Map every edition and release date
List all planned editions and formats
Write down every edition and format the book will be published in, with its planned date, so nothing is missing from your records or your plan.
Why it matters
Every format is a separate product that can be listed correctly or incorrectly, reviewed or missed, and stocked or not. If your list is incomplete, so is every check you do later. Knowing the plan also tells you what to expect: an author who doesn't know the paperback comes out in twelve months can't plan a second push for it.
Your part
- What you do
- Ask. Someone else normally owns it. Get an answer, then record it.
- Who normally owns it
- Publisher and Author. Publisher plans the formats; author asks and records
- When
- About nine months before publication, then update as new formats are scheduled (Map every edition and release date: twelve to six months before publication, and again whenever a format is added)
Your part changes with your publishing route.
How to do it
The full walkthrough
A book is rarely one product. A typical release might be a hardcover, a paperback a year later, an ebook, and an audiobook, and each of those is a separate edition with its own International Standard Book Number (ISBN), price, date, and set of listings. Some books also have a large print edition, a library binding, an international edition, or a special edition with different content.
Get the full plan in writing, including formats that are planned but not yet scheduled and formats licensed to another company, since audio is often licensed separately. At a publisher the formats and their dates are the publisher's decision. On a hybrid contract, check which formats are in the package, which cost extra, and which you would need to arrange yourself. If the decision is yours, make it now, because whether audio is in scope changes the identifier count and the launch plan.
Record each edition as a row in the Book Identity Sheet with format, planned publication date, ISBN when known, price when known, and who publishes it.
Common mistakes
- Recording only the first format and forgetting the paperback or the audiobook.
- Not asking about licensed formats, so the audiobook from another publisher is a surprise.
- Confusing an edition (different content) with a format (different container) when the distinction affects catalog records.
- Treating a print-on-demand paperback as a different edition when it is the same text.
Identifiers for List all planned editions and formats
Set a status on any record and it joins this step. All book identifiers.
| My status | Identifier | Why this matters | Yours |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISBN The International Standard Book Number, printed above the barcode. Most formats sold through the book trade get their own. | Every retailer, wholesaler, and library orders and lists your book by this number, and the title, contributors, format, price, and publication date attached to it are what those systems display, so one wrong detail shows up in many places at once. Traditionally and hybrid published authors normally receive the numbers from the publisher and check what is attached to each one. If you publish the book yourself, you buy the numbers and assign them, and you are the one who decides whether your imprint or a platform is recorded as the publisher. Keep one list of every ISBN beside the edition and format it identifies so you can check listings against it. | Add your ISBN-13 |
What done looks like
- One row per edition and format, including planned-but-unscheduled formats and formats licensed to other companies.
- Format, planned date, ISBN, price, and publisher for each row, with blanks where facts are not yet known.
- A note of any content differences between editions (a new foreword, a corrected text, bonus material).
- The list reconciled against the ISBNs you have been given.
Ask your publisher
Copy this into an email. Replace the bracketed parts with your details.
Sources and last checked
- Official source
- No single official page for this step.
- Last checked
- Not checked against its source yet.
- How confident we are
- Verified