ISBN & distribution confusion and several newbie questions

[mertero]

Hi guys.

I have written a reference book, and started selling it myself (i.e. from my own site) as PDF (e-book). It's been doing good, although some people asked about a prited "hardcopy". 

So I went to Lulu, uploaded everything, create a book and am now selling it directly. I didn't use any ISBN or distribution options. (I'm using direct-access currently).

Now I'm thinking about the next step - offering this printed book on Amazon.com, B&N and other outlets. But I'm not sure I totally understand the ISBN and distribution business.

One option is to buy my own ISBN, and give it to Lulu and buy a marketing plan. I understand you guys will sell it on Amazon.com, B&N and other outlets. What about international sites such as Amazon.uk or Amazon.de? Is it possible to get it listed there?

If I use Lulu's free ISBN (together with a marketing package) - what 'rights' do I lose exactly? May I still offer my e-book myself? Does it mean that all future version/editions of my book will also have to published by Lulu? Or is this something I can later "change" and buy my own ISBN if for some reason I want a differnet Print service (like CreateSpace)?

Are there any tax implications to getting an ISBN? I'm living in Israel, so I do not pay any US tax. Will that still hold in all cases?

When I get a 'distrbution' package, you then list it on Amazon.com. If my book currently costs $149.99, will that be the same cost on Amazon.com and ALL other places you put it on? What will be my revenue share in that case? (printing the book,  in color, costs around $22).

Are the distribution deals exclusive? What happens if I have my own ISBN and I use both Lulu and CreateSpace (for example)? I'm just trying to understand how these things work, I'm not trying to actually go ahead and make such a mess...

That's it so far ;-)

Ron 

[Peter May]

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mertero wrote:

 One option is to buy my own ISBN, and give it to Lulu and buy a marketing plan. I understand you guys will sell it on Amazon.com, B&N and other outlets. What about international sites such as Amazon.uk or Amazon.de? Is it possible to get it listed there?

They will be listed on all Amazon sites and many other online booksellers

If I use Lulu's free ISBN (together with a marketing package) - what 'rights' do I lose exactly?

None

May I still offer my e-book myself?

Yes

Does it mean that all future version/editions of my book will also have to published by Lulu?

No, but you can't use the  Lulu ISBN with other sellers

Or is this something I can later "change" and buy my own ISBN if for some reason I want a differnet Print service (like CreateSpace)?

If you were to use Createspace you couldn't use the Lulu ISBN

Are there any tax implications to getting an ISBN?

 No, AFAIK, but of course you must pay your tax authority for revenue from your book

I'm living in Israel, so I do not pay any US tax. Will that still hold in all cases?

 Lulu will deduct 30% 'holding tax' to give to the US tax authorities on books sold in the US. There are forms you canb fill in to offset that depedning on your countries tax agreements with the USA

When I get a 'distrbution' package, you then list it on Amazon.com. If my book currently costs $149.99, will that be the same cost on Amazon.com and ALL other places you put it on? What will be my revenue share in that case? (printing the book,  in color, costs around $22).

You set the retail price. Amazon may discount it but that doesn't affect your revenue. ($150 for a book?)

Are the distribution deals exclusive? What happens if I have my own ISBN and I use both Lulu and CreateSpace (for example)? I'm just trying to understand how these things work, I'm not trying to actually go ahead and make such a mess...

Why would you want to use both Lulu & Createspace - you'd be splitting your revenue between two different sites
 

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If you use a free Lulu ISBN you also get distribution via Amazon free.

If you use your own ISBN you have to pay $75 for distribution.

[mertero]

Peter,

Thanks. Really - that's really helpful.

From what you say, it sounds like I should get the Lulu-owned ISBN - it'll save me around $200. But are there any downsides to this?

Also, once I get the distribution deal, let's say I want to add it myself to some outlets (like Amazon.de or an Israeli book store). Is it possible to do it via lulu, or will I have to print me several copies and do it 'manually'?

Ron

PS - yeah, this is a reference book for a niche subject, and so rather expensive. It's been selling rather good so far though. 

[Peter May]

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mertero wrote:

Peter,

From what you say, it sounds like I should get the Lulu-owned ISBN - it'll save me around $200. But are there any downsides to this?

 Only the witholding tax and the fact that Lulu is shown as the publisher

Also, once I get the distribution deal, let's say I want to add it myself to some outlets (like Amazon.de or an Israeli book store). Is it possible to do it via lulu, or will I have to print me several copies and do it 'manually'?

You don't need to. It will automatically appear on all the Amazon sites and probably all the other internet booksellers because they all take their feed from the ISBN database.

When you say Israeli books store, if it is online it'll appear. If it is a bricks and mortar then they are unlikely to stock a POD book because they cannot get it on sale or return or get the 60% discount they expect. What you can do is buy copies yourself at the print price and sell them direct to the shop (or anyone else)on whatever terms you like. Its best to wait for one of the regular Lulu 20% off sales and buy 20 or so copies then,

 PS - yeah, this is a reference book for a niche subject, and so rather expensive. It's been selling rather good so far though. 

Good for you!

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[mertero]

Peter,

Thanks, that's great info. So I guess I just need to find out what my tax status is (I know that in many places I can submit a W-8BEN form and then I do not pay any tax in the US). 

Regards,

Ron

[mertero]

According to this:

http://connect.lulu.com/t5/General-Discussions/Royalty-Tax-Withholding-Information-for-US-and-NonUS-...

I can send a W-8BEN and hopefully will not pay any tax. Now I just need to know how to deliver the signed form to Lulu... I'll try the live chat (e-mailing support doesn't seem to get you noticed - I'm waiting for over 10 days on 2 e-mail sent about the ISBN issues...)