Decide the name you publish under

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.

A name authority record is the library record used to identify you as an author and distinguish you from other people with the same or similar names. It includes an authorized access point, the standardized form of your name used in library catalogs that follow Library of Congress practice. The record helps libraries connect your books to the right person, so if it is wrong, incomplete, or confused with another person, your books can be associated with the wrong author or become harder to find together. Most new authors won't have a name authority record until a library has a reason to create one, and that's normal. Authors can't create or directly edit their own LC/NACO authority records, so the practical step for every publishing route is to search and check. Traditionally and hybrid published authors may be able to get help through their publisher's library-facing staff, while self-published authors will generally need to work through a library or cataloger that participates in NACO. Search every name you publish under and keep enough identifying information handy for a cataloger to distinguish or correct your record if needed.