Checklist: How to Write a Book Description
Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links marked “affiliate link” in this post.
You’re ready to upload your book to KDP or Ingram Spark, and you come to the point where you need to add a book description. When you think you’re ready to hit that publish button, you discover you must now learn how to write a book description.
Checklist: How to Write a Book Description
Your book description is a reader’s first impression. A good book description can help you sell more books and is the beginning of your relationship with your reader. Readers have a lot of books to choose from and will look at four things when deciding if a book is interesting to them and meets their needs; these four things are:
The Title
The Cover
Book Reviews
Book Description
Authors think marketing their book begins after they hit that publish button — but that’s not true. The fact is marketing your book begins with the title, cover, and book description.
When self-publishing a book, it is essential to consider these critical areas during the creation and design of the book. Before a reader can purchase a book, authors need to consider the message they are conveying; that’s why writing an excellent book description before uploading your book to KDP or Ingram Spark is a significant step in book marketing.
Here is a Checklist on How to Write a Book Description:
Make sure the book description is between 150–200 words.
Start with a hook that is in BOLD to catch the reader’s attention. This will draw them in to read the entire book description. For new authors, this hook will look more like an elevator pitch that describes the book and how it will meet a reader’s need.
Outline the subjects covered in the book by using content from the introduction.
Use keywords (affiliate link) someone might use when looking for a book like yours.
Create a strong closing section: 25–50 words. Answer this question: Who is this book for?
Break it up into short paragraphs and use bulleted points.
Gather reviews and/or endorsements you might have to include with the book description. (Read more at Reedsy)
The Hook is the Most Important Part of Your Book Description
Your book is a labor of love and you want to share your message with the rest of the world. But how do you get people interested in reading your book?
According to The Author’s Guide to Marketing Your Book on Amazon (affiliate link), the hook is an excellent opportunity for established authors to build trust and show authority in the shared topic. To do this, you can use the hook to highlight how many positive reviews the book has or how many books you have sold.
You fully believe in the message shared in your book, and you have faith that this message will help others, too. Your hook will help readers see how your book’s message will benefit them.
Once you’ve pulled a reader in with your cover and the title of your book — next comes the hook. The hook piques the reader’s interest and will “hook” them into learning more about your book.
Here is a list of questions to ask yourself when writing a hook for a Christian book or Bible Study:
How does this book take down roadblocks to spiritual growth and their connection to God?
Highlight how the reader might feel before reading the book and how this book will help them move past those painful or uncomfortable feelings.
Identify a lie they might believe and how this book will help them overcome it.
What Biblical truths will they learn when they read your book or Bible Study?
What life experience, degrees, or certifications do you have that give you the authority to provide this information to the reader?
Writing a book description can be overwhelming, but surely it is a task that should not be taken lightly. However, the beauty of the book description is it can easily be changed — so you don’t have to get it right the first time. I do hope this article is a good starting point for you to write (or rewrite) a book description that converts browsers to readers.
Finally, let me say congratulations — you have a book that is ready to be published. That alone is something to be celebrated. Now, you get to share your book with the world, another milestone that needs to be celebrated!
More Resources:
Book description generator: https://hbauthor--rocket.thrivecart.com/publisher-rocket/5da9eaeda2e47/ (affiliate link)
The Author’s Guide to Marketing Books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Dl7rvi (affiliate link)
KDP Write a Book Description: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201189630
Reedsy Article on Writing a Book Description: https://blog.reedsy.com/book-description/
Ingramspark Article on Writing a Good Book Description: https://www.ingramspark.com/blog/how-to-write-a-good-book-description