What Is an Imprint in Publishing? (UK Self-Publishing)

Upload a paperback to KDP and you'll meet a box labelled "imprint". Buy an ISBN and you're asked for a "publishing name". Open any traditionally published book and there's a little logo on the spine. They're all the same thing, and for a self-published author it's a choice you get to make once and live with for every book after. Here's what an imprint is, whether you need one, and how to set one up properly in the UK.

Key takeaways#

An imprint is the publisher name a book is issued under. For a self-published author, it's the name that sits in the publisher field of your ISBN record and on your copyright page.
You don't need a limited company or any formal registration to have an imprint. You can trade under a name of your choice or simply use your own name.
In the UK, the way to get your own imprint on the record is to buy ISBNs from Nielsen, the UK ISBN agency, in that imprint's name.
If you use a reseller's ISBN, the reseller is usually the publisher of record. With KDP's free ISBN, your book shows as "Independently published".
As the publisher, you're also the one who must send a copy to the British Library under legal deposit.

What is an imprint in publishing?#

An imprint is the trade name a book is published under. Large publishers run several imprints, each with its own name, logo and type of book. For a self-published author, your imprint is the publisher name registered against your ISBNs, which then appears in book databases, on retailer pages and on your copyright page.

Amazon's own example is Penguin Random House, which publishes books under imprints such as Penguin Classics. The company is the publisher. Penguin Classics is the imprint, the name readers and booksellers see.

When you self-publish, you're the publisher. KDP's help pages describe the imprint as the name of the publisher associated with your book's ISBN, so the question isn't whether you have a publisher. It's which name goes in that field.

Whose name goes on the record? Three ISBN routes compared

	RecommendedYour own ISBNs from Nielsen	Reseller ISBN	KDP free ISBN
Publisher of record	Your imprint (or your own name)	Usually the reseller, for database purposes	Shown as Independently published
What Amazon shows as publisher	The imprint name you registered, entered exactly the same in KDP	Depends on the reseller's terms; check before you buy	Independently published
Use on other platforms	Yes: KDP, IngramSpark and any platform that accepts ISBN-13	Yes, normally	No, KDP only
Who you buy from	Nielsen UK ISBN Store	An ISBN reseller such as HMD Publishing	Nobody: KDP assigns it for paperbacks and hardcovers
Best for	Authors who want their own publishing name on every format and every future book	Authors who want a lower-cost ISBN and don't mind whose name is on the publisher field	An Amazon-only print edition where the publisher name doesn't matter to you

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Do you need your own imprint?#

No. It isn't a legal requirement, and plenty of self-published authors never set one up. When you buy ISBNs you can register your own name as the publishing name, so "Jane Smith" can be the author and the publisher at the same time.

An imprint is worth it if any of these sound like you:

You plan to publish more than one book and want them all under one consistent name.
You write in different genres and want to keep them apart (a separate imprint means a separate block of ISBNs).
You'd rather your books didn't show "Independently published" or a reseller's name in the publisher field.
You may publish other people's books one day, or grow into a small press.

If you're publishing one book on Amazon only and none of that matters to you, KDP's free ISBN is a perfectly sensible start.

Step 1: choose your imprint name#

This is the bit people rush, and it's the bit that's hardest to change later. A few checks before you commit:

Search for it. Look it up on Amazon, in a general web search and on the Companies House register. Nielsen will try to warn you if your name clashes with one already on the ISBN system, but it says plainly that registering a name doesn't make it unique or give you an exclusive right to it.
Check trade marks. Search the UK Intellectual Property Office's trade mark database. If someone has registered the name for books or publishing, pick another.
Follow the naming rules. If you trade as a sole trader under a business name, GOV.UK's rules apply. For example, you can't include "limited", "Ltd", "LLP" or "plc", because you aren't a company.
Think long term. A name tied to one book or one genre can feel cramped by book five. Something short, easy to spell and easy to say on a podcast tends to age better.

You don't need to form a limited company to use an imprint. GOV.UK says a sole trader can trade under their own name or choose another name for the business. If you only want legal protection for the name, that comes from registering it as a trade mark, not from Nielsen or GOV.UK. Whether a company suits you for tax reasons is a separate question for an accountant.

A logo is optional. Many self-publishers add a small one to the spine and title page, and it's a nice touch, but the name is what matters for the record.

Step 2: buy your ISBNs from Nielsen in the imprint's name#

In the UK, the ISBN is where your imprint becomes real. Nielsen runs the UK ISBN Agency, and you can buy from its store if you're based in the UK, Ireland or a British Overseas Territory. When you register, you give your publishing name. Every ISBN in that allocation is then registered to it.

