by Ruth Harris
First of all, what the &%^# is metadata? AccordIng to Wikipedia, it’s “data about data.” But we’re writers and we’re talking about books, so, huh?
Let me try again: when it comes to a book, metadata can be defined both by what it is and what it isn’t. Metadata’s everything in a file that’s not included between the first word and the last word of your book. Which leaves us, well, exactly what?
Essentially, for a writer, metadata is everything except the book we include when we upload a book: cover, title, author’s name, series name (if the book is part of a series), categories, keywords, blurb, ISBN, reviews, author bio.
Metadata also includes front matter and back matter and tells a reader what s/he wants to know before deciding to buy (or not to buy) your book. Metadata matters (a lot) and here are some reasons why, starting with the front matter (everything the reader sees that comes before the actual beginning of the book):
The cover is the writer’s first sell opportunity and the reader’s first clue to genre. A naked male torso avec bulging six-pack promises the reader hot s-e-x and maybe romance. A fanged death’s head drooling pus and blood means horror. Be creative but don’t mislead your reader! Book designer, Joel Friedlander, often blogs about covers here.
The title (and the series title, if there is one) is another crucial signal, so choose wisely. You wouldn’t call a sweet romance set in a sleepy Southern village Night Of the Psychotic Avenger, would you? You wouldn’t call a dystopian urban zombie thriller Aunt Matilda’s Ye Olde Knitting And Crochet Shoppe, would you? And Adventures of a Girl is hopeless: too generic, tells the reader nothing. Bottom line: choose your title carefully. Leading a reader astray or leaving him/her to wonder what the book is about isn’t good for you, your sales—or for your reader.
The author’s name is your brand so respect it. If the author name is a pseudonym, though, match the name with your genre. “Studly McBoozehound” might be an OK choice if you’re writing brass-knuckled noirpulp. It would be a lousy choice if you’re writing swoony 18th Century historical romance set in the Scottish Highlands. Capeesh?
The blurb or, as Amazon refers to it, the Product Description, is your opportunity to tell the readers why s/he absolutely must buy your book. Your blurb needs to pop and sizzle and compel the reader to hit the buy button. After the purchase, when your book is already present on someone’s ereader, placing the blurb in the front matter will remind the reader why s/he bought the book in the first place.
Writing a powerful blurb is both an art and a craft. Superstar indie author, Mark Edwards, gives advice on how to write a compelling blurb here.
The ISBN (or ASIN) is the alpha-numeric string (ZZ12345) that identifies your book to readers and book-sellers. ISBNs can be purchased from Bowker; the ASIN is the FREE number assigned by Amazon. Kobo and Apple also offer their own FREE identifiers when you upload your book.There is disagreement about whether it’s worth buying your own ISBN or not. Some think buying your own ISBN is worthwhile. Others think it doesn’t much matter. Joel Friedlander discusses the pros and cons of the different flavors of ISBNs/ASINs here.
Keyword and keyword strategy. Although the reader doesn’t see keywords, they are crucial to discoverability and visibility.Joanna Penn writes about the importance of keywords and explains the techniques for finding ones that will work best for you. She uses specific examples using one of her own books here.
Lisa Grace, mystery author, goes into the mysteries (sorry, couldn’t help it) of SEO and keywords here .
Category tells where a book would be shelved in a bookstore. No one will find your sci-fi epic if it’s shelved with gardening manuals so choose your categories (Amazon allows two; Nook permits five; Kobo and Apple also permit multiple choices.) carefully.M. Louisa Locke blogs about the importance of choosing categories (and keywords) here and FreelanceSwitch offers a detailed tutorial about category-choosing here.
Amazon provides overall metadata guidelines here, and lists required keywords for certain categories (romance, sci/fi, YA, thriller, mystery, suspense) here.
Possibilities for back matter:
- Mail list sign up.
- Request for a review.
- Links to your other books.
- Link to your blog/website.
- Excerpt from another book.
- Copyright.
- Acknowledgments.
Some advise that back matter should be no more than 5% of the entire length. Readers can feel cheated if they get to 55% of a file (the end of your story) only to find that another 45% is devoted to sales pitches! Obviously, a full-length novel will allow you more back matter space. A short story, less.
The savvy authors on the KB Writers’ Cafe share their thoughts about back matter (they don’t always agree about everything) here. Writers share examples of different approaches to back matter here. Another discussion of front matter and back matter and what information should go where is here.
