WHAT THIS TOPIC COVERS

After reading this topic, you'll be able to:

• Identify parts of an effective book description
• Write a simple, compelling, professional description of your book

YOUR PROGRESS

You've completed Milestone 1. You've started working on your book details (Milestone 2). Later, you'll format your manuscript and cover (Milestone 3) and set rights and pricing (Milestone 4).

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HOW TO WRITE YOUR BOOK DESCRIPTION

Your description will appear on your book’s Amazon detail page. It's often a reader’s first impression of your book. This is why writing an effective description is one of the best ways to promote your book. It's also why it's a challenge. In relatively few words, you'll need to convince readers to buy your book and not one of the millions of other books competing for their time, attention, and money.

But you’re up to the challenge. You can write an effective description by making it simple, compelling, and professional.

	Simple Describe the main plot, theme, or idea only. Avoid details that may overwhelm or confuse a reader who’s only taking a second or two to decide whether to find out more about your book. Also, keep your language short and simple. Aim for a 150-word paragraph with sentences that are easy to scan.
	Compelling Avoiding overwhelming and confusing details will help make your description compelling, but also consider how to grab readers' attention. For example, write a first sentence that draws them in. This sentence may be a reader's first impression, so make it special. Also, set expectations by showing what genre your book belongs to.
	Professional Again, this might be your reader's first impression, so make sure your description is polished--no misspellings or grammatical errors. It may be hard to edit a text you've looked at several times, so show it to others to get a fresh set of eyes. ACTIVITY Find five bestselling books with content similar to yours. Carefully read the book descriptions and take notes on them. How much detail is included? How long are they? How are the sentences written? What keywords or category information do they include? What words and phrases are used to convey genre?

A well-written book description is important for enticing readers. Think of your description like the text on the back cover of a paperback or the inside flap of a hardcover book. This is often the first impression readers have of your story's content and your writing style. Before you craft your description, read the "'Book Detail Page' and Description" section of this article. Also, check out the tips for making sure your description engages your readers in this article.

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WHAT TO DO NEXT

1. Keeping what you've learned about descriptions in mind, write one for your book that is simple, compelling, and professional.
2. When you're satisfied with your draft, show it to people whose opinions you trust and ask for feedback.
3. Revise your description based on the feedback you get. This may take several drafts.
4. Once you're satisfied with your description, save it so you can enter it with your other book details later.
5. Go to Topic 4, which covers helping readers find your book.

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