Book Metadata 101

What is metadata?

In the publishing industry, metadata refers to data about books. This includes the ISBN, keywords, the author name, pub date, BISAC code, reviews, author bios, and more.

Metadata includes title, author, price, cover image, description

Why does metadata matter for book publishing?

At the most basic level, metadata is how people find your books. Say, for example, that I heard an interview with an author about a new sports romance. I might remember a few plot details, but not the title or the author. If I wanted to find that book again, I’d probably Google “sports romance football single mother” and hope to come up with the right title. If the book’s metadata is set up well, those keywords will be enough to help me find the book I’m looking for from that search.

Without important metadata, you might as well be tossing your book into a huge bin of other unrelated books, instead of placing it carefully on a categorized shelf. Because metadata ensures that books are discoverable and searchable, it has a huge impact on book sales. Metadata can also help potential consumers see what other readers are already saying about your book.

What do I need to include in my metadata?

If you want to push metadata about your titles out into the world, here is the minimum information you’d want to include, according to Firebrand’s Director of Sales and Education, Joshua Tallent:

Title
ISBN
Author
Book Media/Format
Publication Status
BISAC Subject
Main Description or Brief Description
Publication Date and/or On-Sale Date

Sales Territory
Page Count (for print and ebooks)
Total Runtime (for audiobooks)
Spine Size
Book Weight
Trim Size

Adding a few more fields to your metadata can really improve its quality, which will ultimately help retailers better sell your books. Tallent recommends adding the below:

Table of Contents
Excerpt
Citations (this is where you’ll put professional reviews and endorsements or reviews from industry publications)
Keywords
Title Relationships (comp titles, the author’s other books)
Age & Grade Ranges
BISAC Merchandising Themes

How do I distribute metadata?

ONIX is the industry standard for distributing metadata.

According to BISG, ONIX is “A standard form that publishers can use to distribute electronic information about their books to wholesale, e-tail and retail booksellers, other publishers, and anyone else involved in the sale of books. ONIX enables book information to be communicated between different organizations even if they have different technical infrastructures and business needs. It isn’t a database, but provides a standard XML template for organizing data storage.”

Essentially, ONIX is a standard format used to share metadata to variou trading partners.It is used to create and update title information on their websites.

Eloquence on Demand, a service owned by Firebrand Technologies (NetGalley’s parent company), is the gold standard for ONIX distribution in the United States. It provides publishers with simple but powerful tools to help them manage their metadata and send it out to trading partners around the world.

How can I use metadata in my marketing strategy?

Providing detailed metadata to your retail partners and updating that metadata consistently will help retailers sell your book and will help consumers find your book. Metadata helps position your titles in a crowded retail marketplace by giving retailers as much information as possible about those titles. The more information retailers have about your book, the better they will be able sell it. For example, retailers will use metadata fields like keywords, BISAC subjects, age ranges, and comp titles, to figure out how to best position titles for their consumers.

One powerful way to make metadata work for you is to keep it updated as new information becomes available. Pre-publication, update your metadata as often as you need. From publication date to 3 months post-publication, update your metadata every few weeks. If the pub date or price changes, make sure to update that in your metadata. And, be sure to update your keywords and add reviews as you start getting more and more feedback. After that, you can update metadata as needed.

You should also be sure to update your Citations field to get the most out of reviews you’re receiving. When you add reviews in to your metadata – from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and elsewhere – you are demonstrating to retailers that people are paying attention to your titles.

It is also important to update your keywords based on early feedback that you receive from NetGalley or BookishFirst. Learn more about Firebrand’s Keywords service, which provides audience analysis and keyword creation here. The ways that early readers are talking about your books are likely the ways that potential consumers will be searching for your books. Pull keywords from that feedback to see what is resonating with your earliest readers and add that to your metadata to help bring in more readers.

Metadata is one of the most powerful ways that books become discoverable in a crowded marketplace. By ensuring detailed and high-quality metadata as part of a standard workflow, publishers and authors give their books the best possible chance at finding a wide and enthusiastic audience.

5 Book Design Trends to Remember in 2019

Like it or not, cliche as it is, we all judge books by their covers. An effective cover can convey a book’s tone; is it a lyrical meditation, a brash appraisal of contemporary life, a hard-boiled noir, or a fizzy modern romance? Book covers should give readers a sense of what they are in for (unlike these misleading ones). Successful book covers will look modern without looking like a trend that will mark it as out of date by next year. To ensure that your titles look fresh and inviting for 2019 readers, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite trends in book design.

