-13 will vary by account. Publishers must be fully ISBN-13 compliant by January 1, 2007.

Transmissions of data from accounts (orders) must be converted to ISBN-13. Partners will implement, as both are ready.

BISG Resources for Publishers

The Book Industry Study Group (BISG), the organization that is spearheading the global conversion to ISBN-13, provided much of the information you find here. More BISG resources for publishers can be found here.