Describe and classify the book
Select and verify BISAC subject headings
Choose the specific BISAC (Book Industry Standards and Communications) subject codes that describe the book, and confirm they are the ones sent to retailers and libraries.
Authors often hire help with this: metadata or distribution.
Why it matters
Subject codes decide where the book sits when a reader browses and which buyer sees it when a wholesaler routes new titles. A memoir coded only as a general biography competes with everything; the same memoir coded to its specific subject reaches readers looking for exactly that. The difference costs nothing and is one of the few metadata choices that clearly changes discovery.
Your part
- What you do
- Verify. Someone else may do it. Inspect the result yourself.
- Who normally owns it
- Publisher. Publisher or self-publisher assigns; author reviews for fit
- When
- Before metadata is distributed to retailers and libraries, usually six to nine months before publication (Describe and classify the book: twelve to six months before publication, and before any preorder opens)Checked September 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Your part changes with your publishing route.
How to do it
The full walkthrough
BISAC subject headings are the standard subject codes used in the North American book trade, maintained by the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) and updated each year. Each heading is a code and a path, such as a top-level category followed by more specific subcategories. Retailers use them to place a book in browse categories, wholesalers and libraries use them to route it to the right buyers, and many other systems derive their own categories from them.
Ask which codes were chosen, usually two or three with the first treated as primary, and compare them with your own view of the audience. If the primary code is broad where a specific one exists, or describes a market the book is not really for, raise it before the metadata goes out, and on a hybrid contract expect that whoever entered the codes may not have thought about them much. If you choose the codes yourself, BISG's guidance is to find the major heading that best fits and then click through to the most specific subheading that still describes the book. Use the current edition of the list, and use the same codes on every platform so the book lands in consistent categories.
Record the chosen codes, with their full text, in the Book Identity Sheet, and re-check them whenever the BISAC list is updated.
Common mistakes
- Choosing a top-level code ("FICTION / General") when a specific one exists.
- Choosing aspirational codes for a bigger market where the book does not belong.
- Using different codes on different platforms so the book is categorized inconsistently.
- Using a retired code from an old edition of the list.
- Assuming retailer categories are the same as BISAC codes; many are derived, but not identical.
Identifiers for Select and verify BISAC subject headings
Set a status on any record and it joins this step. All book identifiers.
| My status | Identifier | Why this matters | Yours |
|---|---|---|---|
| BISAC Subject Headings The standard list of subject category codes used in the United States and Canada to decide where a book is filed and shelved. | These codes decide which category paths your book lands in on retailer sites and, in a physical store, often which section it is shelved in, so a wrong or retired code can leave readers unable to find it by browsing. The codes travel inside the metadata feed, so one choice reaches many channels at once. Traditionally and hybrid published authors normally ask which codes were assigned and raise a concern if the book has landed somewhere wrong; if you publish the book yourself, you choose them in your platform's category fields. Record the current codes assigned to the book and check that they describe what the book honestly is. | Add your BISAC code | |
| Thema The international scheme of subject category codes used by retailers and wholesalers outside North America. | This matters mainly if your book will be sold outside the United States and Canada, because a book carrying only North American subject codes may be poorly categorized, or not categorized at all, in a market whose retailers read this scheme instead. If you sell only at home, there is nothing here for you to do. Traditionally and hybrid published authors normally ask whether Thema codes are assigned and what they are; if you publish the book yourself, you check whether your platform offers a Thema field, and some do not, in which case there is nothing to fill in. Find out whether Thema codes are assigned and review them if they are. | Add your Thema code |
What done looks like
- Two or three BISAC codes, each as specific as the content allows, with one clearly primary.
- Codes taken from the current BISAC edition (the 2025 edition was current when this was written).
- The same codes used in the publisher's feed and on every platform you control.
- Codes recorded in full (code and heading text) in the Book Identity Sheet.
- Codes reviewed against the book's actual audiences, not the audiences the author hoped for.
Ask your publisher
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Sources and last checked
- Official source
- Official source (opens in a new tab)
- Last checked
- September 13, 2026
- How confident we are
- Verified
Rules and deadlines change. We last checked this information on September 13, 2026. If you see something that needs updating, please tell us.