Lydian font

This font has been all over the publishing industry, gracing the covers of some of the buzziest books of recent years. Lydian dates back to 1938, giving it a well-earned timeless feel. Lydian has been successfully deployed in the service of essay collections, novels, non-fiction, and more.

Hand-lettering

Hand-lettered covers give books an honest, lived-in feel. It connotes authenticity and vulnerability. It can also clue readers in to the emotional tone of a book while they browse. Sharp and angular scrawls can alert the reader to conflict, complication, and fracturing, as it does for Awaeke Emezi’s Freshwater and Mark Sarvas’sMemento Park. Hand-lettered titles can be intimate and authentic, which is especially important for nonfiction titles like I Can’t Date Jesus.

Vintage Nature Imagery

Using the visual iconography of an old encyclopedia or naturalist textbook gives a cover aesthetic gravitas. Covers like The Far Field look more established and timeless rather than trendy. Additionally, using vintage images of nature gestures to readers that the book will be about observation in some way. Lauren Groff’s Florida, with its vintage illustration of a panther, demonstrates to the reader that, like a naturalist observing animals, this collection of stories will feature close observation of creatures (human and otherwise) in their natural habitats.

Gen-Z Yellow (and, of course, still millennial pink)

To give your titles a contemporary feel, and to hit a demographic of late teens to late-20s readers, consider the ubiquitous, but still popular, millennial pink. Or, for a fresher feel, it’s younger cousin, Gen-Z Yellow. Both are bright and inviting, and look great on a social media scroll. Consider this color palette, especially if your book is about millennial or Gen-Z characters. Better still, combine them both like The Lonesome Bodybuilder. Bonus points if you can take a queue from Soft Skull Press and animate your cover to give it some extra oomph.

Illustrated portraits and bright backgrounds

Tracing back to Where’d You Go Bernadette and further, covers featuring an illustrated figures against a bright background is a great way to attract attention for your titles and to visually place them in conversation with other breezy contemporary titles that have used the same style. Great examples of this trend include The Proposal, The Matchmaker’s List, and the Crazy Rich Asians series.

Be sure to check out some of our favorite covers on NetGalley in our Cover Love on the NetGalley homepage to gain even more inspiration!

Case Study: Chilly da Vinci

How NorthSouth Books used timely subject matter, modern visuals, and Read Now availability to give pre-publication buzz to the story of an inventive penguin

On NetGalley Insights, we highlight the successes of NetGalley publishers and authors, and share some of their strategies. Today, we’re talking with Heather Lennon, managing director at NorthSouth Books.

Below, learn about how she used NetGalley to gather over 100 pre-publication reviews for Chilly da Vinci by Jarrett Rutland. Chilly da Vinci tells the story about a young penguin inventor, tapping into current trends in STEM education for young readers, as well as the maker movement, all with a modern and appealing visual style.

The market for children’s books is especially hot right now. What do you think is unique about this particular segment of the publishing industry, as it relates to marketing and publicity?

Picture book publishing is very interesting in that it’s a visual medium, art and story together. We highlight the illustrations and the story in every book. Right now, I think that is a huge positive as far as coverage in blogs, Instagram, online and in print review journals. For Chilly Da Vinci, Jarrett Rutland’s artwork is so fun and striking–it just pops off the page, so I think it’s very appealing to reviewers.

Where does NetGalley fit into the overall strategy and timeline for Chilly da Vinci?

NetGalley is very important to NorthSouth Books! We always offer our lead titles on NetGalley. We aim to offer them 3-6 months in advance of publication. It’s really helped us reach readers, grow our brand recognition, and amass reviews online.

Which segments of the NetGalley community were most important to you? How did you go about reaching them?

Asking who is most important is like asking my mom to name her favorite child! We love them all. I will say….librarians have been a big part of our publishing program forever. Booksellers are enormously important in the life of a book–we are small enough that we never take a book being in-store for granted. Bloggers, tweeters, instagrammers help us get out the word! This is our world, and we’re lucky to be a part of it.

Chilly da Vinci is a Read Now title. Tell us why that was the right decision for making the title available widely to NetGalley members.

