Likewise, you should read several book descriptions before writing your own. In order for a story to work, it needs to feel like real life, even when its actually something quite different. Writing about yourself is a task that many even full time writers shy away from. But a good author bio cuts right to the point by saying. How to improve your amazon book descriptions jane friedman.
So, i broke out some of my favorite resources on book descriptions. How a copywriter would write a better book description. If youve been thinking about book descriptions at all, youll have noticed that some descriptions make good use of formatting bold, italics, subheadings, etc, some make wildly excessive use of them, and. The good news is that it really doesnt have to take that long at all to craft a great description. Thats good, because there are essential book descriptions that will factor into your chances for success. When you are facing the task of writing your book description, the most logical thing to do seems just to read the book at then sum it up prepare its gist and describe your impressions, give your ideas and opinions on various aspects, and then pass your judgment. It is why you should pay extra attention to this if you want to up the sales of a book.
Many nonfiction descriptions do this by listing the topics covered with bullet points such as the amazon page for the 4hour workweek by timothy. Here youll find guidelines, advice, and inspiration for taking those first steps from blank page to finished piece. And, ill be the first to tell you i havent memorized everything. The best descriptive writing appeals to multiple senses at once.
Claude monet i first encountered this quote in oliver sacks book an anthropologist on mars. Just like a great cover design captures your eye immediately, every good book. How to write a book description that sells with examples. Many nonfiction descriptions do this by listing the topics covered with bullet points such as the amazon page for the 4hour workweek by timothy ferriss.
Ive tried for months to write the description for my new book. The cta doesnt have to be elaborate or fancy in any way. Before i start digging into book description writing, its best to get back to the basics and remember what exactly a good book description needs. But, the fact of the matter is, some authors have a hard time writing. How i wrote the book description for a famous book kindlepreneur. Your description should be at least 150200 words long. Through the use of careful examples or details, an author can conjure a scene that vividly describes a person, place, or thing.
May 30, 2019 a good descriptive paragraph is like a window into another world. Description is a great book for the aspiring author who has already studied stein on writing or selfediting for fiction writers ive read many books on writing novels, books that pound in. The 9 best books on writing thatll help you master your craft. Just like a great cover design captures your eye immediately, every good book description you see is interesting from the first line. Apr 02, 2015 the book description, often overlooked as a means to drive traffic to your page, is also a great place to use keywords. Aug 22, 2015 book for nonfans and the japan times has called it as entertaining as the works by americancanadian science fiction giant william gibson. Aug 19, 2015 unsubscribe from writing with jenna moreci. We tell you exactly how to construct a great book description of your own. Childrens book descriptions are by necessity directed at adults, so many of the dominant terms involve the books themselves.
Get tips for how to write a good book description and learn the difference between a. How writers can optimize their books description on. There are several books about this very topic, outlining some specific rules of thumb and tips about making these descriptions really work for you. All you really need is a little focused training from the right teacher in order to write book descriptions that make readers want to buy. Sometimes theres nothing worse for a writer than a blank screen, just waiting to be filled in. There is a certain art in writing descriptions as you have to keep a balance of. Best page forward for authors and the challenges of writing good copy, which are very different from writing good fiction. Keep it simple the nittygritty details are best left on the pages of your book. So, i got to work, rebuilding a book description that would sell. Describes the average used worn book that has all pages or leaves present. While the amazon book description wont affect traffic i. The wattpad advice corner how to write a good description. Bryan had a situation where he didnt realize the headline he was using on amazon was getting cut off because it was too long.
I cant resist a good data visualization, so i also took the opportunity to craft this data into a series of word clouds. Examples of how to write a good descriptive paragraph. Most people in media work very hard under tight deadlines and dont have time to read long books or even pitch emails. Effective job descriptions are engaging and inclusive, prompt the right people to apply and help you. Thanks to the programming side of the kindlepreneur team, weve created a book description generator that anyone can use, without having to know html. Remember that your description is a reflection of your book, so making it perfect will give your book a good first impression. To learn more about writing a nonfiction blurb, check out our guide to creating the back of a book cover. Think of your book description as a teaser, or a short movie trailer.
