Mar 7, 2023
I work and have worked with some FABULOUS women authors through my business. I am always amazed at the depth of their creativity, the transparency of their words and variety of their genres. Each author’s history is woven into their words, phrases and book’s message. Amazing.
I would like list several here (in random order), by no means is this a complete list from my 18 years as an author’s assistant. (Click on the author’s name to learn about them from their website. Also, all of these books can be found on Amazon.com too.)
Deanne Burch, Journey Through Fire and Ice: Shattered Dreams above the Artic Circle, Memoir
Leslie Lehr, A Boob’s Life, Memoir
Lisa Schliff, Fire in the Springs, Historical Romance
Linda Commito, Love is the New Currency, Self-Help
Princess Diane von Brainisfried, Bonjour, Breast Cancer – I’m Still Smiling!: Wit, Wisdom, and Optimism for Beating the Breast Cancer Blues, Breast Cancer, Self-Help
Maria Forrest, The Land of In-Between: Adventures of Trailblazing Fairies, Children’s Fantasy & Magic Books
Ellery Akers, Swerve: Poems on Environmentalism, Feminism, and Resistance, Poetry by Women
Linda Franklin, I’ll Always Carry You: A Mother’s Story of Adoption, Loss, Grief, and Healing, Adoption
Diane Logan, The Navel Diaries: How I Lost My Belly Button and Found Myself, Author Biographies, Dear Navel Diary, Are You Listening?, Essays
Laurie Moore-Moore, Gone to Dallas: The Storekeeper 1856-1861 (Texas Brave and Strong Book 1), Historical Fiction, Westerns
Anna K. Abbi, Chrysalis: A Memoir, Memoir, Biography, Self-Help
Christine O’Riley, The Wondrous Story of the Little Shoe, Children’s Literature
Rebecca Heflin, The Sterling University Series, A Season to Remember, A Season to Give: A Seasons of Northridge Christmas Novell, A Season to Dance (Series of Northridge Book 1), Women’s Romance Fiction, Contemporary Women Fiction
BJ Mann, A Better, Not Bitter Divorce: The Fair and Affordable Way to End Your Marriage, Divorce
Mar 7, 2023
What is your book’s metadata?
Metadata: Simply put. Your book metadata is any data that describes your book—including title, subtitle, price, publication date, ISBN and any other relevant information that readers use to find your book. Ultimately, it’s what connects your content to your prospective readers and is fondly referred to as your book’s “sales force”.
Discovery: The process by which the perfect customer finds your book. Discovery is essential to making a sale, because readers can’t read a book they can’t find.
Source: https://www.ingramspark.com/blog/7-facts-about-book-metadata#:-:text=Metadata°/03A20Simply°/020put°/02C%20your°/020book,use/020to°/020find°/020your°/020book.
Why is metadata important?
Your book’s metadata is important for many reasons. This information (see the list below) is what you will need for various book production and marketing data.
It all begins with your ISBNs. This is a numerical system of uniquely identifying your book among the millions out there. The ISBN number contains a “record” of your book comprised of title, subtitle, author name, author bio, book description, format (paperback hard copy or ebook), trim size, number of pages, categories, price, publication date, copyright, Library of Congress Catalog Number (LCCN), etc. This information can be gathered in advance of starting the book production process. And this information will be used again and again throughout the marketing process. So, having this in one easily accessible place makes it easy to provide accurate and consistent information each time you need list your book’s metadata for whatever reason.
Here is short list of where this metadata goes:
1. ISBN Record
2. IngramSpark/Amazon KDP
3. Smashwords
4. Book tours
5. Freebie and bargain book sites
6. Press releases/Marketing pieces
Consistency is important for your book’s metadata.
Where do you to start?
You start when you start writing your book. Likely your metadata will morph as you write.
What is your metadata comprised of?
