In this post, ill explain more about what bisac codes are, why you need them, and how to choose the right codes for your book. Multiple thema codes used as needed to convey the information contained in one bisac subject up to four subject codes and four qualifier codes assigned to each bisac code. Bisac subject headings list, fiction book industry study group. The mission of bisg is to simplify logistics for publishers, manufacturers, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, librarians and others engaged in the business of print and electronic media. A selfpublishers guide to metadata for books mediashift. Every single novel in existence can be categorized as fic000000 fiction general. What it is and why it matters categorize your book. Browse categories are the sections of the amazon site where customers can find your book. Learn how to subscribe and manage your subscription. For example, to get your book in the category romance inspirational amish on, select bisac fic027000 for fiction romance, and put amish to the keywords. If you need to download and incorporate this list into your databases and systems, you need to purchase an end users license agreement if you need more information on how to select a bisac code go to our, we have a page that walks you through the process. Bisac is listed in the worlds largest and most authoritative dictionary database of abbreviations and acronyms the free dictionary. Bisac subject headings list, business and economics book. Because bisac codes and amazon categories are separate, they must both be chosen with care.
It is sometimes classed as a subtype of speculative fiction. Well, trust me, this story on how bisac has expanded their codes is a big deal. Armed with that information, bookstores rely heavily on bisac codes to decide store placement and merchandising for titles. Createspace just calls these categories, while ingram spark actually calls them bisac codes. You need to carefully consider which category your book best fits in and choose wisely. You need to carefully consider which category your book best fits in. In 2002 bisg was entrated by comcis industry experts including no one less than art. By creating a young adult fiction category, bisg has provided publishers with the ability to assign more relevant codes across subcategoriesimproving a books chances for discovery.
Dec 30, 2015 the subject codes committee hopes that by separating ya from juvenile fiction, libraries and retailers will have an easier time identifying titles for patrons. Bisac subject headings list, juvenile nonfiction book industry. She has selfpublished non fiction travel and howto books since 1994 and has worked in. Updated annually, the code list keeps up with changes in the publishing industry. We all know books are categorized into different genres. Mar 27, 2014 the second of a fourpart series that explores a hidden root of the problem in popularizing visionary fiction as a genre and proposes a nifty readymade solution to it. These codes are intended to guide shelving, categorization, merchandising, and marketing efforts. Bisac book industry standards and communications codes basically represent the various subjects used in americas and englishspeaking canadas book trade. Apr 10, 2017 bisac subject codes are essentially genre codes.
They tell retailers what your books subject, reading level, and genre are. It will also help authors if as full a range as possible are allocated. If you need to download and incorporate this list into your databases and systems, you need to purchase an end users license agreement. Michelle maila hiraishi executive director hui malama ola na oiwi. Bisac codes help signal to potential buyers, retailers, distributors, and search engines what your book is about the primary genre s, topic s, and theme s that matter in regards to your book. Bisac subject headings list, poetry book industry study.
Bisac subject codes are published by the book industry study group, a nonprofit publishing industry research group. Childrens, ya graphic novels get expanded bisac codes. Determine the major heading which best describes the content of your book. There is an official committee that essentially helps publishers categorize their titles. An asterisk denotes a heading that is new for the 2019 edition. F codes maybe used with appropriate non fiction categories to indicate key settings or topics of the narrative, but for all adult fiction the primary category must be an f code. Bisac codes are sent to retailers as part of your books metadata. Determine the specific term which describes your book. The first category you choose should be what the book is about, which genre category it fits into. Think of browse categories like the sections of a physical bookstore fiction, history, and so on. Amazon uses bisac codes to some extent, but they also have their own internal ranking and categorization system that determines the allimportant top 100 lists. Mar 20, 2016 isnt it interesting that there are fewer bisac subject headings available as the target age for the fiction gets older. Examples include the novels the celestine prophecy the alchemist, and illusions.
