Hey, everybody. I'm Kelvin with IngramSpark, and, today, we're going to take a look at a self-publishing course we have meant to teach you how to increase your book sales by leveraging metadata for books.
Now, within the contents of this self-publishing course, we want you to learn how to increase your book sales by making better use of your book metadata. We'll also be providing you with detailed explanations of what would be considered the most essential metadata for books.
Now, we have broken this self-publishing course down into 11 chapters, so let's go ahead and do a quick review of what you can expect to find within each of those chapters.
CHAPTER 1: What is Book Metadata and Why is it so Important?
Once you've written your book, naturally, you want to get it into as many hands as possible, and one of the best ways to do that is to focus on leveraging proper metadata, so, in this chapter, we'll teach you all the different components that make up your book metadata, as well as why it's so important to be leveraging it properly.
CHAPTER 2: Keywords for Books
Search engines will use your book metadata as essentially an information retrieval system, their goal being to connect searchers with the most relevant and engaging type of content. It's also important to remember that, to search engines, all words have value, so, in this chapter, we'll show you how to select proper keywords and phrases to make sure that your book is showing up in searches all around the world.
CHAPTER 3: Title and Subtitle
A book's title is the first extremely important piece of metadata that you'll be asked to provide, so, in this chapter, we'll not only be discussing how the title plays in the book metadata, but we'll also be providing you with guidelines to create the most compelling title possible.
CHAPTER 4: How to Write a Good Book Description
No matter what genre your book falls into, nothing beats an intriguing book description that leaves a reader wanting more, so, in this chapter, we'll discuss how to create detailed and descriptive copy that is excellent for public display.
CHAPTER 5: How to Write a Good Author Bio
Writers can often struggle with writing a proper author bio. It usually feels like this weird self-promotional list of strengths and accolades that you've acquired over the years, but it's important to remember that a good author bio introduces the reader to you on a much more personal level, and it can also help search engines bring up your author website.
CHAPTER 6: Subject Codes
Subject codes are coded categorizations that are standard throughout the publishing industry. In this chapter, we'll discuss how subject codes signal to buyers, retailers, distributors, and even search engines exactly what your book is about.
CHAPTER 7: The Importance of Book Reviews
Did you know you're able to enter review quotes in your IngramSpark title record? And while this isn't a required book metadata field, there is immense value in doing so because it is a huge endorsement of your work, so, in this chapter, you can expect us to discuss how reviews lend themselves immensely to the success of your book.
CHAPTER 8: Picking the Right Trim Size for Your Book
Your book's trim size, also known as the height and width of your book, is one of the most distinguishing pieces of information you'll provide as book metadata, so, in this chapter, we'll give you some of the most important things to consider before you decide on a book trim size.
CHAPTER 9: ISBNs for Self-Publishers
In this chapter, we're going to discuss the purpose of an ISBN, the importance of owning your own, as well as what you should include in your ISBN record and much, much more.
CHAPTER 10: How Much Should My Book Cost? Pricing a Book.
When you embark on the journey of getting your book published, there are a number of things to consider, but one of the most important things is price, so we want to help you identify realistic profit goals that will contribute to properly pricing your book.
CHAPTER 11: When Should I Publish My Book? Picking Your Publication Date
Now, just because a book is finished, it doesn't mean the timing is necessarily right. There are certain months that will be perfect for your book, and they'll make your pitch to retailers and media outlets much easier, so, in this final chapter, we'll give you tips to make sure that your book doesn't launch with bad timing.
And there you have it. There's a brief overview of what you can expect to find within this course. We hope you'll take full advantage of it.
IngramSpark believes in your publisher education, and that's what makes it so much more than just a printer and book distribution partner for authors and publishers, so, without further ado, go ahead and get started with this self-publishing course and, until next time, we'll talk to you soon. Bye.