I don’t set a lot of hoops to jump through to get to our titles on Netgalley. I am thrilled that NetGalley members want to open the book. I truly believe, if you read our books, you will enjoy them, you will recommend them and review them. So Read Now is always my preference.

Most NetGalley members who clicked to read Chilly da Vinci listed the cover and the description as the reason for their interest. It comes as no surprise, given that the author is also the illustrator! Tell us about how you created compelling copy for the Title Details page.

It was important to everyone at NorthSouth that we convey that Chilly is a do-er, that this book would appeal to the maker movement. And that Chilly never gives up. And then in general, I think one of the most important things is clean, readable copy, especially online. It’s so basic, but it’s important to make sure that your info has uploaded correctly–not doubled or tripled or cut off in some weird way!

Tell us more about strategies you used to leverage your NetGalley listing outside the site.

Every book has a tip sheet that is fed out online. The sales reps use it to sell the book, and it gets uploaded to Edelweiss–which lots of bookstore buyers use for their job. Whenever we upload one of our books on to NetGalley that is a sales bullet that’s fed out to the world.

How will NetGalley be incorporated into your post-pub strategy?

We will be following up with everyone who reviewed Chilly with a pre-on-sale newsletter with activities and info about Jarrett Rutland’s events. The book launch will be held at an ice cream shop in Asheville on Saturday, Dec. 8. We hope that NetGalley members who loved the book will attend.

What is your top tip for publishers to use NetGalley to its full potential?

Download the reviews and keep those members in mind as you work on future books. It’s not just seeing what people think about this book, it’s being able to reach out to them for the next book as well.*

*NetGalley recommends using the Detailed Activity Report or the Feedback Report to see which NetGalley members are requesting, reading, and reviewing your titles.

Heather Lennon is the managing director of NorthSouth Books.

Chilly da Vinci goes on sale Dec. 4. You can preorder it here.

Interviews have been edited for clarity and length.

How to Use Wattpad If You’re an Author

The Internet is a social place. It’s where readers find their next book, where authors stay connected to readers, where publishers keep abreast of new voices, and industry newbies hunt for their first jobs in the field. “How to use…if you’re…” breaks down best practices for literary social corners of the Internet for different players in the publishing industry.

At BookExpo, we sat in on the panel discussion “Industry Disruption and the Future of Finding Rising Stars.” During that panel, Lindsay Summers, Wattpad star, discussed how she used Wattpad first as a way to read new stories, then a creative outlet for her own storytelling, and eventually as a vehicle for a book deal.

So, today we’ll be looking at how independent authors can use Wattpad to sharpen their own storytelling skills, connect with other authors, and grow a community of dedicated readers.

Using Wattpad as an Author

Wattpad is a great place for authors to experiment with serial storytelling, and to connect with passionate readers from all over the world. Authors can use it to hone their voice, get immediate feedback from readers, and expand their audience.

What is Wattpad?

Wattpad is a socially engaged and enthusiastic community of writers and readers. With a global community of 70 million members, and over 565 million story uploads, the platform is a vibrant place full of passionate readers and emerging writers. Most of the stories on Wattpad are geared toward young women and tend toward YA, Romance, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy, although other genres have devoted followings as well. The website is free to use, for both writers and readers.

Some Wattpad authors have even transitioned their Wattpad stories into traditionally published novels, or turned into TV shows or movies. Others have worked with companies to create branded content on the site. Huge successes like this may be outliers, but even if Wattpad doesn’t turn into a star-making vehicle for you, it is a place to grow as a writer, and to connect with an audience that is invested in your voice.

Hone your voice

Because Wattpad writers publish their stories serially, you have some flexibility to play around with your style. If you realize after a few chapters that the way you’ve been formatting dialogues is clunky, shift gears. If you intended your story to end with the heroine falling for her shy best friend, but realize that the femme fatale is a better fit for the story arc, you can reshape the plot as you write. Wattpad lets you change direction without having to rewrite your whole story.

But as you experiment, don’t forget about the reader! If a reader is clicking through several chapters at a time, they will likely be frustrated if you are making huge structural changes, like switching from third person to first person or turning your dystopian YA story into a sweet teen romance. If you do decide that your story needs a dramatic change, try starting a new one entirely.

Be sure to check out Wattpad’s Writer’s Portal, for both inspiration and practical advice.