The bisac subject heading list is an industryapproved list of subject descriptors for books, each of which is represented by a ninecharacter alphanumeric code. So if you want to find a book on, say, natural remedies, you would be directed to one of the following bisac groups. May 14, 2017 and, third, ive talked to several companies that supposedly help promote your book and one of the first things they ask are what are the bisac codes for the book. This is bics subject categories and qualifiers scheme, version 2. Its called the book industry study group, and it creates, activates, and. Bisac codes help signal to potential buyers, retailers, distributors, and search engines what your book is about the primary genres, topics, and themes that matter in regards to your book. Inspired by this quiz challenging you to guess the classic book from the library of congress subject categories, we thought wed make our own to test your knowledge of the bestselling books in canada over the last decade, using only their bisac codes and keywords we compiled a list of bestselling englishlanguage print books in canada from the beginning of 2010 to the week ending. Just like your local bookstore, online realtors need a way to organize books into different categories to help us, the readers, find them.
This committee is charged with setting an industrywide book classification system to which all publishers adhere. Bisac headings make finding your next book easier than. On the digital side, bisac codes affect a books discoverability in search engines. The codes you choose, along with your selected keywords, are used to place your book into certain categories on amazon. Help readers find your book using bisac codes and categories. Each level can range from very general fictiongeneral to very specific. Bisac, which stands for book industry standards and communications, is the language in which we classify book content.
Bisac is an acronym for book industry standards and communications. Mar 31, 2016 bisac subject codes are published by the book industry study group, a nonprofit publishing industry research group. The bisac solution before getting too cozy in the permanent home main subject category and distinctive address fic039000 fiction visionary. The bisg or book industry study group sets the standard for research and information and standardized practices and with the creation of bisac code have streamlined content classifications. When identifying suitable categories for a book, one of the strategies we use at emerald lake books is to select child categories from different parents. Bisac codes are the standard descriptors for different types of books and are used throughout the publishing and bookselling industry. Jan 27, 2020 with the recent release of new bisac subject codes for 2019, in this podcast episode, host elizabeth barker goes over the changes, what they mean for indigenous books in canada, and asks publishers theytus books, second story press, and kegedonce to share their thoughts. Topics and subtopics are organized alphabetically and are easy to navigate through due to the use of words as call numbers.
Bisac and beyond association for library collections. Bisac stands for book industry study group i know, i know and they act to do thinks like standardize book categories for booksellers, and standardize other best practices. Using bisac codes to get into the right category on amazon. Looking for online definition of bisac or what bisac stands for. Some online retailers will request the bisac code while others ask for your book category. Methodology for creating the mapping there are times when all the codes will apply and times when not all the codes will apply. Collections containing both juvenile nonfiction and juvenile fiction may also be assigned subjects in the juvenile fiction section. On the digital side, bisac codes affect a books discoverability in search engines and also on the shelves of online retailers. From the bisac codes, i know this book is biographical, about an educator using a nonformal method, and involves a degree of research. Bisac codes and subject headings are actually pretty straightforward. Bisac, which stands for book industry standards and communications, is a globally accepted system for categorizing books. The list has 50 major sections, such as computers, fiction, history, and true crime.
Createspace and ingram spark both use bisac codes as the basis for assigning categories to print books when selfpublishing. Bisac stands for book industry subject and category, a standardized set of categories developed by the bisg book industry study group. The book industry study group web page complete bisac subject headings, 20 edition walks the user through the twostep process of applying a correct classification. If you are writing in a language other than english, still select the correct category bisac codes in english, then add your keywords on your own language check amazon. Bisac codes arent exciting, but they are an important part of your book metadata. If you need more information on how to select a bisac code go to our, we have a page that walks you through the process. Dont want to miss an update on our books, authors, or events. Carla king is an author, a publishing and social media strategist, and cofounder of the selfpublishing boot camp program providing books, lectures and workshops for prospective selfpublishers. So, if you are every asked, you now know bisac codes are. The subject codes committee hopes that by separating ya from juvenile fiction, libraries and retailers will have an easier time identifying titles for patrons. Isnt it interesting that there are fewer bisac subject headings available as the target age for the fiction gets older. Visionary fiction is a fiction genre with new age or mind, body, spirit themes and perspectives, including consciousness expansion, spirituality, mysticism, and parapsychology.
