U.S. ISBN Agency

Bowker and Google to Optimize Identification, Cataloging and Discovery of Google Editions
May 5, 2010

(Press Release) New Providence, NJ, May 4, 2010 — Bowker, a leading global provider of bibliographic information solutions and services, has reached an agreement with Google to provision and facilitate the assignment of ISBN numbers to Google Editions, Google’s digital book offering launching later in 2010.  The agreement sets an important publishing industry precedent, helping to ensure a standards-driven framework for the identification of digital and print-on-demand book products made available and sold through Google Books.   Bowker operates the U.S. ISBN Agency.

Content Crossroads & Distribution Junction
February 1, 2007

The hot-button issues in the book industry today surround an increased focus on content and alternative forms of distribution. Publishers are still keeping a watchful eye on the Internet and the fear that it may replace the print-based distribution business in the future. But there appears to be a greater acceptance and realization that “content” is a publisher’s real asset, and that the delivery method means nothing if the content isn’t outstanding. An increased focus on content, book search tools, digital distribution, a declining print readership, increased used-book sales, rising fuel and paper costs, and decreasing bookshelf space in retail superstores are all

U.S. Book Production Reaches New High of 195,000 Titles in 2004
May 24, 2005

NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J.--May 24, 2005--Bowker, the leading provider of bibliographic information in North America, today released statistics on U.S. book publishing compiled from its Books In Print database. Based on preliminary figures, Bowker is projecting that U.S. title output in 2004 increased by 14 percent to 195,000 new titles and editions, reaching another all-time high. The catalyst for growth in 2004 was adult fiction, which reversed a three-year plateau and increased a staggering 43.1 percent, to 25,184 new titles and editions, the highest total ever recorded for that category. Adult fiction now accounts for 14 percent of all titles published in the United