International Standard

Probably nobody gives them much of a thought.  ISBNs, that is.  International Standard Book Numbers.  An ISBN is a book’s unique identifier.  And they cost money.  I’m not sure how self-publishing works, but at some stage, whether it’s obvious or not, you have to pay for an ISBN if you want wide distribution.  And since they cost money, most publishers don’t assign an ISBN until a contract is signed.  If a deal falls through, hopefully they can recycle the ISBN and assign it to another book.  The system only began in the 1960s and not all books printed their ISBNs.  ...