Two questions that my wife's friend asked of me as to 'possibly' publishing a book. 1. Does the acquisition of Copyright deem that your real name/names must be used? I believe that my wife's friend detests her surname. 2. Is an ISBN mandatory? If so, why? I write for my own enjoyment so publishing is not an area of knowledge for me. Thanks Ben.
1. Copyright is a very controversial subject, the official answer is no one here is authorized to give legal advice, so you should seek out a lawyer. But I think the answer to your question is another question. "real name used for what?" Like have to use your real name on the book cover? I would assume not. If you mean using your real name on the legal document connected to the "copyright" (ask a lawyer) but I would assume so. Just my opinion, but if your wife's friend doesn't even want her name listed on official legal documentation... she should probably get it legally changed. But I say again, lawyer 2. Is an ISBN mandatory? I'm sure someone with more publishing experience than me can answer this. But again the answer is probably a question? Why wouldn't you want one? That reason might determine why it's important to have one or why it doesn't matter. You can print your story on toilet paper rolls and sell them out of the back of your van if you want, 99.99999% of published writers will probably tell you that's a bad idea, but nothing is stopping you from doing that. Same with an ISBN.... I don't know what you mean by "mandatory" but for published works it's extremely common. It's what's needed on many if not most online platforms, libraries and bookstores, but I do not believe if you MUST have one. Like you won't go to jail without one, but your book might not be as marketable without it.
As far as copyright goes, I'd imagine it's legal application in a court of law would have to have a real name attached. Or a pseudonym/LLC with a DBA attached to a real name. Odds of that ever coming up are extremely slim, but I wouldn't attach it to an entity that can't represent itself in court. No idea about the ISBN but there's plenty of cats on here that have experience with that.
Hi, No and sort of no AFAIK. (But not a lawyer!) Copyrite exists technically from the moment you publish your work. (Proving that you own the copyrite is another matter.) But on all the platforms I know, the name on the cover of the book doesn't have to match the name of the author you write down on the forms you fill out when you publish. As for ISBN's it's a little more complicated. If it's a digital book (Kindle) and it goes up on Amazon you will be assigned an ASIN - Amazon stock number I think - which serves the same purpose. So if that's the only version you want to publish, you're fine. You could choose to add an ISBN, but I'm not sure why you would. Now if you decide you want to make a paperback version as well, and a hardback too, you will need ISBN's for both of them. Amazon will provide you with one if you publish with them. But if you go somewhere else, the situation may change. Every version of your book save for the first will require its own ISBN - and that includes the same book and version published by different publishers. Cheers, Greg.
Hi all, Thanks for taking the time to reply and for all the information supplied. Now that I understand what an ISBN is, I can see the benefit in having one. As to the question of copywrite, I think my wife's friend will need to see a lawyer or someone that actualy deals with such matters. Way too involved and time consuming for a couch potato such as me. Thanks once again Ben.
