Nielsen Book to launch online ISBN store

Nielsen Book is launching a new ISBN store allowing publishers and self-published authors to purchase smaller numbers of ISBNs online "within minutes".

Previously publishers wanting to acquire up to 1,000 ISBNs had to use a more labour-intensive manual process, involving completing a form to send to Nielsen by email. But the new service will be automated, asking customers to register (first time users) and log in, choose the number of ISBNs required, and pay online.

Nielsen estimates ISBNs will be available "within minutes" as the new standard, instead of the previous system in which a 10-day turnaround was standard with publishers paying extra for special a three-day "fast track" services or one-day "super fast track" service.

Greater flexibility will also be provided by allowing the purchase of single ISBNs, whereas previously ISBNs had to be bought in batches of 10 minimum. A single ISBN is costed at £89 plus admin costs. A block of 100 ISBNs can be purchased for £349 plus admin costs.

The service is intended to assist publishers and self-published authors who might need an ISBN straight away, for example if sending a book to the printers and realising an ISBN hasn't been allocated.

Publishers who typically buy ISBNs in batches of over 1,000 (10,000 is common) will be expected to contact Nielsen to make their purchase in the usual way. 

The new store is said to have "a clean and simple appearance” and will function as a “one stop shop” to self-published authors and publishers, by additionally offering professional business tools for publishers the Book2Look Widget and the Nielsen BookData Enhanced Service, which enables publishers to enrich their book records with key metadata elements to aid discoverabilty online.

Jonathan Stolper, v.p. and global m.d. of Nielsen Book, said: “It’s a great pleasure for me to announce the launch of the ISBN Store in the UK. It is one of our significant achievements this year and we expect it to make the ISBN even more relevant and accessible to the publishing sector. Publishers can take advantage of services designed to increase a book’s discoverability by purchasing a subscription to our Nielsen BookData Enhanced service to add rich content to their book record. Our research proves that rich content increases discoverability and sales. Publishers can also purchase our Book2Look widgets, which are an invaluable digital tool for sharing book content with readers, reviewers and bloggers. This is truly a one-stop-shop for publishers and self- published authors.” 

Nielsen still encourages publishers to provide metadata 20 weeks ahead of a book's publication date for the benefit of retailers.