Your book description sells your book, so tips for writing a great book description are essential!
One of the most essential things in self-publishing is your book description, and we have some helpful tips for writing a great book description. Your book isn’t going to sell itself. Unless you’re John Grisham or J. K. Rowling, it’s going to take a lot of hard work and dedication to make it to the point where your sales start to sell your book for you. One of the first things any reader sees apart from your cover is your book description.
If you’re a new author still considering where to self-publish your book, read The Best Self-Publishing Platforms for Canadian Authors! We cover everything there is to know about the most popular self-publishing platforms, including Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), IngramSpark Publishing, Apple Books, and many more.
Let’s Look at Some Tips for Writing a Great Book Description!
To start with, your book description doesn’t need to be a novel in itself. You’re trying to grab a reader’s attention, give them a taste of your book, and show them what they can look forward to when they read it. Try to keep the word count below 400 words. Anywhere between 150 words and 400 words is a great length to aim for. If you write too much detail into your description, readers will lose interest.
Start with a catchy title or phrase that instantly grabs the reader’s attention. You want something impressive that makes a reader think, ‘Wow, I love the sound of this book already!’ If you have any keywords you’re trying to use, the start of your description is a great place to add them.
Introduce your book and entice readers with the general idea or theme of your story. Include some quotes from the book, anything exciting that will attract readers.
If your book is non-fiction, this is where you’ll want to place what your book covers. You can list them briefly in a nice bullet-point style. Try not just to copy and paste your table of contents; give it a little bit of flair and excitement. This shows your readers what they’re getting and might entice them to download your book.
Call to action (CTAs) are phrases that entice or encourage potential readers to hit that buy button or carry your book up to the register. You’ll want to make them stand out, but also subtle. Try not just to write ‘Buy my book!’ One call to action in the middle of your description and another at the end is great.
Finish your book description with a conclusion and call to action. This is your last opportunity to convince a reader that your book is just what they’ve been looking for.
Include HTML in your digital descriptions. If you’re listing your book on Amazon or other digital marketplaces, you’ll be able to add some simple HTML coding. Below is a list of the HTML codes that Amazon allows.
Below Are Just Some of the HMTL Codes you Can Use For Your Book Description!
HTML Tag Description
- <b> Formats enclosed text as bold.
- <br> Creates a line break.
- <em> Emphasizes the enclosed text; generally formatted as italic.
- <font> Determines the appearance of the enclosed text.
- <h1> to <h6> Formats enclosed text as a section heading: <h1> (largest) through <h6> (smallest).
- <hr> Creates a horizontal “rule” or line. Often used to divide sections of text.
- <i> Formats enclosed text as italic.
- <li> Identifies an item in an ordered (numbered) or unordered (bulleted) list.
- <ol> Creates a bullet list, each of which is identified by a <li> tag.
- <p> Defines a paragraph of text with the first line indented & creates a line break.
- <pre> Defines preformatted text.
- <s> Formats text as strikethrough. See also <strike>.
- <strike> Formats text as strikethrough. See also <s>.
- <strong> Formats enclosed text as bold. See also <b>.
- <sub> Formats enclosed text as subscript: reduces the font size and drops it below the baseline.
- <sup> Formats enclosed text as superscript: reduces the font size and places it above the baseline.
- <u> Formats enclosed text as underlined.
- <ul> Creates a bulleted list from enclosed items, each of which is identified by a <li> tag.
Tips for Writing a Great Book Description | Conclusion
If you have any questions about your book description or would like help writing the description of your book, then please don’t hesitate to contact us! Our friendly and professional team is more than happy to help, and we have an experienced team of professional editors which can polish your book description until it’s perfect.
If you are writing a book and need any assistance with paperback or ebook formatting, cover design, professional editing, or uploading to self-publishing sites such as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and IngramSpark Publishing, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We also offer children’s book illustrations and formatting services.
Our experienced and professional self-publishing team is standing by to assist you with your self-publishing dreams. Do you have any additional writing or self-publishing questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us directly. One of our friendly and professional team members will get back to you ASAP!
For authors still considering which self-publishing platform suits them as a Canadian author, read The Complete Guide to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing for Canadian Authors, where we cover everything you’ll need to know about getting started on Amazon KDP for the first time.
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below, and we’ll do our best to answer them or point you in the right direction.
