Metadata to the Rescue

It sounds sci-fi to me: metadata. Or like the name of the latest superhero to hit the streets. I suppose it does have a kind of superpower, but really it’s just a computer thing. Metadata is what they call all of the information about your book that you’ll type into the search engines that are Amazon and Barnes and Noble and IngramSpark! when you list your book in e-book and paper form. The metadata is what helps customers find your book.

Brace yourself because there will be many questions when you list your book, and you will have to answer all of them. (Each of these sites offers a detailed help page on the subject, and I recommend you read it.)

Listing a book is not one of the more enjoyable tasks in self-publishing. But, yes, it is absolutely necessary. (As I write this I imagine some of you may be saying, What’s she talking about? It’s really not that bad.) That’s probably true for those who have some idea of what they’re doing before they go into it. I went into it blindly and became overwhelmed pretty quickly.  

In this blog post, I’ll discuss what I find the most important in the book-listing process. Then, when it’s your turn to list your book, you’ll be prepared.

Sales Description

You’re probably thinking, I’ll just use my cover copy for that. And you can. Have you written the cover copy yet? If you’ve had your paperback cover made, the answer is yes. If not, you’ll have to write it now. Have you edited it and considered Search Engine Optimization and tone and all the rest? Did you know that depending on your genre, certain words used in your sales description will help you convince the customer to buy your book? One way to discover those words would be to read many sales descriptions in your genre.

Another, more scientific way to go about it, would be to check out K-Lytics.com and buy a report that pertains to your specific genre (cost is $37 or less) that tells you what those words are and provides the one hundred top-selling sales descriptions from that genre (at the time of the report’s printing) to prove it. These reports are highly detailed and can help you with category terms and keywords (described below) as well.

For instance, my book THEY WILL BE COMING FOR US is a thriller—it might be described as a “supernatural” thriller or a “domestic” thriller, or a “science fiction” thriller, but I feel that “psychological” thriller is the best match. For that reason, I purchased a report focused on psychological thrillers and found that the following words used in the descriptions of highly ranked books are most prevalent: suspense, stars, gripping, secrets, twist, family, girl, husband, mother, daughter, etc. The list went on for thirty-nine more words.

My sales description already used several of these words, but after seeing the report, I fit a few more in where I could. Of course, you don’t have to use the same words that the most popular book descriptions in your genre use. But it can’t hurt, and it may help. “Do what you can do” has been my motto throughout the self-publishing experience!

The sales description is the reader’s introduction to your book, so take some time writing it. What will excite readers? It’s important to give them something to become emotionally invested in. Let your friends read it and help you revise it. It’s not like writing a novel, and most novelist don’t have much experience with this type of writing. Be sure to have the description written and edited before you start to input your metadata.

Categories

Shoppers often browse by category. So, getting your title to appear in the appropriate category will benefit you and your sales. You’ll be allowed to list five to seven categories, which have to do with genre. The key here is to drill down as deep as you can within your main category. For instance, if you’re listing a novel, it’s fiction, which is a very general category and not helpful to your readers. “Thriller” is more specific, but still quite broad. If you drill down deeper, you’ll find many different types of thrillers. For instance, “pulp” and “medical” and “crime.” After “crime,” you might get even more specific by adding “kidnapping.”

Keywords

These are the actual words that your ideal reader might type into the search engine when looking for a book like yours. Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House is a New Adult novel set on a college campus where a lot of dark magic is being experimented with and used for individual and group gains. The ideal reader might type in “new adult,” “college,” “fantasy,” “dark magic.”

The keywords for my book might be “psychological thriller,” “supernatural thriller,” “science fiction,” “female protagonist,” and/or “love story.” The idea is to consider what words your ideal reader would use to search for a book like yours.

Of course there’s more to metadata than sales description, categories, and keywords, but these three items can definitely slow you down if you’re not prepared. You don’t have to answer all of the metadata questions in one sitting. Save your work and go back to it as many times as you need.

Next week I’ll talk about contests and provide a list of some Indie Author competitions I’ve discovered.

Kim Catanzarite is a writer, editor, and instructor for Writer’s Digest University. She has worked as a developmental and copy editor since 1994. Her book They Will Be Coming for Us will be published June 2021.

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