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Add the hyphens to a CreateSpace ISBN

When you obtain the ISBN for your book from CreateSpace, the ISBN shows up in your dashboard. You should put that ISBN on the copyright page (title page verso) of your print book.

First, you’ll need to add hyphens. CreateSpace puts a hyphen only after the 978, but there should actually be four hyphens.

According to https://www.isbn-international.org/pages/media/Usermanuals/ISBN%20Manual%202012%20-corr.pdf:

The ISBN is divided into five elements, three of them of variable length; the first and last elements are of fixed length. The elements must each be separated clearly by hyphens or spaces when displayed in human readable form:
ISBN 978-0-571-08989-5
or
ISBN 978 0 571 08989 5

The 978 in the example above identifies this number as an ISBN; i.e., a book EAN. The 0 identifies the country group. The 571 identifies the publisher. (That’s why you can’t use an ISBN that CreateSpace gives you to print your book anywhere else.) The 08989 identifies the title and format. (A different number is required for each format: hardback, paperback, EPUB, audio book, etc.) The 5 is a check digit.

If you don’t know where the hyphens go in your ISBN, Bookow has an online hyphenator for 13-digit ISBNs:
https://bookow.com/resources.php

About Sandra K. Williams

Sandra K. Williams loves books, both printed and digital. Since 1996 she has worked with authors and independent publishers, editing and designing books for print. Since 1999 she has built easy-to-use, accessible websites, and she uses her HTML and CSS skills to design reader-friendly e-books.

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