ISBN is Important

The ISBN of a book is basically the signature of your publisher. You can always buy your own, the problem lies in the familiarity of the ISBN and publishing company.If distributors see it as a self-published book than it will be trated second class, if they recognize the publisher regardless if it is self-published it will get the attention it deserves. In short, having an ISBN isn't as important as who that ISBN represents.
Drvums