About those Createspace ISBNs...

A short time ago, I posted a Mailbag question about POD printing, and a tangental discussion developed about using Createspace (an Amazon.com company) to buy an ISBN.

Createspace's options are detailed on their site, but here's an overview:

1. Createspace can assign you an ISBN, but they will be listed as the publisher
2. Createspace offers a Custom ISBN for $10. You will be listed as the imprint, but only Createspace may distribute the book.
3. Createspace offeres a Custom Universal ISBN for $99. You are listed as the imprint, and you have your choice of distribution options.
4. You may buy your own ISBNs from Bowker. You can buy one for $125 or 10 for $250 ($25 apiece).

My own personal recommendation had always been to buy your own ISBNs from Bowker. Bowker is the only official source for ISBNs.  I never, ever wanted to face a situation in which I have a successful book on my hands and I am blocked from distributing it because I cheaped-out on a third-party ISBN.

However, I wanted to get some more information about the Createspace ISBNs. Their page differentiated between publishers and imprints, and I just wasn't comfortable with what I was seeing. So I went to the source: R.R. Bowker. The response was enlightening:

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