Metadata: Make Sure Your Book is Findable
The Key to Discoverability
When you put a book for sale online, it’s vital that people can search and find your book. Everything online works with search engines. So, what’s the secret of making your book findable?
METADATA
Metadata is the data about your book: title, subtitle, categories, ISBN, CIP data, cover photo, description, keywords, and so on.
When you created your copyright page, you already decided on categories, ISBN, CIP data.
In a 2017 Nielsen Book US Study, titles with metadata averaged 75% more sales than those without metadata. Children’s books with complete metadata sell 55% more.
They group the data into these basic data points:
ISBN
Title
Format/Binding
Publication Date
Retail Price
Sales Rights
Cover image
Contributor(s)
HOW IMPORTANT IS METADATA?
According to the 2017 Nielsen Book US Study, titles with complete metadata average 75% more sales than those without complete metadata.
They studied the importance of each piece of data, looking at sales figures when the data is present or missing.
Cover image: 51% higher sales
Descriptive elements: Title description, author bio, reviews – 72% higher sales
Keywords: 34% higher sales
Timely. In the UK, metadata is supposed to be supplied 16 weeks or 112 days ahead of publication: about 20% higher sales
Libraries. Books with complete metadata have double borrows in libraries.
From the Nielsen study:
Keywords can be added to a title record to supplement the other descriptive data available. Where a title description, review or author biography are intended to be readable, intelligible blocks of text, keywords are simply a list or collection of terms that can be associated with the title and used by search engines and other applications. The aim of keywords is explicitly to increase a title’s likelihood of discovery when searched for.
Keywords can include elements such as:
• Character names, locations or associated organizations
• Broader descriptive terms where the title may straddle more than one classification
• Additional information on themes covered in the book
• Related titles or authors”
Experts recommend that you use unique, consumer-oriented, relevant keywords. But not obscure keywords that no one will search for. One interesting way to research keywords is Google Trends, a free service. For example, if you have a science-related picture book, it’s clear that STEM is the keyword you want.
Most platforms require a semicolons between keywords, but sometimes they ask for a comma.
KEYWORDS ON AMAZON.COM
On KDP, seven keywords allowed with 500 characters. Fill up the entire space!
Use jargon, anything new, distinctive or specific. Ex. Ipad
When the reader doesn’t know the exact title or author, AND the title may be very different from the theme, then use keywords that relate to the title, theme and author.
Use generic terms for the topic.
Don’t repeat the BISAC or category codes, but include the topic if it’s worded slightly different.
If more than one topic is included in the book, add those in the keywords.
Use common synonyms of the BISAC category.
Use commonly known subject term not referred to anywhere else in the metadata.
Include specific names of characters, fictional places or series names that may not be anywhere else in the metadata.
Use titles of related books in a series or related author.
Include any concept or theme that the reader may include/exclude from the search.
Use additional titles in an anthology, box set, or book of short stories.
Identify the publication year of annual publication.
To indicate audience, especially when someone not from that audience may be searching for it. Ex. Gift for grads, mother’s day gift
RESOURCES
For more on keywords, see this report: Revised Best Practices for Keywords in Metadata, Feb 2018 Book Industry Study Group
Dave Chesson has done a deeper study of keywords on KDP.
On Amazon, consider the category specific keywords required to place a book into that category: Here’s Amazon’s information on Selecting Browse Categories.
Another way to research keywords is to mine Amazon. Start, by logging out of Amazon. Otherwise, you’ll only see what Amazon thinks you want to see. Use a private browsing window to remain anonymous, and type keywords into Amazon’s search bar. It will auto-fill the keywords and give you options. This is especially useful in looking for 2- or 3-word phrases.
Metadata is crucial! Amazon is first and foremost a search engine! On every other platform, it’s imperative that your book is found on appropriate searches. Books that have full metadata are more likely to be found and to sell. Books with poor or missing metadata will not be found.
How to Manage Metadata
Traditional publisher use ONIX, an xml format that includes tags for every piece of metadata. They input information once, and then upload everywhere. But ONIX is too complicated for you to think about until you have about 50 books in your backlist.
That leaves us scrambling to maintain, provide and update metadata. You must find a way to deal with it efficiently. If you only have a couple titles, an Excel sheet is fine. Each distribution partner will have their own proprietary template for metadata. You’ll find yourself cutting and pasting data as you upload to different partners.
If you have over 20 titles, it’s worth setting up a small database. On PC, use Microsoft’s Access. On Mac, choose almost any database and customize the information it stores. I find a database makes it easier to export the information into an Excel sheet in the required sequence so it’s easier than cutting and pasting individual columns. It’s also easier to keep data updated in the database.
Choosing categories
Another crucial question is how to choose categories for your book. This should be easy because the U.S. book industry uses the BISAC (Book Industry Standards and Communication) (my friend thought I was misspelling BASIC - Ha!) codes. It’s easy to look at all the categories and decide where yours belongs. Most people choose 2-4 categories as appropriate.
However online bookstores don’t consider the BISACs to be the definitive category list. Instead, Amazon, for example, creates their own proprietary list of categories. Kobo only includes a small subset of the categories. Apple allows BISAC codes, but also codes specific to other countries.
In the end, I choose 2-4 appropriate categories and use them everywhere.
Create a Sell Sheet for each book
Finally, I create a one-page sell sheet for each book. It includes company information, all the book’s metadata, including bios of author/illustrator. If it goes over one page, I usually print 2-sided so it’s still one piece of paper. When you send out review copies, include the sell sheet, along with a catalog, if available. Here’s a pdf sample of one of my sell sheets.
Keep Everything Updated - Depending on World Events
Finally, be diligent about keeping the database, sell sheets, and catalogs updated. It’s grunt work, I know, but crucial grunt work. Look at your metadata about every six months and consider updating it. Are there any world or national events that might impact your books? Did COVID change the way you marketed anything? For example, if you had written a fantasy that included a medieval plague - well, you should have updated that metadata last year.
Metadata isn’t dead data. You can update and change it any time you like. If your book isn’t selling, could you change categories. For example, if you used this code (or vice versa):
JUV028000 JUVENILE FICTION / Mysteries & Detective Stories
You may want to update to this code, especially if it’s specifically a chapter book for middle grade readers.
JUV045000 JUVENILE FICTION / Readers / Chapter Books
BISAC codes are also a living document. A year or so ago, they added YA fiction and YA nonfiction codes.
Metadata needs to be your superpower! Without accurate metadata, you won’t sell books.