It is very unlikely that we will consider a completed manuscript for publication. A book description should draw the reader in, but authors tend to get too flowery with these. What can we learn by analyzing thousands of best selling book descriptions. Apr 02, 2015 the book description, often overlooked as a means to drive traffic to your page, is also a great place to use keywords. Writing your author bio can be a daunting task, but a wellcrafted bio can help readers learn more about what makes you and your books so interesting. Get recommendations for free and discounted ebooks from our expert editorial team, from bestsellers to hidden gems. The page is a reading list sharing the best books to read in various categories based on many hours of reading and research. The night circus by erin morgenstern, the catcher in the rye by j. And the description section on your book s product page is the most important selling tool you have. I just provided a quick summary, copied and pasted something from my conclusion, and called it a day. You dont have to be a nonbeliever to find solace and wisdom in the distilled ideas. Likewise, you should read several book descriptions before writing your own. How to write an amazon book description that sells reedsy blog. Get tips for how to write a good book description and learn the difference between a long book description and a short book description.
Apr 03, 2017 as stephen king says in on writing write with the door closed. And the description section on your books product page is the most important selling tool you have. How to write a book description that attracts readers. While the amazon book description wont affect traffic i.
Another form of marketing material that helps authors reach their target audience is a books description. How to write a book description for a nonfiction book. Actually, its rude to go over one page in a query letter, not to mention unprofessional. If that character is dangerous, for example, then simply describing a place adds a layer of foreboding, foreshadowing, to the entire book. The above amazon book description generator will help you to create those beautiful descriptions with just a couple of clicks of a button. Nothing kills a potential book sale faster than a poor book description, except perhaps for a terrible book cover. In this section, you want to explain to people why they should. Heres a screenshot of this book, how to sell a truckload of books on amazon. Think of it like the inside flap of a hardcover book. Why a book s amazon description is actually a sales description and not a summary of the book s narrative.
Like others who have commented, i too tend to gloss over descriptions in my own work because i dont read too much of it in others, and then my beta readers insist on a bit more description. Spend time figuring out the best possible title for your book, because it will largely determine what people think about your book, and thus, your book s success. A good sex scene is not always about good sex, but it is always an example of good writing. How writers can optimize their books description on. Biodiversity heritage librarysee more about illustrations, book and libraries. The book description is your sales page that, as gary points out, most authors neglect to spend enough time on. A good book description is probably one of the most important sections of a book it is because a potential reader or book buyer will read the book description before deciding if the book is worth buying. How to write book descriptions for fiction and nonfiction with bryan cohen. From don quixote to american pastoral, take a look at the 100 greatest novels of all time the 100 greatest nonfiction books the 2015 version of the 100 best novels. In this guide, ill walk you through how to write a book description, provide you a template, and include. Keywords are one or more words used to indicate the content of your book. Unbeatable ebook deals, handpicked recommendations, and updates from your favorite authors.
Every good book description you see is interesting from the first sentence. If youre interested in beginning your writing journey and have ever questioned whether you have the traits of a good writer, learn how to take your writing career to the next level. The description is a readers first experience with the content of your book. Rowling scholastic, 1998 he was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Oct 16, 2018 book descriptions not only tell readers what a book s about but help them find it online in the first place. Learn the top five qualities of a good writer and why its important to develop these traits if you dont already have them. Until summer 2015, i didnt pay much attention to my amazon book descriptions. How writers can optimize their books description on amazon. William, author of 2015 novel cash crash jubilee, offers advice on how to write vivid descriptions, while still being mindful of pacing. In order for a story to work, it needs to feel like real life, even when its actually something quite different. The obamas will be revealing all after landing lucrative book deals.
Get alerted about discounts, new releases, and preorders from your favorite authors. Book description mistakes indie authors make bookbaby blog. For example, author alessandra torre selfpublished her first book on amazon in 2012, and. This is a list of bestselling fiction authors to date, in any language. A good book description captures the reader, and wont let them go. A good book is a treasure trove of humanity so that no matter how often you open a page and start reading, there is still something new to be discovered. Rowan somervilles top 10 of good sex in fiction books. This will give you an idea of what good descriptions look like. Best books ever, best books of the 20th century, best books of the decade.
