What is book metadata?
Book metadata is a set of data that describes your book beyond the content of the story itself. It’s all the information that search engines and retail stores use to identify, categorize, and market your book.
Metadata includes information like:
- Title
- Subtitle
- Author name
- ISBN
- Publisher and imprint
- Publication date
- Format
- Price
It also includes descriptive details like your book’s genre, author bibliography, and description. Your book’s metadata can include your cover image, who your target audience is, and any endorsements or reviews you’ve received.
As you might imagine, that’s a whole lot of information, and metadata optimization is an entire area of focus for those in the publishing industry. Metadata shapes how your book is listed on retail websites and in databases so that both industry professionals and readers can find it.
Why does metadata matter?
The book market, both online and offline, is massive. With so many books out there, discoverability is vital. Many readers find their next book by browsing their favorite genres and categories online rather than browsing physical store shelves. Your book’s metadata is a lot like the digital equivalent of that bookstore shelf. Think of your genre or category metadata as the section of the bookstore where your book would be placed. Your description and author bio are more like the back cover blurb.
If your metadata is weak or inaccurate, your book could be shelved in the wrong area or show up in the wrong kind of search. If your metadata isn’t strong, your book won’t be found, which results in fewer sales.
Metadata is directly tied to book sales; it’s how algorithms and shoppers alike find your books. But here’s something surprising — metadata also helps to convince readers to buy your book. For example, a compelling description and unique author bio can intrigue a reader once they’ve discovered your book. The right genre classification and keywords makes sure it shows up in the first place.
Poor metadata can make sure a book is never found. Imagine a heartfelt novel being labeled as “drama” which then puts it among theatrical plays by Shakespeare — not where novel readers will be looking. In the same vein, labeling a children’s book as “education” might cause parents searching under “children’s books” to miss your title. For this reason, it’s incredibly important to choose the right metadata categories for your book.
Good metadata also builds trust with your readers. If someone sees your book’s product page after clicking on an ad or search result, they’ll look at the metadata: the title, cover image, description, author information, and reviews, before deciding whether or not to purchase. Having a well-written, informative description can do a great deal of the selling for you. By the same token, a poorly written or long blurb can turn potential readers away. It’s said that people shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but in reality, people do judge a book by its cover, and its metadata! The cover or title draws their attention, but the metadata helps seal the deal.
Metadata even impacts how effective your marketing is. For instance, if you run promotional campaigns or ads, getting a reader to click gets you halfway there. Once they land on your book’s product page, it’s the metadata that convinces them to buy. When you want that click to turn into a sale, it’s the metadata that does the heavy lifting. Yes, it really is that important!
Diving into book metadata
Every self-published author should know what fields make up the metadata for your book. Whether you’re publishing through a self-publishing company like BookBaby or a retailer like Amazon KDP, you’ll be asked to fill in many of the fields that will make up your metadata. Here are each of the individual elements that make up your book data, and why they’re so important:
Title and subtitle
Your book title is at the heart of your metadata and it’s almost always the main text that will appear in the search results. You’ll want to enter this exactly the way it appears on your book cover. If you have a subtitle (which is common in nonfiction), that becomes a part of the metadata, too.
The combination of title and subtitle helps your book stand out and tells readers and search engines what your book is about. Make sure that what’s in the metadata form field matches what’s on the cover to avoid causing your book to be rejected by the retailer or come up not found in an online search.
Author name (and contributors)
This is how readers and databases recognize who wrote the book. Use the name you want to be known by (either a pseudonym or your real name) and use it consistently. If there are several authors or additional contributors like illustrators, editors, narrators for audiobooks, translators, etc.) these can also be a part of the metadata.
Your author name is important for fans searching for your work, and also for linking your book with your author profile or other titles you’ve written. Consistent metadata makes sure that all the books you’ve written appear under your name.
Book description (blurb)
This is a crucial piece of your marketing. This is the synopsis or back cover blurb that appears in your book’s online listing. A good blurb is designed to hook readers while being concise and compelling. You want to give readers a taste of the plot or topic without revealing everything.
