Is That Information Necessary?

Metadata: a set of data the describes and gives information about other data.

There has been a lot of talk about metadata in the book industry. Good metadata is required to sell books. Bad metadata can impede sales.

Let’s be clear about what metadata is in terms of books. Metadata is any and all of the information you put out to describe a book. This includes the book’s description, the author’s bio, trade reviews, genre, and book data such as ISBN number, binding, number of pages, retail price, publisher, etc.

Having clear book descriptions is one of the most important pieces of metadata for books. Readers want to know what a book is about and what the book will do for them. Generally readers are not as interested in an author’s bio beyond knowing what qualifications the author has for writing the book. This includes degrees, experience, and other books published.

Sadly, a number of independently published authors talk too much about themselves in their author bio. Just the other week, another press release crossed my desk for a newly published Christian book. The description of the book was one paragraph long, while the author’s bio was three paragraphs in length. After reading the press release I knew more about the author than the book.

Generally, unless an author is well-established with a large following, readers are not buying the author. They are buying books. Knowing that the author has been married for 33 years and appreciates the love and support of his wife does nothing in helping a reader decide to purchase the book unless the book’s topic is on marriage. Knowing that the author is the youngest of six children and grew up on a farm does not further the reader’s desire to purchase a book unless the topic of the book is related to farming or large families.

Knowing the right things to put in an author bio is important for book sales and discoverability. Take for instance the novel Galveston written by Nic Pizzolato creator of the hit HBO TV series True Detectives. Originally published in 2010, the novel got good reviews but only sold about 1,000 copies. Since the TV series True Detectives was rising in popularity, the publisher decided to add to the author’s bio that Pizzolato was the creator of the TV series, even though the novel had nothing to do with the TV show. The following year, the book sold over 34,000 copies.

The publisher of Galveston recognized that they could use the author’s tie-in to the TV series to create more interest. By adding this important piece of information to the metadata, search engines began to bring the book up in searches for True Detectives. Sales followed.

Consider carefully the information you place in your author bio. Weed out the unnecessary information and only use that information that helps readers feel confident of the author’s abilities and qualifications for penning the book and helps to drive discoverability.

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Book Discoverability
Sell More Books with Better Book Descriptions
Do You Know What it Takes to Sell a Book?

Book Discoverability

“Book Discoverability” is a new buzz word in the world of publishing and selling books. How do people discover your books? How do you make it easier for people to discover your books?

Lots of talk has been revolving around this topic. With increasing Internet connectedness and decreasing physical bookstore browsing, the way people discover books is shifting.

As recently as two years ago, one-third of new books were discovered in physical bookstores. Now, two years later, that number has shrunk to one-fifth. While physical discovery has decreased over the past few years, digital discovery has increased. Today, about one in six new books are discovered online in some form, up from about one in ten two years ago.

With more books being discovered online, what should publishers and authors do to make sure that their books are “discoverable”?

1. Make sure your metadata is accurate. Basically, metadata is the DNA of a book. It defines a book’s basic descriptors which include the ISBN, title, author name, publisher, publication date, price, page count, format, language, book description, and more. In other words, on the Internet, it is the SEO for your books.
2. Make sure that your books are available to purchase in multiple places on the Internet. Having your books for sale on Amazon.com and your website is not enough. The more places your books are available to purchase, the more likely people will discover your books.
3. Make sure that you are using social media to promote your books. The majority of adults in the United States use social media. A recent survey showed that 67% of online adults say they use Facebook, 20% say they use LinkedIn, 15% say they use Pinterest, 16% say they use Twitter, and 13% say they use Instagram.
4. Make sure people are talking about your books online. One of the best ways to do this is by getting bloggers to talk about your books. Schedule a blog tours for your books that include excerpts from the book or interviews with the author, or reviews of the book.

With over more than half of all books (ebooks and print books) now bought online in some form, being discoverable on the Internet is more important than ever if you want to sell more books.