But when you include this information on createspace, it. Good writers will, in overt or gently subtle ways, introduce a placeascharacter. You need to know how to write a book description, preferably a great one. You want it to be short, eyecatching and interesting. This post is aimed specifically at book descriptions for fiction, and well post something for nonfiction authors later. This article will cover both what you need to include in your author bio and some examples of tight professional bios. How to write a book description that sells the writing cooperative. But if youve written a novel that is both literary fiction and historical fiction with a suspenseful murder plot and some gothic, paranormal charactersthen we feel your pain.
Your book description is what customers see as they shop the kindle store. When writing this description, think like a buyer, and not like the author. How to write a book description that will sell your book. People are always looking for a reason to move on to the next thing. Here are some additional tips for how to write a book description for a nonfiction book. Book metadata and keywords might seem scary, but theyre really only the words and phrases that you use to describe yourself and your book. Jan 30, 2017 character description examples from major authors give us useful lessons in how to write characters. Mar 24, 2016 in his lates book book descriptions that sell, gary takes new authors on a journey into writing the best descriptions that sells books. Book descriptions not only tell readers what a books about but help them find it online in the first place. Just like a great cover design captures your eye immediately, every good book description you see is interesting from the first line. We tell you exactly how to construct a great book description of your own. Book descriptions not only tell readers what a book s about but help them find it online in the first place. Mar 22, 2012 writing is an account of how people think. Many times ill see blocks of text pulled from the back of the book and while, in theory, thats not a bad idea.
Inspired by the writing of herodotus and lucretius, confucius and mencius, seneca and cicero, montaigne, bacon, and so many others, the good book fulfills its audacious purpose in every way. How to write a book description that sells with examples. Note that these instructions are optimized for nonfiction books. They can make us feel scared, encouraged, aroused, angry, greedy, safe, or curious. The basics of book metadata and keywords ingramspark. Jan 12, 2016 how writers can optimize their books description on amazon jane friedman if youre an author, you may not like thinking about your published books as products, but thats what they are.
Yes, any course costs something, and you often get what you pay for, but this does not mean that everything you decide to pay for is worth the cost. In other words, once you decide to send your story out into the world for the enjoyment of readers, it doesnt belong to you anymore and you must optimize its presentation to benefit them, not to indulge your own obsessive passion about ultimately irrelevant details. If youve been thinking about book descriptions at all, youll have noticed that some descriptions make good use of formatting bold, italics, subheadings, etc, some make wildly excessive use of them, and some make no use at all. The key to a good headline is to include keywords that people on the hunt for.
Why are book descriptions so hard to write for authors. How a great amazon book description can help authors sell more books 08142016 10. Same book, same content, just a different title i would argue a perfect title. My company, scribe, does this as a service for authors. How a copywriter would write a better book description. How writers can optimize their books description on amazon jane friedman if youre an author, you may not like thinking about your published books as products, but thats what they are. As the creator of the story, authors dont want to leave anything out. May 17, 20 7 secrets to writing persuasive back cover sales copy by casey demchak covers the key points authors should think about when writing their sales copy.
I cant resist a good data visualization, so i also took the opportunity to craft this data into a series of word clouds. I suppose some might be offended by the good book but they neednt be. A wellwritten description assures readers that the book. The very hungry caterpillar by eric carle, brown bear, brown bear, what do you see. The good book offers a userfriendly guide to the bibles biggest ideas. Power words are persuasive, descriptive words that trigger a positive or negative emotional response. How a great amazon book description can help indie authors. Dawn field is a book lover and scientist interested in what makes great writing. Her first book, biocode, was published in 2015 by oxford university press. Want to get the author perfect bio and book description. A chapter from the bible accompanies each chapter of the book, which helps readers understand the context and content of the scripture passages in a way that can open the whole bible. How not to write a darn good query letterdont go beyond one page. Here are 7 character sketches from famous novels that show how to create physical and emotional character description. Sample character descriptions from harry potter and the sorcerers stone by j.
