Your book’s description is one of the first things readers will check before buying your self-published book. Find out how you can write compelling book descriptions here.
One of the common mistakes that Kindle self-publishers make is winging the process of writing their book descriptions. Many self-publishers pay ghostwriters good money and wait for months to get their hands on an audience-ready book…
…Only to rush their book descriptions.
This is a huge mistake that must be avoided. Regardless of the niche you’re publishing in, you have other self-publishers and authors to compete with. And writing a killer book description can be just what you need to stay ahead and get people to check out your book.
Why You Need a Compelling Book Description
A book launch team is a group of people that have already agreed to
As a self-publisher on Kindle, you can hire ghostwriters to write entire books for you. However, the responsibility of marketing your book and making sure it sells well still falls squarely on your shoulders.
That said, here are three reasons why writing compelling descriptions is crucial to marketing your books:
Reason #1 – It Gets Readers Invested Before They’ve Even Read Your Book
The description appears on your book’s Amazon detail page and is often the first piece of content that your customers encounter. This is your chance to show not just a summary of your book’s content but to sell them on reading it.
In sum, your book’s description is your chance to hook your readers and get them invested in your book before they’ve even read a single page from it. This is one of the most important reasons why you shouldn’t rush or wing the writing of your book’s description.
Reason #2 – It Increases Your Book’s Visibility Online
Customers make their book-buying decisions by checking out what other readers are saying online.
Now, there are resources like The New York Times Book Review that can help readers make these decisions. But if a book has minimal citations from critics and reader-centric websites…
Customers have to rely on book descriptions to guide their book-purchasing decisions.
That said, book descriptions may just be a few decent paragraphs long. But they might be your biggest chance at making an impression for your self-published book that has yet to receive attention from critics.
Reason #3 – Pitches to Your Readers
Finally, the book description functions as a pitch to the reader about why they should buy your book.
This is your way to pique your readers’ interest in what makes this specific book great. And why they should choose it over all the other books they’re currently looking at—or are already in their carts.
So, how exactly do you write a compelling book description that results in better sales?
The 6 Tips
Tip #1. Think Like a Buyer, Not an Author or a Publisher
As a publisher, you might have an idea of what makes your book a potential money-maker. But you have to see things from the point of view of your buyers or readers.
So, what is it about your book that would benefit your target readers?
Does it offer solutions to a specific problem a reader might have? Does it provide entertainment value? Does it inspire them to overcome a challenge they’re facing right now?
At any rate, you have to pitch your book by thinking like a buyer/reader, not as a publisher.
Tip #2. Keep It Simple
Keep the writing simple so that an 11 year old could understand it. Tell the reader all the amazing things they’ll learn when they read your book, who should read it (the target market) and why they should buy it now!
Tip #3. Keep the Language Professional But Relatable
While you should definitely keep things simple, don’t forget to also polish your description to ensure that it sounds professional.
Any misspelt words or grammatical errors can easily turn buyers off. They would assume the rest of your book is likewise filled with those annoying mistakes, too.
Again, the book description gives most of your readers their first impression of your book and how it’s written. So, set good expectations from the get-go.
Tip #4. Pick a Good Headline
Amazon allows you to open your book description with a single-sentence headline.
Take advantage of this opportunity to lead with your book’s genre and premise.
Later on in the description you can include other merits you can use, like publisher’s awards you’ve gotten in the past.
Tip #5. Use Shorter Paragraphs
After opening with a good headline, make sure to present the rest of your book description using short paragraphs. That way, you don’t overwhelm or misdirect your reader.
Make sure the point of the description is easily discernible. The key is to not lose the interest of potential buyers even before they’ve checked out the rest of your book.
Tip#6. Use Words That Evoke Emotion
Finally, keep in mind that the book-buying process is a highly emotional one. People turn to books when they want to escape to a different world, when they want to be inspired, or when they’re keen on learning something.
As such, you should use more descriptive words that evoke emotion, rather than focusing on information like the number of pages your book has.
Remember, every book promises a journey. Make sure you take your readers on a wonderful first step by giving them a great description of your book.
Use Your Book’s Description to Market Your Book
Writing a compelling book description should be an important part of your book-publishing process.
Now, some publishers ask their book’s ghostwriters to write the book description as part of the package. You can do the same if you think your ghostwriter can do a better job at writing the description, but you can also do it yourself.
At the end of the day, writing a good book description is just one of the many ways you can market and drive sales for your books.
If you want to learn more strategies on how to sell more self-published books, then reserve your slot for my upcoming webinar.