Barnes & Noble Press vs ShelfPublisher

On Barnes & Noble Press you publish the book yourself, and with the free B&N Press ISBN the publisher shown is “Barnes & Noble Press”; the book is sold on Barnes & Noble and BN.com. With ShelfPublisher, Orbita Media GmbH, an international publishing house with more than 1,000 titles, publishes your paperback with an ISBN from its own block and lists it in the wholesale catalogs that more than 50,000 bookstores in 18 countries order from, Amazon included.

Barnes & Noble Press states that its free ISBN can only be used on B&N Press. An ISBN of your own costs 125 USD at Bowker in the US. With ShelfPublisher the ISBN comes from the publisher's own block and is included in the price per book.

B&N Press is free to upload. ShelfPublisher costs €20 to €35 per book, once, with the publisher, the ISBN and the listing in the wholesale catalogs included, and no printing costs or stock.

The ISBN comes from the block registered to Orbita Media as publisher, and it stays with Orbita Media. Under the ISBN standard an ISBN identifies the publisher of an edition, so it cannot move with the book.

It costs you nothing. If you publish the book elsewhere after the contract ends, the new edition needs a new ISBN. The article ISBN for self-published books explains why.

No. The publisher decides to publish the book, gives it its ISBN and imprint, pays for production and carries the risk. A distributor or wholesaler makes the finished book available to retailers and libraries and ships it when they order. At ShelfPublisher, Orbita Media is the publisher; the distribution runs through the wholesale channels. More in Amazon KDP vs a traditional publisher.