As I was finishing up my posts on how to format your own Print-on-Demand book interior using InDesign, I reached the point where I found myself writing about copyright pages and ISBNs. I wrote confidently, “You must have an ISBN.” In a recent post, I recounted my own experience buying an ISBN for my paperback copy of King of the Roses and my upcoming publication of a POD version of Blood Lies.

But a query from a reader triggered research that suggested that my advice might be a little too simplistic. I found arguments that seemed to undercut that that screaming need for an ISBN.

Those posts inspired me to look a little more carefully into the question. In this post, I’ll explain what I’ve gathered from searching out a range of opinions.

My research suggests that if you were publishing only digitally, as of this writing, you WON’T…