Closer, Ever Closer to Publication

I'm actually getting to the point where I can say I'm close to publication.  Here's where I've gotten with my HTML formatting, as seen in the Kindle Previewer:

See those TOC links on the lower left? They all work. (The one on the lower right I hope to eliminate, so I haven't hyperlinked it yet.)

Here's my typical division and chapter head:

And fun with scene breaks. That's a stock HTML symbol, so I don't have to mess around with centering asterisks.

The song and verse quotations are formatted out, too. So I'm close to done with the formatting.

Except . . . well, there's a couple of cool features I'd like to include, and I'm still researching the code on how to do them.

1. I'd like readers to be able to click the chapter heads, etc., and go back to the Table of Contents. So far I can get it to work only if I lose my formatting and alignment, which I'm not willing to sacrifice. I've got a question about it on the Stack Exchange Ebook forum, but no answers so far.
2. I want something of a table of contents at the front of the book, but not a long, long, looooonnngggg list of chapter numbers. I want the reader to be able to hover over the "Division" titles in the TOC and it'll expand to reveal all the chapter titles in it. Last night I tried to implement some code from the w3 schools website, but it's so full of formatting bells and whistles (button colors and all) that it's conflicting with my styles and not working for me.

So that's where I am. I think I'll make a list of everything I have to do before I publish. But not in this post.

Adrift in the Ocean of ISBN

Trying to pull things together towards publication of The Single Eye. I've been researching the whole matter of ISBNs and whether it's the best idea to own your own or if it's no big deal to take what CreateSpace or whoever assigns you. And even after a week of hitting expert websites I still feel like I'm drowning in a sea of murky gray sludge.

One thing has come clear: Turns out that Bowker, who has the American monopoly on ISBNs (how is that even legal?) makes whoever purchases the numbers put down their name or company name as the publisher, even when the purchaser is an ISBN reselling outfit like Publisher Services or ISBN Agency. The name attached to the number doesn't change, even after the buyer sells it to a third party. (And apparently, not just anyone is permitted to do that.)  Ergo, the original ISBN purchaser is the publisher of the work that has the number on it, period. Some ISBN resellers will allow you to put your own imprint name on your work, but the ultimate, official publisher is still the reseller.

The web authorities I've been reading are most of them adamant that it's best for indie authors to own their own ISBNs, because . . . because . . . well, of all sorts of reasons. But they assume you know why those reasons are a big deal. They say a lot about distribution, and availability, and record-keeping, and tracking, and readers' ability to find your book in search engines.  But they don't give examples of what that all means on the ground. Putting it bluntly, how will owning my ISBNs enhance the income from my books? Exactly how does it lead to fame and fortune? The discussion is over my head and I can't get my mind around it.

At the moment my desire to Own My Own is more a gut feeling than anything else. Life is so messy, it's nice to have things tidy when I can. I'd like to have my own little private DBA publishing concern and put out all my books under that name from the beginning, maybe with different imprints depending on if the book is romantic suspense or horror or whatever. I'd like to start as I mean to go on.

The immediate question is, if I stretch my already-tight budget to cover an ISBN purchase, will it be a Prudent Move or a Wicked Waste?