Our Terms
Part of our book publishing service
As professional book publishers, Memoirs Books look after a number of vital aspects to publishing your book. Click here for more information
ISBN numbers
An essential part of the book publishing process is the allocation of an ISBN number (International Standard Book Number), which enables booksellers to track down the title, author, publisher or distributor. Every book published by Memoirs Books has its own unique ISBN number.
Your ISBN number will appear on the title page and in barcode format on the back cover. A new ISBN number is issued if the book is revised or updated, and paperback and hardback versions require separate numbers.
Legal deposit
Six ‘legal deposit’ libraries collectively maintain the national published archive of Great Britain. They are:
- The British Library
- The Bodleian Library, Oxford
- The University Library, Cambridge
- The National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
- The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
- The Library of Trinity College, Dublin
Publishers are legally obliged to send a copy of each book they publish to the British Library (Copyright Act 1911). The other five have the right to claim copies from the publishers and distributors. For this reason Memoirs Books will print six extra copies of your book (the cost will be included in our estimate), and supply one to each of the legal deposit libraries on publication. This is normal practice among book publishers.
The practice of legal deposit has great advantages for authors and book publishers, because their books effectively become part of the national heritage and are preserved for future generations. The libraries list all publications in their online catalogues and make copies available to members of the public in their reading rooms on request.
In the event of a dispute about copyright if your book has been archived it is a much more straightforward matter to resolve.
Most books are listed in the British National Bibliography (BNB), which is used by librarians and the book trade for stock selection. The BNB is available in printed, CD-ROM and online formats and is available worldwide.
Memoirs Books also make your book available through the book trade information services, so that every reputable bookshop and bookselling website, not just in the UK but around the world, can find out about your book. This means anyone can walk off the street and order your book from their local bookshop, or find and order your book online.