Keep in mind that many distribution partners have limits on description lengths, so it’s a good idea to prepare both a short and long version to accommodate different retailer requirements. As with any marketing content, make sure that the blurb is well-written and designed to encourage the target audience to want to learn more. Huge walls of text or overly detailed summaries might be too overwhelming.
Author biography
This lets your readers know a bit more about you and why you’re qualified to write this book or tell this story. For nonfiction books, a clear and compelling bio builds your credibility. For fiction and memoir books, it creates a personal link from you to your fans by highlighting your background, experience, or awards you’ve won. The author biography is often displayed on your book’s product page and is an important part of your metadata. Some retailers display this information under the “about the author” section, so keeping it personable can help encourage sales.
Genre and BISAC category
You’ll need to tell the search engine or website about your book’s genre or subject. This is done by way of BISAC codes. BISAC stands for “book industry standards and communications.” These are the standard categories that the book industry uses to categorize books by topic or genre. Choosing the right BISAC code (or genre category) makes sure that your book can be found in its respective section on both retail sites and in libraries. Miscategorizing can severely impact how discoverable your book is.
To make BISAC categories work in your favor, be as specific as possible. Rather than just lumping your book under “fiction,” if your book is a mystery thriller, choose the “mystery/thriller” category. Many platforms let you choose more than one category or subgenre, so you’ll want to take advantage of that in order to widen your reach while still zeroing in on your target audience.
Keywords and search terms
Keywords are the phases and terms that aren’t covered by basic categories, but that readers might search for anyway. These often include specific types of books, settings, or niche topics, for instance “time travel romance,” “World War II biography,” or “small town mystery.” Retailers like Amazon let you add a set of 5–7 keywords or short phrases that help the store’s internal search engine index your book.
To choose the right kinds of keywords, think about what a potential reader might type in when looking for a book like yours. Adding those into your keyword list (or even your book description or title) can help improve your book’s visibility in search results. If you’re familiar with website SEO (search engine optimization), this is similar, except it revolves around book metadata and making sure your book shows up when someone searches for a relevant term on Amazon, Google, or another online storefront.
To illustrate, if you’ve written a cookbook featuring vegan desserts, you’ll not only want to choose the keywords “vegan desserts” but also things like “plant-based dessert recipes.” Choose words and phrases that readers are likely to search for so that your book is more likely to show up in the results!
ISBN (international standard book number)
Your ISBN is a unique 13-digit identifier for your book. It’s vital for proper distribution. Every format or edition of your book that’s sold or distributed to the public generally requires its own ISBN. Your ISBN essentially ties all your book’s metadata together in both library and bookseller systems. When someone searches for your book via its ISBN, they’ll get that specific edition of your book.
ISBNs are used around the world by publishers, bookstores, libraries, and distributors to catalog and identify books. Even eBooks that are sold outside of a single platform should have an ISBN to track sales across different websites. Keep in mind that you’ll need a separate ISBN for every format of your book. So, if you publish your book as a paperback, a hardcover, and an eBook, that’s three distinct editions and each one should have its own ISBN. You cannot reuse the same ISBN across different formats — even a second edition or slightly revised version requires a new ISBN because it’s considered a separate edition.
If you publish a translated version of your book in another language, that translation is also considered a new edition and will need a new ISBN.
One of the most-common questions we receive is whether or not an ISBN is the same thing as an ASIN. An ASIN is an Amazon standard identification number. These numbers are reserved for Amazon’s Kindle eBooks and it’s their own proprietary identifier. When you publish an eBook through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon assigns an ASIN to that Kindle edition of your book.
An ASIN only works within Amazon’s Kindle ecosystem. It’s not a replacement for an ISBN. An ISBN isn’t necessary if you’re publishing a Kindle eBook on Amazon, but if you have an eBook and a print version, your print version will still use its ISBN, as would any eBook that’s not specifically a Kindle eBook.
