How to get an ISBN in the United States

In the United States, ISBNs come from Bowker (myidentifiers.com). One costs $125. Here is what to know before you get yours.

The facts

Agency

Bowker (myidentifiers.com)

Cost

Sold singly and in blocks: 1 for $125, 10 for $295, 100 for $575 and 1,000 for $1,500.

Price per number

$125.00 each in a block of 1; $29.50 each in a block of 10; $5.75 each in a block of 100; $1.50 each in a block of 1,000.

Ebook

ISBN optional. Optional on KDP, Apple Books, Kobo and Google Play, which give ebooks their own IDs. Your own ISBN names you as the publisher and is the same in every store.

Paperback

Needs an ISBN. Every print book needs one: your own, or KDP's free ISBN, which is only for publishing through KDP, on Amazon and through Expanded Distribution, and shows "Independently published" as the imprint.

Hardcover

Needs an ISBN. A hardcover needs its own ISBN, separate from the paperback's: your own, or KDP's free one, for Amazon only.

The agency's form

PenStranding fills in the agency's record for each format, field by field, for you to paste.

A worked example

A novel as an ebook, a paperback and a hardcover, each with its own number, needs three ISBNs. The cheapest way to get three from Bowker (myidentifiers.com) is 1 × 10 ($295): $295, with 7 to spare for the next book. Leaving the ebook without one, or using KDP's free ISBN for the paperback, needs fewer, but KDP's number works only on Amazon and names "Independently published" as the publisher.

Other countries

Publishing from somewhere else? ISBN agencies in every country lists them all.

Sources

Checked on 12 October 2026 against Bowker (myidentifiers.com), International ISBN Agency directory. Stores, agencies and laws change their rules: their own pages have the final word.