1. Title
2. Subtitle
3. ISBN for each format
4. Publisher of record (hybrid, independent or other)
5. Book Description
a. Short description 250-300 words/characters
b. Long description of 500+ words/characters
* Kindlepreneur provides a great tool to format your book description: (https://kindlepreneur.com/amazon-book-description-generator/?affiliate=kpreneur )
6. Author name
a. Author bio
i. Short bio – 50-150
ii. Long bio – 250-350
b. Author photo (high resolution preferably in .png format)
7. Contributor name
a. Contributor short bio 50-250 words
8. Genre
a. Categories/BISAC (https://bisg.orq/page/BISACSubiectCodes) & Amazon (https://kdp.amazon.com/en US/help/topic/G200652170) (choose at least 10 categories in order of relevance)
b. Keywords – 5- 7 keywords or phrases for Amazon/KDP
*Amazon provides slots for 7 keywords or phrases, each containing a maximum of 55 characters.
c. 50-100 keywords for Amazon Marketing Services (sponsored ads)
9. Competition
a. 3-5 competitive titles in your genre
i. Pay attention to their selected categories
b. Note the book details such as:
i. Formats (ebook, paperback, hard cover)
ii. Number of pages
iii. Publication date
iv. Publisher
v. Price of each format
10. Price for each format (ebook, paperback, hard cover)
a. IngramSpark Cost Calculator
*IngramSpark Cost Calculator will give an estimate of the printing cost for your book: (https://myaccount.ingramspark.com/Portal/Tools/ShippingCalculator)
i. Printing costs continue to rise since COVID impacted supply chains
11. Format – specific description of your trim size. number of pages, cover matte or glossy. print, black and white or color.
12. Review quotes – assemble 5-10 positive review quotes either from individuals, interviews, bloggers, etc.
13. Audience – make sure you know the correct audience for your book, adult, high school, elementary, children, etc.
Let’s talk about categories.
Categories are very important in Amazon/KDP or anywhere. The categories that your book is listed in on Amazon/KDP determines your Book Sales Ranking (BSR). The BSR affects your standing as popular or not popular. Once Amazon sees your book sales rising and BSR decreasing (from #2,500,000 to #1) in a category the algorithm will turn on and Amazon will help you promote your book. Categories are everything for sales on Amazon!
When you upload your book, Amazon/KDP will allow you to submit 2 categories. Make sure these are the best, most popular and most relevant categories for your book. After your book is live on Amazon, you will be able to submit an additional 7 categories – 10 total.
Note: BISAC categories are slightly different from Amazon’s categories which is maddening. However, on Amazon’s help page about categories they will provide you with link to the BISAC website and list.
Keywords and why they are important.
Each print-on-demand publisher and many of the promotional sites ask for your keywords. Keywords are what people would use in a search engine like Amazon’s to find your book. The keywords you choose are just as important as the categories you use.
In Amazon/KDP you have the opportunity to list 7 keywords that best describe your book. Something important to note here is that each keyword field (the little box your type your keywords in) allows 55 characters. This means you can type entire phrases – a string of keywords that Amazon’s algorithm will index in any combination. This gives you the opportunity to NOT repeat keywords in each box thus expanding your options for keyword indexing and increasing your book’s ability to be found via Amazon’s search engine.
Why is pricing so important?
Every author sets out with “royalties” in mind. Usually, to offset the cost of the book’s production. Editing, formatting. cover design, etc. If you don’t research your book’s cost to produce you could be leaving money in Amazon’s pocket.
IngramSpark has a nifty little calculator that can help you estimate the cost to print and ship your book based on the format details, trim size, number of pages and shipping location.
(It’s best to play around with several states. Start in the East and work your way West – you can get an average to plug into your costs.)
Along with estimating a price for each of your formats – ebooks are pretty easy – typically they should be 1/3 of the cost of your print book. I prefer to research the competition and see what they are selling their books for. This will give an overview of your genre’s market.
Ideally if an ebook is priced a little on the high side, so when you discount the book for promotions to $0.99 – $2.99 it’s really a discount!
Along with estimating a price for each of your formats – ebooks are pretty easy – typically they should be 1/3 of the cost of your print book. I prefer to research the competition and see what they are selling their books for. This will give an overview of your genre’s market.
Ideally if an ebook is priced a little on the high side, so when you discount the book for promotions to $0.99-$2.99 it’s really a dscount!
