Publish your book with your own book number, ISBN

It's best to publish your book through your own entity.

Does Amazon own your book?


A lot of people get their books published on Amazon which offers an easy, low-cost publishing solution.


Here’s the catch: Amazon owns your book’s social security number.


It’s sort of like Arielle in the Disney movie, The Little Mermaid.


She offers to give up her gift of song in exchange for human legs, so she can be close to her human Prince.


In this case, an author gives up their book identity number in exchange for Amazon’s convenience.


In the book world, an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is assigned to each format of each book.


Just as each U.S. citizen has a unique social security number, so does each book format has a unique ISBN.


When you publish through Amazon, they offer a free version of the ISBN, which they call Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN). But they own it.


If you’re publishing through your own entity, you want to own your book number. Just as you want to own your social security number.


Is your book already attached to an ASIN?


We can help you fix that.


Or are you starting your own publishing entity and want to know about ISBNs?


We’d love to help.

by Helen Chang, ABM Editorial Director

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