From the first word of your title to the last period at the end of the last sentence in your back matter, metadata matters because metadata is one of the most important ways readers can find (and buy) your book. Ignore it at your peril!
posted by Ruth Harris (@RuthHarrisBooks) August 25, 2013
As part of my job includes some website design, I agree – metadata is crucial, especially for exposure.
My publisher places my bio and website in the back – I guess that would be good back matter material?
Now that I know what metadata is–thanks so much Ruth–I realize this is something that my publisher routinely helps us with. We fill out blurb and cover sheets once we receive a contract for a book and they provide prompts, hints, etc. that cover all of the bases you mentioned in your post: different length blurbs; key words; book categories; cover ideas, etc. I knew I was lucky with JMS Books but now I realize her writers get all the guidance they need for metadata. We even get ISBN numbers.Thanks for this great post, Ruth.
Putting the "product description" in the front matter is a good idea, as so many people buy books and more books, and by the time they get around to reading yours, they forget what it's about.
Great post, Ruth. Thanks for all the invaluable info.
Alex—Definitely. Bio, link to your website, maybe a request for a review or links to your other books would all go into back matter. Just don't let your back matter run on too long—you don't want to aggravate your readers!
Lexa—Thank you! Actually, once you break down the different elements of metadata, it's not all that mysterious. Still, if your publisher does a good job for you, there's no reason to take on the job yourself.
Paul—So now the veil has been lifted and you know why JMS asks for all that info! Now your readers know who you are, what you've written and your books are shelved correctly. + isbn numbers! What's not to like? 🙂
Anne—Thanks for the kind words and I couldn't agree more. I buy lots of books and by the time I get to a title I purchased a while ago, having that reminder up front is a major help as I decide what to read next.
I had no idea what metadata was or how important it was to my book. I'm so glad I have a publisher to do that for me. Thanks for the easy-to-understand post about metadata, the links to your (and Anne's) book sales, and publishing venues. 🙂
Soooo helpful! Bookmarking this one. Thanks
Julie—Thanks. Glad it helped!
I don't usually comment when you have the helm, Ruth, because your weeks give me a nice time out for working on the old WIP.
But I have to say you really went above and beyond with this post. Your research is fantastic. So many questions answered. Thanks for working so hard for us on this "nuts and bolts" stuff most of us find so daunting. (At least I do.) Great post!
Anne—Thanks! As with so many things that seem daunting at first, once you break it down, it turns out not to be all that big a deal. One of those deals where my conclusion is if I can figure it out, so can anyone.
Christine—Glad it helped! And, yes we do. Our mistakes are our best teachers!
Ms. Harris- your post is so useful and fun to read, I had to look to be sure it wasn't another one of Anne's!
I appreciate all this advice, a very widely useful piece. I paid particular attention to the ISBN section and I must say, I'm still immune to understanding why a self-pub e-pub indie like myself would ever need to buy one. Smashwords is my home base, I'm not ashamed to say it- and I just don't understand what folks are saying about "control" with other routes. If I were a publisher, I guess I could see it- but I cannot understand "why pay" for a number I could not recall with a gun to my head. Quick, what was the ISBN for Fellowship of the Ring- you know?
Trekelny—Thanks for the kind words. Glad you enjoyed your trip through the wilds of MetaData!
Thanks so much. There's an incredible amount of information here and all of it important.
Great information, Ruth. So helpful. I think I might have missed the mark with my title AND cover with my first e-book. Oh well…we learn, yes we do!
Great information here and broken down so clearly. Thank you for doing the hard work for us. Worth bookmarking.
Beth—Thank *you*! 🙂
Julie—Glad I was able to help clarify & thanks for the bookmark!
Goodness gracious, such an informative post! You've given so many good pointers and things to consider, I have to bookmark this to refer to later. Each one is a jewel.
And then there's the contest information. One stop shopping!
Thanks, Ruth. And hey, Anne.
M.L. Swift, Writer
ML—Jewels?! Wow, thanks for the flattering words. Much appreciated!
Thanks so much for the info you post on this blog. So helpful to a newbie beginner. I've marked several of your posts for future reference.
HM,CW—Thanks for letting us know you find our posts useful. Anne and I appreciate your kind words!
Love, love this blog! Always insightful with a bit of added entertainment. I can't wait to get to my newly purchased 'How to be a Writer…; and Sherwood Ltd.
Debby—Thank you! Anne and I appreciate your flattering words. You'll love How To Be and Sherwood!
Thank you for doing the hard work for us.
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