Maintained by the book industry study group, bisac codes provide writers a uniform method for categorization. Many libraries are considering moving away from traditional classification systems like dewey or lc in favor of wordbased systems based on bisac, a classification scheme used by book retailers and. The bisac subject heading list bshl for short is an industryapproved list of subject descriptors or headings, each of which is represented by a ninecharacter alphanumeric code. Bisac codes are a publishing industryapproved list of ninecharacter alphanumeric codes that represent broad descriptors of genre or subject matter. Click on a heading below for more specific headings within that category. Just like your local bookstore, online realtors need a way to organize books into different categories to. By placing the book on the shelf with other books of similar content. Bisac subject headings list, reference book industry study. Please note that with the introduction and growing adoption internationally of thema the subject category scheme for a global book trade, bic has with immediate and permanent effect, as of february 2017, frozen the development of bic codes. Its called the book industry study group, and it creates, activates, and deactivates the current bisac book industry standards and communications codes. This is the code the publishers chose for moriartys earlier books. Sep 25, 2019 perhaps the publishers chose fiction general because that is where they felt their book would stand out the best, or because there was no other place for it. The bisac code, or book industry standards and communications, is maintained by the book industry study group.
The headings can be used for transmitting information between trading partners, as search terms in bibliographic databases, as access points for database searching, and as shelving guides. No matter how great yours is, the odds of a reader. Bisac or book industry subject and category codes subject audience codes merchandising themes regional themes. The structure of bisac codes also forces publishers to determine a titles single main subject code, often resulting in a tough choice between, say, fiction family life and fiction lgbt lesbian, when both may be representative. For those of us in the publishing industry, theyre important. However, though it was already a strong seller, when they changed the bisac to fictionsuspense sales increased fiftyfive percent. Bisac subject headings list, juvenile fiction book industry study.
All classification systems work with a relatively small number of broad genres, eg. For example, if youve just written a graphic novel murder mystery, they have a. After your book has an amazon listing, your books category will appear under the product details section of your listing. Instead, bisac codes group books by topics onlythere are 54 major headings, and then many, many subheadings. Bisg maintains bisac subject codes to help determine a titles genre and. So go ahead and label your contemporary womens fiction with fiction christian general. Guess the book from the bisac code and keywords booknet. This code helps a librarian or bookstore employee to shelve the book in the proper location. Bisac codes are assigned to help publishers and libraries make sense of book subjects for the purposes of developing metadata. For the rest of you, at least now you know this bit of. Product information subject classifications please note that with the introduction and growing adoption internationally of thema the subject category scheme for a global book trade, bic has with immediate and permanent effect, as of february 2017, frozen the development of bic codes. Bisac subject headings list, reference book industry. The bisac subject headings list, also known as the bisac subject codes list, is a standard used to categorize books based on topical content in the book industry of the united states.
The backend system uses a subset of the socalled bisac categories used in the publishing industry. Amazon storefront kindle book categories the backend system uses a subset of the socalled bisac categories used in the publishing industry. Yet if you scroll to the bottom because the list is alphabetical, you will see fic044000 fiction women. Since last years post, the bisg has added a few new lgbt bisac subject codes for bisexual and transgender the b and t of lgbt titles in both the lgbt fiction and lgbt romance categories. Bic product information book industry communication. In a move that will help retailers and librarians more easily find and shelve childrens and young adult graphic novels, the book industry study group will offer expanded options for bisac codes. In the following, well write about bisac the most common classification system, and about the importance of selecting the correct category for your book. As a result, a ya book once described as juvenile fictionlove. How to get a great book contract in 5 steps the writer. The bisac code system is an alphanumeric system of book classification. For example, random house had a strong selling book that had the bisac for fictiongeneral. Sylvia burson rushing, and i collaborated on the wakefield plantation.
