Enrichment · Passion Projects

One number
per format.

Paperback, hardcover, ebook and audiobook each need their own ISBN, and one mistyped digit sends a bookstore order to nowhere. List each format and its number; the page checks every check digit, catches a number used twice and shows what is still unfiled.

Organize your ISBNsWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Passion projects kit, $39 for 34 items.

Your books

The worked example is made up: a small imprint’s three formats with a mistyped hardcover number, and a class book where two formats share one ISBN. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Enrichment · Passion Projects$5

What you finish with
A record per book: title, imprint, where the ISBNs came from, every format with its ISBN, list price and whether its title data is filed, and six publishing steps. Checks each ISBN-13’s check digit, catches a number used for two formats and counts formats; flags a wrong check digit, a shared ISBN, a 10-digit ISBN, unfiled title data and the publisher of record on a free ISBN.
Who it is for
Students and teachers publishing a class or club book, young authors, and anyone self-publishing in print, ebook or audio.
Format
Browser organizer with a saved record per book. Prints the ISBN list for the copyright page, every book in a table or a blank sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Passion projects kit ($39) and the Enrichment Suite pass ($119), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Passion Projects space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Enter the title and imprint.
  2. Add every format you will sell.
  3. Type each ISBN from your block.
  4. Fix anything flagged before the files go to the printer.
  5. File title data for every number.

Organize your ISBNs

When a book needs a new ISBN

Does it need a new ISBN?ChangeNew ISBNWhyA new format (ebook, audio)Yeseach format is its own productHardcover and paperbackYes, eachstores order them separatelyNew edition, real changesYesthe content changedTypos fixed in a reprintNosame editionNew cover onlyNosame content and formatPrice changeNoupdate the title dataDoes it need a new ISBN?A new format (ebook, audio)New ISBN: YesWhy: each format is its own productHardcover and paperbackNew ISBN: Yes, eachWhy: stores order them separatelyNew edition, real changesNew ISBN: YesWhy: the content changedTypos fixed in a reprintNew ISBN: NoWhy: same editionNew cover onlyNew ISBN: NoWhy: same content and formatPrice changeNew ISBN: NoWhy: update the title data
The ISBN agency in each country sets the final rules. The check digit, the last of the 13, is worked out from the first twelve, so a single mistyped digit almost always shows up.

How the check digit works

Multiply the first twelve digits alternately by 1 and 3 and add them up. The check digit is whatever brings the total up to the next multiple of 10. 979-8-9893104-0 adds to 119, so the check digit is 1.

Buying or taking a free one

In the United States ISBNs are sold by Bowker, singly or in blocks that cost less per number. Print services offer free ones, but the service then appears as the publisher, and the number usually cannot move with the book to another printer. Some countries give ISBNs free through a national agency.

Sources

  1. International ISBN Agency. (2017). ISBN Users’ Manual, seventh edition (isbn-international.org).
  2. Bowker, the U.S. ISBN Agency. ISBN FAQs and myidentifiers.com.
  3. Library of Congress. Preassigned Control Number Program (loc.gov/publish/pcn).
  4. U.S. Copyright Office. Mandatory deposit and Registering a book (copyright.gov).

The worked examples are made up and the ISBNs in them are invented for practice. The check digit test catches typing mistakes; it cannot tell whether a number was really assigned to you. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.