The book description is of great importance for the book’s success, as it significantly impacts the reader’s purchase decision. Follow our 8 tips for a better chance to convince the reader to buy your book.
Whether the book description is printed on the back of the book or is part of the bookstore’s metadata or online bookstore, the book description is incredibly important, as it informs the reader about the content and the book or e-book genre. It is a vital factor in the reader’s purchase decision. It is not just about getting an idea of the content; it is also a promotional text with a clear purpose. It should attract a potential reader’s interest in a matter of seconds.
The book description is also used to grab interest of publishers and reviewers. It is visible in book directories, registers and is searchable on the Internet. Given how many use the same book description text can have, it is worth working with the text to make sure it works optimally.
1-Introduction: The introduction is crucial. The first sentence has to invoke reader’s interest and curiosity without revealing too much about the content.
2-Arouse Curiosity: The reader will immediately receive an initial impression of the main characters, personalities, likes, and relationships with each other. You can eve use incomplete sentences that ends with three points to trigger curiosity.
3-Narrative perspective: Regardless of the actual narrator’s perspective in the book, the book description is usually written in third person and present. This perspective gives the book description objectivity and increases credibility.
4-Read-friendly book description: Just as important as the content of the book description is readability. Depending on the font, book format and layout, it is usually recommended to use a font size between 8 and 12 pt. Also, remember to have sufficient line spacing and possibly add a new line or middle heading to make the text clearer and easier to read.
5-Mention several titles and reviews as a sales argument: Just add other titles you have published on the back cover for marketing purposes. Another effective selling point is adding reviews from readers and the media. Try to collect book reviews before the book is released to add them to the book description. Reviews increase the reader’s confidence and interest.
6-Stick to the Truth: The purpose of the book description is to convince the reader to buy, but under no circumstances should it create false hopes. You must stick to the truth because you win in the long run by having satisfied readers. We recommend that you test your book description on readers who are unfamiliar with the book or document. This way, you can find out what expectations the reader gets from the book.
7-The shorter the better: Typically, the book description should be around 400-750 characters (about 150 words). An overly long book description on the back can irritate the reader at the beginning stage – a short book description without hard-to-read sentences entices the reader to want to read more. It isn’t suggested to repeat the book’s title in this area.
8-Is everything proofread in advance? A professional language review and proofreading is an important element for successful book description. We recommend that you ask an outsider to read your text before publishing. Of course, this also applies to your entire manuscript.
TIP: How do other writers convince their readers with their book description and how do they differ? How do they make their book look unique and what can you learn from them? Read other cover book description on books in the same genre to give you an idea of the wordings and styles that work best for readers. You will find the good examples among the best sellers with many reviews.
Melissa Mayer
