How to Get ISBN Number in Nigeria

Have you just written a book and would like to sell it internationally?

I’m sure it would be nice to have your book displayed in bookstores all over the world as well as online without any hassles.

But to do this, you must have the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) for your book.

This is to authenticate the ownership of your book and to tag it as unique.

It comprises of 13 numeric digits of a Standard Book Numbering code. Where

  • The first 3 digits represents International code
  • Next 3 digits is the country identifier
  • Next 3 digits is the publisher identifier
  • Next 3 digits is the title identifier and
  • last digit is the check digit (for automatic check for correctness by computers)

Let us take a look at how to get your ISBN number in Nigeria.

The first step is to pay a visit to any ISBN office. The office is located in the National Library (in Abuja or Lagos) of Nigeria and is charged with the issuance of ISBN.

You will need to submit the following:

  1. A completed form to apply for ISBN.
  2. An ISBN application letter to accompany the form, and should be written on your company’s letter headed paper
  3. A photocopy of your certificate of incorporation that was issued to you via Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
  4. A printed copy of the manuscript of the book for which you seek to obtain an ISBN for.

At the point of submission, you will also be required to pay a registration fee to commence the processing and within a short period your number will be issued to you.

Sometimes, you might not have all the necessary requirements when you get the application form. You are allowed to leave with the form, but you must submit all the required documents along with the completed form within two weeks of obtaining the form.

31 thoughts on “How to Get ISBN Number in Nigeria”

  1. Thanks for the info.
    I have completed my book and having a challenge with ISBN. The info you shared mentioned that I should have a copy of the book with other documents. My questions are
    1)Can I go with the soft copy of the book rather than the printed copy because I’d love to print in bulk which I haven’t done? Printing a single copy using DI is quite expensive.
    2)How do I get the form to fill?
    3)How long does it take to get the ISBN once applied?

    Thank you!

  2. Hello thank you for this platform. Pls one of the requirement to get ISBN number is company CAC what if I don’t have a company will they still register my book? Thank you sir. /ma

  3. Good AFTERNOON SIR/ MA ,PLEASE THIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR A WAY TO REGISTER AND GET MY ISBN NUMBER ONLINE THROUGH YOUR WEBSITE BUT I WAS NOT ABLE TO FINE THE LINK, PLEASE KINDLY ADVICE ME WERE TO GO ONLINE TO REGISTER FOR MY ISBN NUMBER.

  4. i wrote a novel sometime ago which was published by CIJAB printing press Enugu. i cant have access to any of the copy again and Cijab is finding it hard to trace the work so as to retrieve the ISSBN. Can i use the name of the novel to trace the number pls

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