ISBN and Reversion

[Al Stevens]

I have had the rights to a title reverted to me by the publisher. I have the electronic files including the typeset page proofs in PDF (which I used to do the index way back when). If I decide to self-publish in the same format (trade paperback):

May I assign a different ISBN without making a new edition? (Content would not change.)

-or-

Must I keep the existing ISBN, which is assigned to the original publisher for an out-of-print title?

-or-

Should I make some changes, give it the next edition number and a new ISBN?

[Medievalist]

It's a new edition, and needs a new ISBN even if you don't make changes.

It's the same as when a large publisher swallows a smaller one; as soon as the print run sells through, the "new" publisher has to issue a new ISBN. You'll sometimes see a statement on the copyright page that says something like "Reissued by XX" with a date and then the ISBN.

If you look at some Dover Press books at a bookstore you'll often find a book with a similar statement, if you want a model.

[James D. Macdonald]

ISBN uniquely identifies not only the content but the format and the publisher. If any of those things change the ISBN must change also.

[Al Stevens]

Thank you Jim and Med. That's what I needed to know. I've changed publishers in the past when imprints were sold, but next editions always involved rewrites, and I wasn't sure.