How to get an ISBN
ISBNs are issued by specific agencies that differ from country to country. In the United States, the official ISBN agency is Bowker. Their website to purchase one or more ISBNs is MyIdentifiers.com. As part of our publishing services here at BookBaby, we make the process easier by selling affordable ISBNs for independent authors.
Once you have an ISBN, you’ll assign it to your book. This is usually done as part of the metadata setup process, where there’s a field to enter the ISBN. If you purchased your ISBN from Bowker or another agency, you should log into their system and add your book’s information (title, author, description, and so on) to that ISBN registration so that it’s tied to your book in the database.
If you get an ISBN with BookBaby, we’ll handle the registration on your behalf. The ISBN will appear on the copyright page of the book, as well as on the back cover as part of the barcode.
Publication date
This is the release date of your book. It’s often used by bookstores to organize pre-orders or to list your book among new releases. Make sure that the date is accurate. If you change the launch date, update this field so that retailers and online sites always have the correct information. The year of publication is also often used in bookstore databases and libraries, so having an accurate date lets readers know if your book is recent or if it has been out for a while.
Publisher name
If you’re a self-published author, you are essentially the publisher. If you’ve created an imprint (a business name you publish under), that’s the name that goes here. Some authors choose to use their own name or just leave this field as “independently published.” When you use an ISBN, the entity that acquired that ISBN (you or a service) is considered the publisher of record. For instance, if you purchased your own ISBN, you’ll be listed as the publisher in library databases. If you use a publishing service, sometimes their name or a generic imprint name may appear as the publisher.
Book cover image
The cover file itself isn’t metadata that can appear in text form, but information about the cover, such as the image file name and the fact that it’s a cover image, is part of the metadata package that distributors and retailers get. More importantly, the cover is associated with your metadata and displayed in search results and on product pages. Retailers need a cover image as part of your metadata submission, and without a cover, you’ll have a much harder time attracting readers.
Having a high-quality, professional cover is not only eye-catching, but it also helps you build your credibility and authority as an author. The good news is that even if you’re not a graphic designer, the experts at BookBaby can design a beautiful cover that accurately reflects your book in a way that grabs attention and stays true to your vision.
Book price
The price of your book and the currency the price is in are two more pieces of your metadata. This can be updated over time (such as if your book is on sale). It’s used by retailers to not only sell your book but also denote where your book will appear. For example, some readers will filter books by a certain price range, and depending on what they set as those values, your book may appear in the results.
When setting your price, consider what’s normal and reasonable for books in your specific genre and format. If you’re distributing your book globally, you may have different metadata entries for different currencies. Keep in mind that the price will appear on your book’s store listing, but although it’s part of the metadata, it’s often treated separately because of the fact that it can change.
Do I need different metadata for print vs. eBooks (and audiobooks)?
Although your metadata will be similar across both print and digital versions of your book, there are some differences to keep in mind. Don’t forget that each version needs its own metadata entry and its own ISBN (unless you’re exclusively publishing it as an Amazon Kindle eBook). if you create an audiobook, your metadata will be similar to the print version. Audiobooks will often also include the narrator’s name in addition to your name as the author.
Metadata is not something you should set and forget
Although it seems like it should be something you do one time and then forget about, Metadata isn’t necessarily something you want to ignore after you’ve submitted it the first time. Think about it instead as something you can update and refine over the life of your book. Unless you release a new edition of your book, the content itself might not change, but you can adjust certain metadata options in response to reader reception or new information.
For example, let’s say you later come up with a more compelling opening line for your blurb, or you win an important award. You can update your description to include that. You could also include a review quote. Some authors edit their metadata based on what seems to resonate well with readers. If one specific angle of your story gets a lot of good feedback, you might want to change your description to focus more on that!
Managing your book’s metadata may not be as glamorous as celebrating your book’s launch with a pre-release party, but it’s definitely one of the most important parts. Think of it as the DNA of your book’s presence in the market. It includes everything readers and search engines need to find, list, and love your work.
To learn more about metadata or to get started with optimizing your metadata for the best possible listing, contact the book publishing experts at BookBaby today!