Free Service for Self-published Authors
No charge for enhanced discoverability
Providing Bowker® details about your title allows us to:
Bowker does not sell or distribute your book. We also do not affect your rights to copyright. You control the amount of information shown to potential customers by the information you upload to us. Participate Now
For authors and publishers with 1 to 10 ISBNs, Bowker has built a free web portal where you may update the information about your titles.
Publishers Located in the USA
MyIdentifiers.com lists the type of metadata your customers are looking for and guides you through the data entry process. More information on data entry can be found here.
Should you need assistance in entering your metadata, please feel free to e-mail us at bip.bowkerlink@bowker.com. Be sure to include your ISBN in your query for a quicker response.
Publishers Located in UK, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand
BowkerLink.com provides a way for you to add both basic and enhanced metadata for your titles. More information on data entry can be found here.
Should you need assistance in entering your metadata, please feel free to e-mail us at datasubmission@bowker.co.uk or bip.bowkerlink@bowker.com. Be sure to include your ISBN in your query for a quicker response.
Publishers Located in Other Markets Please e-mail us at bip.bowkerlink@bowker.com. Be sure to include your ISBN in your query for a quicker response. What is Metadata and Why is it Important?
Metadata or bibliographic data provides buyers information about your titles. It is the information you want to see displayed on a retailer’s website. Here are more details:
Core Metadata
These are the basic details that every customer needs in order to find your title and purchase it:
These items further describe your title, but are mostly used by retailers and librarians, who want to purchase your product:
This is the marketing information that allows your users to decide if they want to read or purchase it. Think of it as providing an in-store browsing experience to a reader. In that environment, they are able to flip through the pages of your book, read the back cover, or scan the first chapter. Browsers become potential buyers as they have the opportunity to discover if your book is right for them. By storing this same content electronically, you are allowing online browsers to share the same experience in discovering if your book is right for them. Examples of the types of content you may have available electronically are:
Summary
Bowker requests that you supply data for all materials of interest to retailers, libraries, and school systems, where you have applied a unique ISBN13 to them. Types of items include:
After entering your titles into Bowker’s online portal, here are some steps you can take to maximize the sales of your product:
Bowker’s Products
Bowker Syndetic Solutions™, a web service for library catalog enrichment, experiences this level of volume from >100 million users with over 3 billion hits a month.
Bowker Syndetic Solutions gives libraries more than 40 million unique descriptive data elements relating to books, audio books, and multimedia, and offers more than 25 content enrichment elements to choose from, including cover images, tables of contents, video and music content and profiles, new media clips, and exclusive reviews from The New York Times and other national publications. Content is available in 5 languages.
Bowker Syndetic Solutions is used by public, academic, school, and specialist libraries throughout the world.
Bowker Books In Print® offers retailers, librarians, and school systems information on what is being published, reviewed, and noticed. Books In Print data is integrated into customer systems, such as point of sale and purchase order systems, which allows buyers to make decisions on new title purchases.
Bowker Books In Print database offers valuable information on more than 7.5 million U.S. book, audio book, and video titles, as well as 12 million international titles, making it the industry’s largest bibliographic database. Available in web and print formats, this indispensable resource for booksellers, publishers, and librarians also offers: reviews; tables of contents; full-text previews; cover images; author biographies; awards information; annotations; and much more.
Bowker Books In Print is also made available to customers for uploading into their purchase order workflow system. Web service calls mean this data can also be retrieved from Bowker on an ISBN by ISBN basis and loaded to a customer’s own content management system. About Bowker
Bowker is the world's leading provider of bibliographic information and management solutions designed to help publishers, booksellers, and libraries better serve their customers. Creators of products and services that make books easier for people to discover, evaluate, order, and experience, the company also generates research and resources for publishers, helping them understand and meet the interests of readers worldwide. Bowker, an affiliated business of ProQuest and the official ISBN Agency for the United States and its territories, is headquartered in New Providence, New Jersey with additional operations in England and Australia.
No charge for enhanced discoverabilityProviding Bowker® details about your title allows us to:
- Provide metadata for newly published titles to retailers, libraries, and schools
- Increase awareness of your titles to our wide user base
- Display enhanced content such as cover images and marketing descriptions for readers and buyers
- Communicate price and status updates in a timely fashion to multiple customers
Bowker does not sell or distribute your book. We also do not affect your rights to copyright. You control the amount of information shown to potential customers by the information you upload to us. Participate Now
For authors and publishers with 1 to 10 ISBNs, Bowker has built a free web portal where you may update the information about your titles.
Publishers Located in the USA
MyIdentifiers.com lists the type of metadata your customers are looking for and guides you through the data entry process. More information on data entry can be found here.
Should you need assistance in entering your metadata, please feel free to e-mail us at bip.bowkerlink@bowker.com. Be sure to include your ISBN in your query for a quicker response.
