For some readers, a book’s description may be their very first glimpse into your work. This description must do more than just tell the reader a little about what to expect from your book; it must do so in a way that entices them to want to read the whole thing. An effective description can make the difference between that copy making its way to checkout or being left behind.
Your book description can appear in several significant places, including on the back of your book or jacket flaps, in online shops such as Amazon, on your author website, and on a sell sheet. While you might want to tweak it a bit to individualize it for each of these platforms, at its heart, your book’s description needs to hit a few specific notes to be effective. The basics are as follows:
- Hook the reader. Just as the first sentence of your book needs to grab the reader’s attention, your book description needs to do the same. Oftentimes, a “sale hook”—a simple but compelling headline preceding your description—can draw them in.
- Make it simple but effective. Each word of your description needs to be purposeful. This isn’t the time to flex your poetic muscle, but do opt for keywords that tug at the reader’s emotions and hint at the tone of the work. Keep the reader engaged and intrigued.
- Keep it short. Once you’ve hooked the reader, show them as succinctly as possible why they should read the book. Imagine your description printed on the back of book, and consider how visually effective that description will appear. If you’re already imagining your readers squinting to make out the text, it’s time to trim down your word count.
- Match your style. If your book is a children’s book, the descriptive copy should suggest this. If it’s a romance novel, your book’s description shouldn’t read like that of a college textbook. Make sure you imbue the style of your work into the description since, as mentioned before, this is the first impression many potential readers will receive of your book.
Beyond this, the content of your description will vary based on whether the book is fiction or nonfiction. This is because each has its own unique audience, and each audience will be looking for different things. A nonfiction reader may be looking for relationship advice, historical data, medical information, or business insight, and they need to know they can trust the author’s expertise to lead them down the right path.
A nonfiction book’s description should do three basic things:
- Establish clearly what the book will be about. Don’t make the reader guess.
- Briefly identify what gives you the authority to write the book in question.
- Introduce the fresh, original perspective you bring to your chosen topic.
The goal is to tell the reader as quickly as possible what they stand to gain from reading your book. Nonfiction readers may be looking for answers to pressing questions, so your description should give them a good reason to choose your book over others on the subject.
Descriptions of a work of fiction take a decidedly different approach: Offer little, but make that little as irresistible as possible. You want to give the reader enough reason to read the book then and there without spoiling your whole story. This might seem a little tricky, but done right, your description can pique the reader’s curiosity without giving away your story.
Effective fiction often hastens to establish the hero, the conflict, and the stakes early in the story, because the bulk of the narrative is less concerned with what these elements are than how the protagonist will overcome them to get to the conclusion. Tell the reader who your protagonist is, what challenges they face, and what the stakes are if they fail. Also be certain to establish the genre in the description, as you don’t want your reader trying to guess what kind of story they’ve picked up. Here’s a made-up example of how you might establish all of this in a matter of sentences and build enough suspense to get the reader to turn to the first page.
When a rusty gate in Nana Swift’s back garden wall opens into a world beyond their own, ten-year-old twins Jim and Tim think they’re in for a fun-filled summer vacation. But when Nana goes missing, it’s up to the boys to bring her back, even if stepping over the threshold means they might never see their world again. And the gate, it seems, doesn’t just let them in; it lets other things out . . .
From this description, the reader will learn the genre is juvenile fantasy, that Jim and Tim are the heroes, that the conflict revolves around finding Nana and stopping the otherworldly things from entering their world, and that doing so might mean they can never go home—all in 74 words.
Take a look at book descriptions of similar titles in your chosen genre. Note the general length of these descriptions, what elements they include, and the general tone of the copy. Pick up a few books you’re familiar with, too, to give you a sense of what these descriptions leave out.
Remember that a book’s genre can often inform the length of its description. For example, a fiction book’s back cover copy may hover between 100 and 200 words, while a health-related book’s description might surpass 300 (but not too much; you don’t want the reader to wish they had a magnifying glass).
Just keep the tips above in mind and try to keep your description succinct and informative. Brainstorm a few different descriptions and see what sticks! If you’re using our services and you need help, let us know.
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