The Velvet Zebra

isbn addendum

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The Velvet Zebra
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I’ve just stumbled into something that might allow the purchase of a single ISBN for a cost of $125.00 without requiring enrollment into any sort of service while keeping myself (yourself) listed as Publisher of Record. (power to the people!)  With optional barcode purchase for another $25.00 (still, ouch).

The reason a single purchase looks so good to me right now is the idea of using one novel, with an ISBN, as a test-run to see if purchasing these really makes a difference in sales/marketing or just the Ego.

So I shall investigate and report further . . . in the meantime, on Friday we’ll talk about the all important demon known as Advertising!

Comments

3 responses to “isbn addendum”

  1. Ben Bradley Avatar
    Ben Bradley

    I saw your tweet on this, and I really wondered about the “optional barcode purchase” for $25. Barcodes have been standard for many decades (I once saw an article in the Sunday Comics section on the exact details of barcode encoding!), and it sure seems like there would be freeware to generate a “proper” book barcode from an ISBN. Indeed, googling:
    ISBN barcode generator
    found several programs, including this online thing:

    http://www.terryburton.co.uk/barcodewriter/generator/

    I just selected ISBN and put in the old-fashioned 10-digit ISBN on the back of this “Rise Up Singing” book in front of me:
    0-9626704-7-2 51795
    and the generated barcode looks exactly the same to my eye, though the strings of numbers along the top aren’t in the exact same place (which really doesn’t matter). Try it with a book you have laying around, it’s neat.

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  2. Ben Bradley Avatar
    Ben Bradley

    Also, I was wondering about those extra five digts after the ISBM and separated by the price, the numbers 51795 – well, it appears to encode the price, which is listed on the back cover of this book as “U.S. $17.95”. Hope this helps.

    Reply
  3. mymidnightmuse Avatar
    mymidnightmuse

    Thanks, I had seen something about making your own bar code but forgot where it was – this’ll help folk who want a barcode, certainly. You DO have to know your price, and you can’t change it once the barcode is made and set on the book itself.

    I’m still on the fence on the whole ISBN/Bar Code issue, but I’ll have to make the decision before releasing the next title, that’s for sure!

    Reply

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