Wikipedia Page Creation Services, Written to Wikipedia's Rules

We're a book publisher, so this is the question we hear most. Does my book get a Wikipedia page? Does it need one?

A book doesn't get a page because it exists, sells, or has warm reviews on a retailer's site. Wikipedia's book guideline presumes a book notable when it meets at least one test. It has been the subject of two or more non-trivial published works in independent sources, such as reviews, newspaper coverage, other books or documentaries. Or it has won a major literary award, or made a significant contribution to a field, or is taught at two or more schools, colleges or universities. Or the author is so historically significant that all of their work counts.

What doesn't count is just as specific. Retailer bestseller lists and Goodreads don't qualify. Neither do reprinted press releases, flap copy, or any piece where the author, publisher or agent is the one speaking about the book. Self-publication has no bearing on notability, and an ISBN, a retailer listing and a Google Books entry are not evidence of it.

An author can qualify separately, under the guideline for creative professionals, if their work has been widely cited by peers, has drawn significant critical attention, or is the primary subject of multiple independent reviews or articles. One book with a handful of reviews seldom clears that bar for the author. Sometimes the book alone is the better case, and sometimes neither is there yet.

We've read the manuscripts and the review pages. A first book usually hasn't earned this coverage yet, and that's no verdict on the writing. The route forward is to earn real reviews and press, then come back. Our guide to how to get book reviews without breaking the rules is a place to start, and our book marketing services are built around that kind of coverage. Writing your own entry and citing your own book as the evidence won't work, so don't try it.

If what you want right now is a page that presents you well, author and professional bios are yours to write, place and update. An encyclopedia isn't.

Part of the job is saying no, and we'd rather say it early. We turn down:

• Subjects without independent coverage. We say so, and explain what coverage would change the answer.
• Promotional pages. Your story, told warmly, belongs on your own site, and brand storytelling is where we do it.
• Requests to remove or soften criticism that reliable sources have published.
• Requests to hide that the work is paid.
• "Make it say X" briefs.
• Pages built from the subject's own publications and press releases.
• Sock puppets, fake accounts, or paying volunteer editors off the record. Any hint of that is a hard no.

The articles most likely to be removed are the ones written backwards from a brand message. If a provider will take any subject, any brief and any fee, ask them what they do with the ones that get declined.

We're an independent publishing house in Lake City, Colorado, and we've been publishing since 1996. Our daily work is checking claims against sources, tightening copy, and refusing to oversell, which is most of what encyclopedic drafting asks for. Our editors have always said no to manuscripts and to work the house can't do well, and told the author what the project needs instead.

Authors keep the copyright in their own books and texts. A Wikipedia article is a separate matter, as the licensing note above explains. If you want to see how we treat the people we work with, read what our authors say about our book work.

"Can't I just do it myself?" Yes. Anyone can submit a draft, and the conflict-of-interest guideline is the reason to disclose and take care when you write about yourself. We're for people who want the sourcing and the register done properly.

"What if it's declined?" The reviewer gives reasons. Some can be fixed, and a decline for lack of notability is an answer.

"What if someone edits it later?" Anyone can, and volunteer editors decide what happens. We can't promise permanence, and the questions that expose publishing scams apply just as well to anyone who does.