HELP! KDP won’t accept my ISBN. What is an imprint? Should I buy the barcode? I hate this sooooo much!
Yeah, self-publishing is more confusing than Zoomers’ obsession with sock height. (shots fired!)
Here are some troubleshooting tips to try when you encounter issues during the process.
Ingram Sparks won’t accept my KDP ISBN
If you utilized KDP’s free ISBN, then you cannot use it on other platforms.
Vise versa for Ingram Sparks.
KDP doesn’t recognize my purchased ISBN
Make sure you don’t have spaces before or after your ISBN or your imprint name.
Ensure your imprint is copied and pasted from the Bowker site itself.
Find this information on your My Account tab under My Profile Data.
Copy the name listed under the organization.
Do I need a barcode with the ISBN?
Not really. KDP will create one for you, and Ingram Sparks has a cover template generator that will use your provided ISBN to make a barcode for the template.
If you are printing through a traditional printer, you’ll need one.
Ingram Sparks says my purchased ISBN is in use and won’t accept it.
If Ingram Sparks doesn’t take your ISBN, it is likely you have “expanded distribution” checked on your KDP bookshelf. Uncheck that box to release the ISBN, and it will work on other platforms.
Publish on KDP first if you are going to use both Ingram Sparks and KDP.
These sites are finicky to say the least. And KDP will sometimes show the ISBN “in use” and will not accept it if you’ve published it on Ingram Sparks first.
In that case, you’ll have to navigate a long road of customer service calls.
What is an imprint?
An imprint is the name associated with ownership of the ISBN. For instance, Penguin will have each of their author’s ISBNs listed with one of the DBAs like Penguin Classics and the like.
Have more questions? Reach out! Our team can help point you in the right direction.
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