Get feedback from readers

One of Wattpad’s most exciting social features is the line by line commenting. Readers leave comments on Wattpad stories, and can even comment on a particular sentence, showing precisely where they are having an intense reaction. You can see what readers are loving and what is drawing them in. You can also learn if your writing is registering with readers in a way that you don’t intend.

Grow your audience

With Wattpad’s huge global community, you can find kindred spirits, both as readers and fellow writers. Joining message boards, called Clubs, can help you become more involved in the Wattpad community. Industry Insider is geared specifically towards authors, and full of threads about the nuts and bolts of the publishing industry (from copyright to cover art) and general community encouragement. You can also join communities of readers who are reading stories similar to the ones you write, or the ones you like to read. See what readers are saying, and jump in on the conversation!

You can also engage with readers and other writers on profile pages. All member profiles, both writers and authors, include a Conversation section for members to chat with each other. Get to know writers whose work you admire by commenting and striking up a conversation. And when readers comment on your profile, make sure to respond! It’s a great way to cultivate a dedicated community of readers.

Check out more tips and strategies for independent authors here, and be sure to subscribe to NetGalley Insights so that you don’t miss a post!

BookTube Basics for Marketers

What is BookTube?

BookTube is the segment of the YouTube community dedicated to reading and reviewing books. Like any other community on YouTube (like gamers or beauty bloggers), BookTube has its own celebrities, norms, and unique quirks. The bulk of BookTubers read primarily YA novels, although not exclusively. BookTubers are enthusiastic, and tend to be quite high-energy.

According to YouTube, the BookTube community has over 200 million views of videos, and engagement is growing. Comparing July 2017 to 2018, engagement with BookTube videos is up 40%. This demonstrates both the reach of BookTube, and its effectiveness. Because of the intimate nature of these videos, reviews feel like recommendations from a friend rather than from an impersonal cultural gatekeeper.

Who are BookTubers and their audience?

Most BookTubers are millennials, and, like the rest of the trade fiction and YA market, skew female. The BookTube audience comprises primarily millennial and teen book enthusiasts. Marketing teams at children’s or YA publishers and imprints work with BookTubers to gain access to an audience of enthusiastic young readers who are already active on YouTube, as opposed to other media outlets, or even other social media platforms (i.e. Facebook or Twitter).

What is a BookTube video?

There are many different kinds of BookTube videos. Here are a few of the most common:

Book Haul: The BookTuber will go through the pile of books that they recently received, or purchased. It’s a roundup of what titles they are most excited to read.
Book Tag: Book Tag videos are centered around a specific theme or challenge, for example “Out of My Comfort Zone.” A BookTuber will respond to all questions in the tag, and then tag other BookTubers to participate as well to keep the conversation going.
Bookshelf Tour: BookTubers show their own collections of books. These videos show how a BookTuber organizes their books; by color, genre, To Be Read, and more.
Readathon: Readathons are interactive reading marathons hosted by one or more BookTubers. Often they have special challenges and rules, and integrations with other platforms, like Goodreads and Twitter. These readathons take place over set period of time The BookTubeAThon is an annual readathon hosted by multiple BookTubers.
Reviews: BookTubers give their impressions of a book, including a summary. Similar to any other kind of book review.
Unboxing: A popular style of YouTube video even outside of the BookTube community. BookTubers will open boxes of books, often sent to them either by a publisher or by a book subscription service.
Wrap Up: Wrap up videos are recaps of books that BookTubers have read during a given set of time. Often, these will be annual. They can function as a BookTuber’s “Best of” list.

How do I find the most relevant BookTubers for my titles?

Research BookTubers the same way that you can find relevant influencers on other platforms. Searching hashtags like #BookTube or #BookReview will give you a good overview of the community, but might be too broad for truly targeted searching. If you are publishing a YA dystopian title with a Latinx protagonist, try searching for BookTubers who have engaged with similar titles, or searching #YADystopia or #OwnVoices. Then, see who has high counts of followers and strong engagement from their audience in the comments section.

Once you have identified a few key BookTubers for your needs, consider looking at who they have listed under “My Favs” on their profile. Or, keep an eye on who BookTubers are tagging in their Tag videos. Learn who BookTubers are following and communicating with to gain a better grasp of the community landscape.

How can I engage with BookTubers to reach their audience?

Many major book publishers are already working with BookTubers to meet an enthusiastic market of young readers where they already are, with popular BookTubers receiving many requests from publishers and authors. WhittyNovels offered some tips about how publishers and authors can increase their chances of having their titles reviewed by a BookTuber.