On 29 October 2026, the Nielsen UK ISBN Store listed these prices, including VAT:

1 single ISBN: £93
Prefix for 10 ISBNs: £174
Prefix for 100 ISBNs: £387

Each format needs its own ISBN, so a paperback, a hardback and an ebook sold with ISBNs is three numbers for one book. That's why many authors who want an imprint go straight to the block of ten. Nielsen also notes that unused ISBNs stay valid indefinitely. Our guide to buying an ISBN in the UK compares the routes in more detail.

Once you have your numbers, register each book's details (title, contributor, format, price) with Nielsen, so bookshops and libraries can find it. Nielsen's notes for publishers recommend sending the information at least 20 weeks before publication where you can.

Step 3: use the name exactly the same everywhere#

Pick the exact spelling and stick to it. When you add your own ISBN in KDP, Amazon checks the imprint against what's on file with the ISBN agency. Its help pages warn that the check is case sensitive, that even an extra space at the end can cause a mismatch, and that you won't be able to publish until it matches. Copy and paste the name rather than retyping it.

The same goes for IngramSpark, your copyright page, your spine and your author website. One name, one spelling.

Step 4: put your imprint on the copyright page#

The copyright page (the back of the title page) is where your imprint lives inside the book. Nielsen's notes for publishers say this page is sometimes called the copyright page, the verso or the imprint page, and says it's one of the two places your ISBN should be printed. The other is the outside back cover.

A typical imprint copyright page includes:

your copyright line, for example © Jane Smith 2026
"First published in 2026 by" and your imprint name, with a town or website
the ISBN for each format, labelled (paperback, hardback, ebook)
your moral rights assertion and any fiction disclaimer

Our free Copyright Page Generator for UK authors lets you fill in your imprint and ISBNs and copy the finished page into Word or your EPUB.

Step 5: send your legal deposit copy#

Here's the part most new imprints miss. In the UK, legal deposit sits with whoever publishes the book. With your own imprint, that's you. The British Library must receive one copy within one month of publication, and the other five legal deposit libraries can ask for a copy too. It's free to deposit, but you pay for the book and the postage. Our guide to British Library legal deposit gives the address, the deadline and what counts as publication.

What if you buy your ISBN from HMD?#

We'll be straight with you, because it's your name on the line. HMD Publishing sells ISBNs as a reseller, not as the national agency. When you use an HMD ISBN, HMD Publishing Ltd is listed as the publisher of record in industry databases such as Books in Print. That's an administrative entry. You keep your full copyright, full creative control and 100% of your royalties.

It's the cheaper route. Our ISBNs start at £27.99 ($34.99) for a single number, plus VAT for UK customers, and arrive by email within minutes with barcode files. But if having your own imprint on the record matters to you, buying direct from Nielsen is the route to take. Don't let anyone, us included, tell you otherwise.

Changing your mind later#

Because an ISBN identifies the publisher as well as the book, you can't swap the publisher name on a number that's already in use. The International ISBN Agency says that if the publisher changes, the new publisher has to assign one of its own ISBNs. So if you published first with KDP's free ISBN or a reseller ISBN, moving that book to your own imprint means a new edition with a new Nielsen ISBN and an updated copyright page. It's doable, and it's simpler if you decide before your first upload.

New to all this? Our step-by-step guide to self-publishing a book in the UK shows where the ISBN and imprint decision fits among everything else.

An imprint is the name a book is published under. Big publishers run several imprints, each with its own list and identity. For a self-published author, the imprint is the publisher name tied to your ISBNs, shown in book databases, on retailer pages and on your copyright page.

Not quite. The publisher is the business or person that publishes the book. An imprint is a brand name that publisher uses. A self-published author is the publisher, and can choose to publish under an imprint name or simply under their own name.

No. Nielsen asks for a publishing name when you buy ISBNs, and that can be your own name or a trading name. Sole traders can trade under a business name without setting up a company, as long as the name follows the UK naming rules and doesn't clash with someone else's trade mark. Whether a company makes sense for tax reasons is a question for an accountant.

Only by giving it a new ISBN. An ISBN identifies the publisher as well as the book, so if the publisher name changes, the book needs an ISBN from the new publisher's own allocation. In practice that means publishing a new edition of the book with your own Nielsen ISBN and your imprint on the copyright page.

It gives your books a consistent publisher name instead of Independently published, which many authors prefer. It doesn't change anything about how the book was made, and readers mostly look at the cover, the blurb and the reviews rather than the publisher field.

No. Nielsen states that registering a publishing name on the ISBN system doesn't make it unique or give you an exclusive right to it. If you want legal protection for the name, look at registering it as a trade mark with the UK Intellectual Property Office.

Not sure which ISBN route is right for you?

Tell us where you plan to sell and whether your own imprint matters to you. We'll talk you through Nielsen, reseller ISBNs and KDP's free option, with no pressure to buy anything from us.

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