Assign and check every ISBN

Add your book to Wikidata

Search Wikidata for your book before creating anything. If no item exists, create one, connect it to your author item, and cite a reliable source for every fact.

ConditionalOwner: AuthorYou: DecideFreeAll publishing paths

Why it matters

Your own Wikidata item says who you are; the book's item says what you wrote. Without the second, there is no public statement joining them, and a same-name author can end up credited with your book. With both items linked, search engines and linked-data services have one more public source that says otherwise. A well-sourced Wikidata item can give search engines and linked-data services another public source for connecting an author, a book, and their identifiers. It does not guarantee a knowledge panel or better ranking.

Your part

What you do: Decide. Make a judgment about fit, cost, or strategy.
Who normally owns it: Author. Author adds; a library or volunteer may already have created an item
When: Once the book has an ISBN and a listing, after your own Wikidata item exists (Assign and check every ISBN: twelve to six months before publication, before any listing goes live)Checked September 14, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

How to do it

The full walkthrough

Once you have a Wikidata item for yourself (the step before this one), the book gets an item of its own. A book item can help a search engine connect this title to this person. Search first. Create or expand an item only when it meets Wikidata's current notability rules and reliable public sources support the statements. If you are editing information about yourself or a client, disclose the connection, keep the entry nonpromotional, and expect community review. An ISBN by itself does not guarantee that every author or book should have an item.

Before you start. You need the book's exact title, publisher, first publication date, language, and the ISBN-13 for each edition, all from your Book Identity Sheet, and the Q number of your own Wikidata item. Sign in to wikidata.org (opens in a new tab).

Part 1: search first. Search the exact title. A library or a volunteer may already have created an item; if so, open it and skip to Part 3.

Part 2: create the book item. Choose Create a new Item. The label is the book's title; the description is short and factual, like "2026 nonfiction book by [your name]". Then add statements, one at a time:

instance of: written work
title: the exact title
author: search for your own item and pick it
language of work or name: the language
publication date: the first publication date
publisher: the publisher's item, if one exists
ISBN-13: one statement per edition; a book with a hardcover, a paperback, and an ebook carries three

Reference the publisher's page or the copyright page. Save the Q number in your Book Identity Sheet.

Part 3: link the two. The author statement in Part 2 already points the book at you. Now open your own item and add notable work with the book's item as the value, so the link runs both ways. Open either item and confirm the other appears as a clickable link. That two-way link is what makes the connection legible to anything reading the data.

The route is the same whichever way you publish, and a publisher will rarely do this for you.

Common mistakes

Creating the book item before your own item exists, so there is nothing for the author statement to point at.
Adding the author as plain text instead of picking your own item, which breaks the link.
One ISBN statement for a book with three editions.
Forgetting the notable work statement on your own item, so the link runs one way only.
Adding statements without references, which other editors may remove.
Creating a duplicate item, or creating one at all for a book that does not meet Wikidata's notability rules. An ISBN by itself does not qualify a book.

Identifiers for Add your book to Wikidata

Set a status on any record and it joins this step. All book identifiers.

Book and author identifiers
My status	Identifier	Why this matters	Cost	Yours
Not reviewed Learn more	Wikidata A free public database of referenced facts; one entry can link you, your books, and your other identifiers.	A well-sourced Wikidata item can give search engines and linked-data services another public source for connecting an author, a book, and their identifiers. It does not guarantee a knowledge panel or better ranking. It is one public place where your other identifiers can sit side by side (ISNI, VIAF, Library of Congress, your website, your author pages). It is one source among many, not a control panel, and the library world does not generally read an author's Wikidata item. On every publishing route the author is the one who would add it, since publishers rarely do. You're done when one well-sourced item identifies you, links the right records, and gives you a Q number to save. An entry does not guarantee a knowledge panel or a ranking; it gives the systems that decide those one reliable place to look.	Free to read and to edit; a free account is needed to create an item.	Add your Wikidata Q number
Not reviewed Learn more	ISBN The International Standard Book Number, printed above the barcode. Most formats sold through the book trade get their own.	Every retailer, wholesaler, and library orders and lists your book by this number, and the title, contributors, format, price, and publication date attached to it are what those systems display, so one wrong detail shows up in many places at once. Traditionally and hybrid published authors normally receive the numbers from the publisher and check what is attached to each one. If you publish the book yourself, you buy the numbers and assign them, and you are the one who decides whether your imprint or a platform is recorded as the publisher. Keep one list of every ISBN beside the edition and format it identifies so you can check listings against it.	Free from a traditional publisher. Self-publishers in the United States buy them from Bowker; prices vary by quantity.	Add your ISBN-13

What done looks like

One item for the book, found or created after searching the exact title, with a short factual description.
Statements for instance of (written work), title, author (your item), language, publication date, publisher, and the ISBN-13 of each edition, each with a reference.
Your own item carries a notable work statement pointing at the book, so each page links to the other.
The book's Q number recorded in your Book Identity Sheet next to the ISBNs.

Evidence. Done means someone says the work happened. Verified means you checked the confirmation, link, or public record yourself.

Sources and last checked

Official source: Official source (opens in a new tab)
Other sources: Wikidata: Notability (opens in a new tab)
Last checked: September 14, 2026
How confident we are: Verified

Rules and deadlines change. We last checked this information on September 14, 2026. If you see something that needs updating, please tell us.