Publishers Located in UK, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand
BowkerLink.com provides a way for you to add both basic and enhanced metadata for your titles. More information on data entry can be found here.
Should you need assistance in entering your metadata, please feel free to e-mail us at datasubmission@bowker.co.uk or bip.bowkerlink@bowker.com. Be sure to include your ISBN in your query for a quicker response.
Publishers Located in Other Markets Please e-mail us at bip.bowkerlink@bowker.com. Be sure to include your ISBN in your query for a quicker response. What is Metadata and Why is it Important?
Metadata or bibliographic data provides buyers information about your titles. It is the information you want to see displayed on a retailer’s website. Here are more details:Core Metadata
These are the basic details that every customer needs in order to find your title and purchase it:
- ISBN
- Title
- Subtitle
- Author or Editor
- Binding/Format
- Publishing Status
- Publication Date
- Publisher & Imprint
- Supplier Name
- Price
These items further describe your title, but are mostly used by retailers and librarians, who want to purchase your product:
- Dimensions (including size scale, width, height, & depth)
- Edition Number
- Language
- Number of Pages
- Rights Country/Territory
- Weight (including weight scale)
This is the marketing information that allows your users to decide if they want to read or purchase it. Think of it as providing an in-store browsing experience to a reader. In that environment, they are able to flip through the pages of your book, read the back cover, or scan the first chapter. Browsers become potential buyers as they have the opportunity to discover if your book is right for them. By storing this same content electronically, you are allowing online browsers to share the same experience in discovering if your book is right for them. Examples of the types of content you may have available electronically are:
- Cover images
- Table of contents
- First chapters/excerpts
- Author bios
- Series title information
Summary
Bowker requests that you supply data for all materials of interest to retailers, libraries, and school systems, where you have applied a unique ISBN13 to them. Types of items include:
- printed books including print-on-demand titles
- e-books
- audio books and spoken word audio
- video, both educational and trade titles
- maps
- calendars and diaries
- mixed media such as book + CD or textbook + student workbook + teacher’s guide
- novelty books such as bath books and sound books
- wall charts, flashcards and other educational materials
After entering your titles into Bowker’s online portal, here are some steps you can take to maximize the sales of your product:
- Larger retailers such as Barnes & Noble have specific requirements that publishers and authors must follow before they will consider stocking a title in their stores. To submit your title to this retailer go to Barnes & Noble. Note that Bowker will supply your metadata to these customers of ours automatically once your titles have fed to the Books In Print database, but we do not guarantee your book will be purchased by any retailers. Bookstores cannot carry every title listed in Books In Print, but even so many of them will use these databases to identify books to stock or special order for customers.
- Contact traditional book distributors if you do not already have a print on demand or eBook partner, such as Ingram Book Company , Baker & Taylor or Amazon. Note that because Bowker is not a data supplier to these parties, you will also need to submit your title data to each of these parties if you choose to work with them.
Bowker’s Products
Bowker Syndetic Solutions™, a web service for library catalog enrichment, experiences this level of volume from >100 million users with over 3 billion hits a month.
Bowker Syndetic Solutions gives libraries more than 40 million unique descriptive data elements relating to books, audio books, and multimedia, and offers more than 25 content enrichment elements to choose from, including cover images, tables of contents, video and music content and profiles, new media clips, and exclusive reviews from The New York Times and other national publications. Content is available in 5 languages.
Bowker Syndetic Solutions is used by public, academic, school, and specialist libraries throughout the world.
Bowker Books In Print® offers retailers, librarians, and school systems information on what is being published, reviewed, and noticed. Books In Print data is integrated into customer systems, such as point of sale and purchase order systems, which allows buyers to make decisions on new title purchases.
Bowker Books In Print database offers valuable information on more than 7.5 million U.S. book, audio book, and video titles, as well as 12 million international titles, making it the industry’s largest bibliographic database. Available in web and print formats, this indispensable resource for booksellers, publishers, and librarians also offers: reviews; tables of contents; full-text previews; cover images; author biographies; awards information; annotations; and much more.
Bowker Books In Print is also made available to customers for uploading into their purchase order workflow system. Web service calls mean this data can also be retrieved from Bowker on an ISBN by ISBN basis and loaded to a customer’s own content management system. About Bowker
Bowker is the world's leading provider of bibliographic information and management solutions designed to help publishers, booksellers, and libraries better serve their customers. Creators of products and services that make books easier for people to discover, evaluate, order, and experience, the company also generates research and resources for publishers, helping them understand and meet the interests of readers worldwide. Bowker, an affiliated business of ProQuest and the official ISBN Agency for the United States and its territories, is headquartered in New Providence, New Jersey with additional operations in England and Australia.