Publishers should send print or digital galleys to BookTubers as they would to any other influencer (most BookTubers post contact information in the About section of their page) but the video format does offer some unique opportunities that publishers can take advantage of to drive creative strategic marketing decisions.

Publishers (or retailers) can also work with BookTubers to sponsor unique content. For example, Barnes and Noble sponsored a book haul with Linh Truong. Publishers can send galleys in special packaging to encourage BookTubers to feature their titles in unboxing videos, as Simon & Schuster did for the release of Lady Midnight. Or, work with BookTubers directly to create an unboxing video, as Penguin Teen did with JesseTheReader for A Map of Days (see right). Consider asking BookTubers to feature your titles for a readathon to boost awareness and enthusiasm, or work with multiple BookTubers to create a themed Tag video around your upcoming title. BookTubers grow their audience by consistently providing entertaining and creative content. Offer something new and exciting that will keep their fans engaged, and build a mutually beneficial partnership.

Stay tuned for more BookTube coverage!

Up Your Instagram Game with Stories

Most publishers already know that they need to be on Instagram. It is a thriving platform for businesses. There are 1 billion active accounts on the site, per month. And of those accounts, 80% follow at least one business.

After you’ve mastered the basics of the perfectly arranged photo of your book surrounded by aesthetically pleasing and thematically appropriate props, #bookfacefriday, and engaging your followers by asking questions for them to answer in the comments, it’s time to use some of Instagram’s other features to engage your audience and build enthusiasm for your list and for your brand as a whole.

Instagram Stories let users post disappearing slideshows of both photos and videos. Stories are visible on a profile for only 24 hours, unless the user decides to pin them to their profile as a “highlight,” in which case they will be available indefinitely. In a story, a user can create a temporary post, ask a question, create a poll, and more.

Many brands and companies are already using Instagram Stories as part of their overall strategy. According to Instagram, 50% of businesses on the site create a story within a typical month. And members are engaging with these stories. Over 400 million members use stories every day and 1/3 of the most viewed stories on Instagram are from businesses.

Take a look at some creative ways publishers (and a library!) are using Instagram stories to share updates, highlight their offerings, and grow their brand.

Engage your audience with quizzes and questions

Dutton took advantage of some nasty winter weather to post a timely quiz as a story, featuring their titles. They asked their audience what kind of survivalist personality they identified as, and showed stacks of books with the different character archetypes represented. Quick yes or no quizzes are low-impact ways for your followers to engage with you. Ask questions, and post the results! Posting responses signals that your audience is engaged. The audience will instantly see the results of the poll once they have responded. You can see who has responded and how by swiping up on your story post.

Grow your newsletter list

Penguin Random House uses stories to invite their audience to receive cus tomized book recommendations from their list. Followers who click for recommendations are brought to Penguin Random House’s website and invited to fill out a brief profile with genre preferences. They are given recommendations by genre and added to Penguin Random House’s newsletters. It’s a quick way for PRH to move their audience from Instagram to their website and to put them on their mailing lists for relevant releases, all the while offering something of interest to their followers.

Offer a sneak peek

Verso Books teases new releases, like Jenny Hval’s forthcoming Paradise Rot, in their stories. They give followers a little taste within the Instagram story itself, and also a link to read a fuller excerpt on Verso’s website. Like Penguin Random House, they are using stories to drive traffic to their website by providing interesting content.

You can also consider taking a page out of New York Public Library’s book and post whole texts (or maybe just a chapter). Consider using this as a special time-based promotion. For example, read the first few chapters of an upcoming title for one week only.

Share your list

Grove Atlantic uses their stories to showcase their most current titles. Followers can click through their highlighted stories to see what titles are currently or recently pubbed. Effectively, it’s a catalog on Instagram, full of well-composed photos, reveal videos, and blurbs. For your audience who might not spend the time to go to your website to look at your most current releases, Instagram stories is a great way to keep them informed about your most important titles.

Use stories to highlight events without distracting from your grid

One of our favorite publisher Instagram accounts, Graywolf Press, has a visually pleasing grid full of bright colors and clean lines. They use their highlighted stories to keep their audience aware of upcoming events while maintaining their Instagram’s overall aesthetic.

How have you used Instagram stories? Let us know in the comments. We hope to feature your success stories in future posts.