Capture readers with better book descriptions for fiction. Rather than waste the midnight hours with trivial endeavors like sleep, i dissected over 2000 book descriptions in amazons paid best seller charts us to divine their secrets. Before you wrote your book, im guessing you read a lot of other books. But if you use dynamic descriptions, your readers will stay glued to the page. Even though you can add it in the amazon details, ive had parents tell me that seeing it in the book. What writers get wrong in their book sales descriptions. How to write your book sales description with bryan cohen. Effective job descriptions are engaging and inclusive, prompt the right people to apply and help you trim down your timetofill. Book descriptions are like the hook that latches on to the readers attention just enough to help you as an author reel them in with your story.
Tips on how to write a good book description describe your book in simple, straightforward, and consumerfriendly terms. If these are the ten most common phobias and ive found a few different lists, so your search may yield slightly different results, then theres a good chance that someone who is reading your book, seeing your movie, or playing your game will have one or more of them to some degree. Having an effective description is a good way to ensure. The more detailed and rich your descriptions, the better your writing will approximate the human. In this post on how to write a book description, weve condensed the. Sep 14, 2015 best page forward for authors and the challenges of writing good copy, which are very different from writing good fiction. Amazon descriptions can be up to 4,000 characters usually around 600700 words, and i kept mine under 2,000 characters. Why a book s amazon description is actually a sales description and not a summary of the book s narrative. But, because you have a writing background, youre in luck. And the description section on your book s product page is the most important selling tool you have. If you said no excuse me if i dont believe you, but i dont.
Heres a screenshot of this book, how to sell a truckload of books on amazon. Kids and illustrations are unique to this category. How to write book descriptions for fiction and nonfiction. Brian meeks has written a book with more practical information about writing book descriptions than i have ever read. Apr 03, 2017 the good news is that once you understand how to examine and execute your descriptions, you will have taken your writing to the next level. Jun 01, 2017 but, youre really trouncing on your own profits if you ignore the description. If you are a writer who is writing a book description for someone else, you want to give the best service by acing the job. Until summer 2015, i didnt pay much attention to my amazon book descriptions. How to write amazon book descriptions that sell more. Everybody struggles with a good hook, or how much to reveal in a description.
There is a certain art in writing descriptions as you have to keep a balance of telling the potential reader what the book is about yet still keeping them curious. This will give you an idea of what good descriptions look like. In hands of an inspired writer, a dynamic description can turn from a brake into the accelerator of a story. Do you struggle with writing your amazon book descriptions. Oct 16, 2018 book descriptions not only tell readers what a book s about but help them find it online in the first place. Dec 21, 2016 if you are writing a book, youll have to express the gist of it in several different forms. How to start writing a book, 1st chapter writers digest. In order for a story to work, it needs to feel like real life.
Born and raised in toronto, william now lives in tokyo, where he works as a japanese translator and is currently writing the second novel in his jubilee cycle trilogy, the naked world. How to write a book description that will sell your book. If your headlines are too long, you run the risk of losing people. Book descriptions not only tell readers what a books about but help them find it online in the first place. What we have here is a good starting place for book descriptions that really help to sell your work.
Half the trick of setting descriptions is finding the perfect place to put the details. How to write a book description that attracts readers. Three antisocial skills to improve your writing nadia kalman. Bryan cohens book how to write a sizzling synopsis. A good descriptive paragraph is like a window into another world. With this particular book, this was definitely the case. You dont want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill. Mar 22, 2012 writing is an account of how people think. A book description should draw the reader in, but authors tend to get too flowery with these. What exactly will readers take away from your book.