After your cover, the product description of your book is the first experience the reader has with you as an author. Qualities of a good writer five traits of a good writer. Strong character descriptions work on multiple levels. Its crucial it be compelling, because readers make buying decisions from the book description. Best selling refers to the estimated number of copies sold of all fiction books written or cowritten by an. They often include bullet points to outline the book s goals and procedures and they talk more about the author than the book itself. These erotic books offer a much sexier and better alternative to e. Character description examples from famous books now novel. The book description, often overlooked as a means to drive traffic to your page, is also a great place to use keywords. And take comfort by reading through the following genre descriptions, which are intended to quell genre angst. She is the founder of unity in writing, llc where she writes about writing, language and science and loves giving feedback and brainstorming with authors as a developmental editor. View book descriptions and illustrations of mollusks. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. In a way, the answer to the problem of poor book descriptions and awful book covers are related, because both require skills that many authors dont have.
What problem, challenge, or question does your book address. Not only is it useful to know what you need to include in an author bio, it is also useful to see examples of how your vital information should look. Visit amazon author central, click on your book, and add it in the about the author section or if you published a paperback version of your book on createspace, you can enter the bio in the author biography section for your book. Writing an author bio examples of professional bios. What writers get wrong in their book sales descriptions. We have put together this list of 155 words to help you describe an authors tone. Five tips to write a good book description dorrance. Use examples from your previously taken notes to justify your opinion. Unless you are a huge fan of the books author, youre first drawn to a. Many nonfiction descriptions do this by listing the topics covered with bullet points such as the amazon page for the 4hour workweek by timothy ferriss. May 11, 2017 rather than waste the midnight hours with trivial endeavors like sleep, i dissected over 2000 book descriptions in amazons paid best seller charts us to divine their secrets. Authors will often have a good idea for a resource or book, and many valuable things to say, but often through inexperience, or lack of familiarity with the market, will produce their finished work in a form which we would not be able to publish.
The more detailed and rich your descriptions, the better your writing will approximate the human experience, thereby. The combination of the two together is a death sentence. How to write descriptions and evoke a sense of place. While finding precise sales numbers for any given author is nearly impossible, the list is based on approximate numbers provided or repeated by reliable sources. How to write a darn good query letter ny book editors. Capture readers with better book descriptions for fiction. How to write book descriptions for fiction and nonfiction. The more precise your examples are, the more powerful your book description will be. A great book description on amazon will engage readers and sell books.
What exactly will readers take away from your book. When you describe how a character looks, think about how appearance. Your book metadata will consist of basic things such as your title, author name, author bio, book description, publication date, etc. Copywriting for authors kindle edition by meeks, brian d. Experts that consist of writers, sociologists, psychologists, and others with a special sense for the. The purpose of the headline is to make the audience read further into your book description. Welcome to fantastic fiction search and browse bibliographies of over 50,000 bestselling fiction authors, with the latest books and series information join our 99,999 members. Without a solid book description, your book can fall flat even with a good cover. Authors, copywriters, and content marketers use power words to spice up their content and compel audiences to take action. The more detailed and rich your descriptions, the better your writing will approximate the human. If its good, its because what it charges is worth the cost. How to write your book sales description with bryan cohen. Amazon descriptions can be up to 4,000 characters usually around 600700 words, and i kept mine under 2,000 characters. How to write an amazing author bio book marketing for.
You want your book description to be persuasive, and giving specific examples is the best way to achieve such an effect. Thanks to the programming side of the kindlepreneur team, weve created a book description generator that anyone can use, without having to know html. Before you wrote your book, im guessing you read a lot of other books. Because authors and not marketers are writing them. Highlypaid author and copywriter bryan cohen shares his best tips for writing a book description that helps you sell more books.
Are there common words in the description of best selling books. Field book descriptions can range from brief folder level descriptions in. Best page forward for authors and the challenges of writing good copy, which are very different from writing good fiction. Youll find more than 100 good books to read, organized by category.
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