Why you should add the price to your barcode.
Create Space is great for offering authors free ISBN numbers and the subsequent “free” barcode. You know, the book with the default value of 90000. Free is great, but is it correct?
What caught my attention was a post in the Create Space Community
from wayne:
August 13, 2013
Source: Create Space Community: “Re: Barcode & copyright page questions”“Take a look at http://www.12on14.com/dpi/isbn.pdf In the ISBN manual, it says that the price code is required in the US; and you must have the ISBN barcode. Further, the actual ISBN numbers must be hyphenated. CS does not hyphenate them correctly; ironically, sometimes CS accepts its own hyphenation and sometimes it does not.”
Checking the Facts, Man!
Not one to take the above comment or some obscure PDF file as gospel, I did my own research on the the only LEGAL distributor of ISBNs for the U.S – Bowker.com. And information was confirmed:
Bowker Barcode Service
Source: http://www.bowkerbarcode.com/barcode/faqs.aspWhat is the price-add on?
The Bookland EAN bar code displays a set of two bar codes side by side. The first bar code on the left is the EAN derived from the ISBN. The bar code of the right, which is smaller, is a 5-digit add-on which often encodes the retail price of the publication. This is referred to as an EAN-5.
In the US, the first digit of the add-on data indicates which currency the price is expressed in — so for US dollars, the designated digit is a 5. So an add-on of 51995 indicates a price of US$ 19.95.
You may choose not to include the pricing data and in that case the default value for the add-on is 90000 — a null code which indicates that there is no pricing information encoded in the bar code. This is what Create Space uses by default.
However, the largest US retailers such as Barnes and Noble now (2013) require the use of EAN-5 bar code on books they handle. Scanners in American bookstores cannot read the Bookland EAN code without the corresponding 5-digit add-on. Publishers who don’t comply with this requirement may be penalized.
So I went directly to the Source – Create Space…
UPDATE 11-17-13 2:35pm
I asked Create Space to clarify the ISBN numbers offered through their company and the barcode pricing issue.
4 options for ISBN:
- FREE ISBN with Create Space imprint as publisher
- $10 CUSTOM ISBN – with your own imprint of record, cannot use with another publishing platform.
- $99 UNIVERSAL ISBN – essentially Create Space will purchase the ISBN for you in your name (just as if you went to Bowker and purchased yourself) – a $26 savings.
- Provide your own ISBN – you purchase from Bowker directly.
As for the Barcode issue: It appears that Create Space will add the price to the barcode – but you HAVE TO ASK. They do not do it automatically.
Direct Response from Create Space
We do not automatically add or embed the list price to the cover or barcode. If you later decide to change the list price, and it appears on the cover or barcode, the files will need to be resubmitted to reflect the new list price; therefore, the title would become unavailable until the new files are created and approved.
Additionally, some distribution channels outside of those offered by us may work with you to establish a different price for your book than the price listed on the cover. For these reasons, we do not automatically add the list price to the back cover or barcode. However, if you would like to pursue this option, please connect with us for the next steps.
Regarding the actual ISBN options, if you choose to have a free CreateSpace ISBN assigned to you, this doesn’t mean that your book would be listed as having no price, it just means that you’ll not be required to pay for the ISBN.
Beyond that, the Custom ISBN for $10, allows you to choose your own imprint of record; however, you will be unable to utilize this ISBN with another publishing platform.
The Custom Universal ISBN for $99, allows you to choose your own imprint name and provides you with the freedom to utilize this ISBN with another publishing platform should you choose to do so. This option will also provide you with the same benefits you would have when buying directly from Bowker, but with the ease of purchasing directly through our site.
Again, these choices don’t impact the pricing of your book nor do they indicate what would be placed on the back cover as far as the price goes, since you’d be responsible for placing that barcode with the price. If you were to decide not to include the price on the back, we’ll super impose the barcode for you.
Unfortunately, they did not address the issue with the ISBN hyphenation on the barcode – but perhaps that is a less bothersome issue.
So what does this mean for the thousands of CS authors using free Barcodes? Will there be an eventual trickle-down effect that will adversely hurt CS authors? Probably not.
What IS certain is what you, the author can do about it — Now.
Take Control of your Barcodes and Publishing
- You can contact Create Space and have the pricing put on your barcode but live with the hyphenation issue or
- MyIdentifiers.com (Bowker) offers you the ability to purchase barcodes for $25/each (US), of which you can then assign to a Purchased ISBN. or better still…
- I didn’t think that was a bad deal until I found an online tool that does the same thing — for free! Bookow.com : http://www.bookow.com/resources.phpI did a test with this barcode generator, using several ISBN numbers and books I have already published, with the paid barcode from MyIdentifiers.com. I did a careful side-by-side comparison, and the results are identical.
So the question is Why pay for something your can get for free?
The answer: you don’t have to.