Ive talked previously about the problems of too little or, worse, no description. Youll also want to consider what people might be googling that would lead them to your book. In fact, it should typically be the simplest writing on the entire page. Once a potential customer lands on an authors product page, that description has to be written in a way that entices. Merely think, here is a little squeeze of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow, and paint it just as it looks to you, until it gives your own naive impression of the scene in front of you. Before you start writing, here are a few things you. Jan 12, 2016 how writers can optimize their books description on amazon jane friedman if youre an author, you may not like thinking about your published books as products, but thats what they are. To write a good job description, keep these pointers in mind. Five tips to write a good book description dorrance. Nov 16, 2015 how to write descriptively nalo hopkinson. There is a huge difference in writing sales copy which is what your amazon book description is and writing a book. People are always looking for a reason to move on to the next thing. Why a books amazon description is actually a sales description. How to write an amazon book description that sells selling books is a result of two factors.
Describes a book that shows some small signs of wear but no tears on either binding or paper. Note that these instructions are optimized for nonfiction books. Descriptive writing classroom strategies reading rockets. How writers can optimize their books description on amazon. So, if you want to learn how to write better, you need to learn the art of dynamic descriptions.
Give readers enough information to understand what your book is, what its about. If youre an author, you may not like thinking about your published books as products, but thats what they are. Ill guide you through the process of writing an effective description for a nonfiction business book. And the description section on your books product page is the most important selling tool you have. Through the use of careful examples or details, an author can conjure a scene that vividly describes a person, place, or. Read, readers, kindle, author, series, kids, ages, learn, and illustrations are all high on the list. So we dove into the book description, figured out the flaws, and. The key to a good headline is to include keywords that people on the. Just like a great cover design captures your eye immediately. If you are to succeed in getting your book distributed, you will have to think in shorter formats, which all require you to condense a big message to the bare minimum of words aka, your book descriptions. It is a unique skill because it takes a very good writer to summarize an entire book. Here are five key elements to remember when writing your book description. The best books on writing and the only 9 books on writing youll ever need think about this.
Theres a good reason why most of us have such difficulty writing our own. How to write an ebook description that sells by david. Description is a great book for the aspiring author who has already studied stein on writing or selfediting for fiction writers ive read many books on writing novels, books that pound in messages like showdonttell and avoid flashbacks like the plague. As always, the descriptions only matter when they matter. A great book description on amazon will engage readers and sell books. Good descriptive writing includes many vivid sensory details that paint a picture and appeals to all of the readers senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste when. Oct 27, 2017 phobias take common fears to the pathological level. How writers can optimize their books description on amazon jane friedman if youre an author, you may not like thinking about your published books as products, but thats what they are. How to write a book description that sells the writing cooperative. I just provided a quick summary, copied and pasted something from my conclusion, and called it a day. The above amazon book description generator will help you to create those beautiful descriptions with just a couple of clicks of a button. May 11, 2017 rather than waste the midnight hours with trivial endeavors like sleep, i dissected over 2000 book descriptions in amazons paid best seller charts us to divine their secrets.
Short and long book descriptions both serve a purposeto make you and your book look good. When this occurs, 99% of the time, its because the book description isnt good enough. Book descriptions or blurbs dont have to be long and probably shouldnt be but they are important. If youve been thinking about book descriptions at all, youll have noticed that some descriptions make good use of formatting bold, italics, subheadings, etc, some make wildly excessive use of them, and some make no use at all. I just provided a quick summary, copied and pasted something from my conclusion. Emotional words, like chilling or passion, work well for both nonfiction and fiction book descriptions.
How to write an amazon book description that sells reedsy blog. Get tips for how to write a good book description and learn the difference between a long book description and a short book description. The book may have been opened and read, but there are no defects to the book, jacket or pages. The only piece of information thats necessary is the main plot. It was more like a book report and failed to drive curiosity, and depth to the story. But when you want to know if the book is worth reading and worth paying good money for, you flip to the back cover or read the description on. You need to know how to write a book description, preferably a great one. When you are facing the task of writing your book description, the most logical thing to do seems just to read the book at then sum it up prepare its. A good book description is probably one of the most important sections of a book it is because a potential reader or book buyer will read the. But, the fact of the matter is, some authors have a hard time writing their book description because they dont want to leave any detail out.
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