In early 2016, the book industry study group bisg will add 512 new categories to the bisac subject headings list, whose codes guide how books are marketed and found. Bisac stands for book industry standards and communications and is maintained and developed in the united states by the book industry study group bisg. We are very grateful for the ongoing partnership we have with bisac, as together we can work to improve the quality of life for our native hawaiian people, and all people of hawaii island. Bisac codes allow the publishing industry to understand what type of book it is and where to shelve it in a bookstore, while the amazon categories help the consumer to find the book through searches online. Mostly, bisac codes and subject headings are a long list of various topics created by the book industry study group bisg.
May 26, 2018 bisac book industry standards and communications codes basically represent the various subjects used in americas and englishspeaking canadas book trade. By creating a young adult fiction category, bisg has provided publishers with the ability to assign more relevant codes across subcategoriesimproving a book s chances for discovery. Below are some examples of subject header categories that have been suggested as needed to help increase discoverability on books with these themes. However, note that you can also use these heading lists as inspiration for keywords. These are commonly used in libraries and bookstores to help easily sort books into categories. This evolving standard is based on the work done by the book industry study. Mar 04, 2015 methodology for creating the mapping in thema, fiction codes may be used with nonfiction codes as opposed to bisac best practices but only if they convey something central to the work that is not conveyed otherwise. April 17 and18, 2012 hosted by logan mcdonald and loretta mainock go to the discussion archive. Subjects may be used alone for individual works or collections by one author or with poetry anthologies multiple authors. A bisac book industry standards and communications code is a combination of letters and numbers that are used to record the genre or genres of a book on file. Dec 11, 2015 in early 2016, the book industry study group bisg will add 512 new categories to the bisac subject headings list, whose codes guide how books are marketed and found. Mar 15, 2018 bisac codes and subject headings are actually pretty straightforward. For over a year now, librarians have been able to use the bisac subject codes to narrow down searches in marketplace and create curated collections. Bisac stands for book industry standards and communications and is a subcommittee of the book industry study group bisg.
Subscribe to the harvard university press mailing list for periodic updates about new books and features, or stay current on hup news with facebook, twitter where you can separately follow hups international office, instagram, and linkedin. Bisac subject headings list, comics and graphic novels book. Mar 07, 2017 it is vital correct codes are allocated. New bisac codes for indigenous books booknet canada. Each year the list of lgbt bisac codes grows and changes ever so slightly, and with each new addition and adjustment, book.
The bisac code is used by the publishing industry to properly categorize books based on their topical content. Overdrive now has you covered in those instances as well. Bisac code and category getting your book published. During title setup, youll choose a bisac book industry standards and communications code. Do not use nonfiction categories for a fiction book.
Jan 21, 2020 bisac codes arent exciting, but they are an important part of your book metadata. Bisac subject headings list, young adult fiction book industry. Mar 20, 2020 note how that third category actually helps refine the first and second. The dirty little secret of amazon category rankings inkless. Bisac codes dont go as far as dewey decimal or loc classification, thoughyou dont assign a unique code to every single book. Who we are big island substance abuse council bisac. Bisac is a set of subject headings that were created by the book industry study group and is the system used in many bookstores. Bisac book industry standards and communications t. Perhaps you want something paranormal, a steampunk science fiction adventure or a cozy mystery featuring cats. Thema subject categories, multilingual book trade subject classification, english. It is a way of categorizing books so they can easily be browsed or found. We thought it appropriate with the publication of the mint julep mysteries to get the background of the inspiration for those mysteries out there. Displaying a book in very different nonfiction categories us better than displaying it in similar nonfiction categories. So, if you choose fiction horror while publishing on lulu, were actually assigning a bisac code for you.