Metadata is the information about your book that retailers, libraries and search engines use to identify it, display it and recommend it. Readers never see most of it as such, yet it influences whether they find your book at all.
The parts of your metadata
- Title and subtitle. The subtitle is a chance to say what the book is about, in plain words.
- Author name. Use the same form of your name everywhere.
- Description. The text on the retailer page, and your best sales copy.
- Categories. The shelves your book is filed on.
- Keywords. The search terms that readers might use.
- ISBN and publisher. These identify the edition and the publisher of record.
- Series information, language, price and publication date.
Categories
Categories place your book among similar books, which helps readers who browse and gives the retailer's systems a signal about what you have written. Retailers often use their own category lists, while the book trade uses standard classification schemes, such as Thema (the international scheme used by the UK book trade) and BISAC (widely used in North America).
Choose the categories that really fit, and look at where comparable books sit. A narrower category can give you a better chance of standing out than a very crowded one.
Keywords
Keywords are the words and phrases that readers might type into a search box. To choose them:
- Imagine what a reader of your kind of book would search for.
- Look at the suggestions that appear when you type in a search box at a retailer.
- Check which terms comparable books use.
- Choose phrases that describe your book honestly, rather than trying to attract the wrong readers.
Do not stuff your keywords with names of other authors or books, or with claims that are not true. Retailers have rules about this, and misleading metadata puts readers off.
Descriptions
Your description should do two jobs: persuade the reader and help search. Lead with the strongest hook, use the words your readers use, and write short paragraphs. See our guide to writing a book blurb for a structure to follow.
Consistency
The same information should appear in the same form everywhere your book is listed: title, subtitle, author name, series name and description. Inconsistent metadata can cause duplicate listings and confusion for readers and for retailers.
Keep it up to date
Metadata is not set in stone. If a category is not working or a description could be clearer, you can usually change it. Review it after launch, and again after a few months.
A short metadata checklist
- The title and subtitle say what the book is, in plain words
- The description opens with the strongest hook (see how to write a book blurb)
- Categories reflect where comparable books sit
- Keywords describe the book honestly
- The ISBN and publisher name are correct for each edition (see ISBNs in the UK)
- The author name is identical everywhere
- Everything matches on every retailer page
Review it again once your book is live, and again after your launch, using what you have learned about how readers find the book.
Common metadata mistakes
- Stuffing the subtitle or keywords with every popular term. It reads badly, and retailers may reject it.
- Choosing a category because it is popular, not because the book fits.
- Writing the author name two ways, for example with and without a middle initial, which can split your books across two author pages.
- Forgetting series details, so that books in a series do not link up.
- Never revisiting it. Metadata is cheap to improve, and a better description or category can help a book that is already live.
How we help
At Fable Studio, writing your metadata is part of an independent assisted book launch: we set the title, description, categories and keywords in your own distribution accounts, written with your readers in mind. See independent assisted book launch.
Want to know where your book stands?
Submit your manuscript for a free book review: the whole book, or at least the first three chapters. We'll read it and send you our feedback. There's no obligation.