It’s the number everyone in the publishing industry is talking about: 423,718. That is the number of ISBNs used by CreateSpace in 2015 for self-published books and ebooks or 58.3% of the total number of ISBNs registered with Bowker. And that is not all to be amazed about. From 2010 to 2015 the number for CreateSpace increased over 1,000 percent while the total number of self-published books and ebooks with ISBNs increased by 375%. The latter is still an astounding increase but CreateSpace is three times that.
Bowker has released a report entitled ISBN Output for USA Self-Publishers, 2010-2015. It covers the latest data from their Bowker Books In Print® database which includes books in print and ebooks. Out of respect for Bowker and their accumulation of metadata I’ll let the reader check it out for themselves. Just click on my link above.
Another interesting statistic is what happened with ebooks. The percentage change from 2014 to 2015 is down 19.3%. I have read that this may be attributable to authors not bothering with ISBNs when they self-publish an ebook. Smashwords and Lulu are the two big giants with 85 percent of registered ISBNs for ebooks for 2015.
Bottom line: There were more than 725,000 new books and ebooks, not counting those without ISBNs, added to the market place in 2015. All the more reason to have an astute marketing plan to get your piece of the pie.
*Books In Print® is a registered trademark by Bowker.
