Connect your public identity records
Add yourself to Wikidata
Search Wikidata for your name before creating anything. If no item exists and reliable public sources identify you, create one that links your name, books, website, and other identifiers.
Why it matters
The records in this section live in separate systems that never talk to each other. Wikidata is one public place where all of them can be listed side by side. 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. A wrong entry can spread, which is the better reason to check one that already exists.
Your part
- What you do
- Decide. Make a judgment about fit, cost, or strategy.
- Who normally owns it
- Author. Author adds; volunteers and libraries may already have created an entry
- When
- Any time after your first book has an ISBN; best once you have an ISNI or a library authority record to cite (Connect your public identity records: any time, and before libraries start cataloging your book)Checked September 14, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
How to do it
The full walkthrough
Wikidata is the structured database that sits behind Wikipedia and its sister projects. Each entry (an "item", with a number starting with Q) holds facts as statements: this item is a human, occupation writer, name in this form, with these identifiers in other systems. Search engines and linked-data services may use it as one public source among many. It can help connect an author, a book, and their identifiers. It does not feed a knowledge panel on demand, and the library world does not generally read an author's Wikidata item.
Whether you qualify. 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. Wikidata's notability rule is looser than Wikipedia's, and a Library of Congress name authority record, an ISNI, or a VIAF cluster is the kind of serious public reference it asks for. Read the current policy before you decide, because it is the community's rule and the community applies it. Editing facts about yourself is permitted, but it is a conflict of interest: say so on your user page or in the edit summary, write plainly, and accept that other editors may change or remove what you add.
Before you start. Create a free Wikidata account at wikidata.org (opens in a new tab), since only logged-in users can create items. Have your Book Identity Sheet open: the exact form of your name, your website, and every identifier you have collected in this section.
Search first. Search under every form of your name, because a library or a volunteer may already have made an entry. If one exists, open it and check it instead of creating another.
Create the item. Choose Create a new Item, enter your name as the label and a short factual description ("American author and attorney", not a pitch). Then add statements, one at a time, using the property names below:
- instance of: human
- occupation: writer (add author, and your profession if it is relevant to the book)
- official website: your site
- ISNI, VIAF ID, Library of Congress authority ID, Goodreads author ID, Amazon author ID: paste each one you hold
Add a reference to each statement where you can (the authority record page or the ISNI database page is enough). Leave out anything promotional; the description field is a label, not a bio. Save the Q number in your Book Identity Sheet.
Next. The book gets its own item, with an author statement pointing at yours, in the step Add your book to Wikidata. Do that one after this.
The route is the same whichever way you publish, and a publisher will rarely do this for you. If a Wikipedia article about you exists, link it; if it does not, do not write one about yourself, which Wikipedia's own rules discourage.
Common mistakes
- Creating a second item because the first search used only the cover spelling.
- Writing a promotional description or pasting the bio into the item.
- Adding statements without references, which other editors may remove.
- Stopping here: the book needs its own item and the link between the two (the next step).
- Expecting a Wikipedia article, a knowledge panel, or better ranking to follow. None of those is promised.
- Creating an item because the book has an ISBN. An ISBN by itself does not mean an author or a book should have an item.
- Editing your own entry without disclosing the connection, or writing it like a bio.
Identifiers for Add yourself to Wikidata
Set a status on any record and it joins this step. All author identifiers.
| My status | Identifier | Why this matters | Yours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | Add your Wikidata Q number | |
| ISNI The International Standard Name Identifier: a sixteen-digit number that says which creator you are when several people share a name. | Without a shared number, databases across publishing and libraries have no agreed answer to which person wrote what, which is how one writer's books end up grouped with another's. It matters most if you have more than one book, share a name with another writer, or work with a publisher that already carries these numbers in its metadata; a first-time author with an uncommon name and one title can reasonably do nothing. You may have one already, because many are created from data that libraries and other contributors feed in, so on every route the first move is normally to search the database rather than to request anything, and a traditionally published author can also ask whether the publisher requests them as part of its metadata practice. Record the sixteen-digit number only after checking that the works under it are yours. | Add your ISNI | |
| VIAF The Virtual International Authority File: a service that links the records different national libraries keep for the same author. | If your books are split across two entries, or mixed in with another writer's, this is where you can see it, because it draws together what the contributing library files say about you. A first-time author will often find nothing here yet, and that is normal rather than a gap. Nobody on any route can claim, create, or edit an entry, so all three routes do the same thing, which is look; a wrong cluster is a symptom of a problem in one of the source files, and the fix normally has to be made there, through a cataloger or the relevant national library. Check that the works in the cluster are yours and record the identifier if the cluster is right. | Add your VIAF number |
What done looks like
- One item for you, found or created after searching every form of your name.
- A short, factual description; instance of human; occupation; the name you publish under.
- Every identifier you hold added as a statement: ISNI, VIAF, Library of Congress, Goodreads author, Amazon author, official website.
- A reference on each statement, such as the authority record or the ISNI database page.
- The Q number recorded in your Book Identity Sheet next to your other identifiers, ready for the book step.
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)
- 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.