How to Write a Book Description
If you are planning on publishing a book, it is important that you know how to write every part of it. The book description is one of the very first parts of your book that your readers will see.
This part of the book is important, and you will need to write it well. What is a book description though? What makes it so important? Why should you learn how to write one?
1. What is a Book Description?
A book description is technically a teaser. It is meant to entice your readers to continue reading your book.
While it is tempting to think of a book description as a synopsis, it is in fact more of a marketing tool.
The book description is always situated at the first parts of the book and is meant to entice potential readers to buy your book.
2. The Purpose of a Good Book Description
Before you start writing your book description, it is important that you know the key purpose of a book description, and why writing a great one matters.
The book description is meant to convince readers that your book is worth reading. If you write a great book description, there is a bigger chance that your book sales will increase.
As a whole, your book description is important because it will affect your book sales exponentially.
3. How to Write a Book Description for Fiction
When it comes to writing a book description for fiction, it is important that you know what you are doing. Remember that there is a clear difference on how you approach your target audience.
For fiction, you have the freedom to use more words. You can express yourself, and be more fanciful with your wordplay.
But, it always pays to have a semblance of order when you write a book description for fiction.
Firstly, you should make sure that you are clear about your genre. Remember that there are many types of fiction. There is Suspense, High Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Historical Fiction to name a few.
If you are not clear on what genre that you are writing about, your readers might feel that you misled them with your book description.
It is also a good idea to give vague clues to your story’s high point or climax. It will help entice your potential readers, and may even persuade them to buy the book.
You should also identify keywords that you could use in your book description. When it comes to choosing keywords, it is always a good idea to base it on your chosen genre.
4. How to Write a Book Description for Nonfiction
Writing a book description for nonfiction is quite different to a fiction. But, there are some key tenets that you could use for both. A book description must have a hook or an introduction that could attract your potential reader’s attention.
It should not be overly long, because you might lose your reader’s interest. Aside from hooking your potential reader, your book description should show readers the key benefits of reading your book.
When it comes to writing a non-fiction book description, it always helps to show your credentials as a writer, and as an authority on the topic you are writing about. It is a way to show potential readers that your book is worth reading.
5. Bestselling book descriptions examples
When it comes to writing a great book description, it always pays to have a great example to model your work after.
Here is a bestselling book description example that you could get writing tips from.
Many corporations have slick, flashy mission statements that ultimately do little to motivate employees and less to impress customers, investors, and partners.
But there is a way to share your excitement for the future of your company in a clear, compelling, and powerful way and entrepreneur and business growth expert Cameron Herold can show you how.
Vivid Vision is a revolutionary tool that will help owners, CEOs, and senior managers create inspirational, detailed, and actionable three-year mission statements for their companies. In this easy-to-follow guide, Herold walks organization leaders through the simple steps to creating their own Vivid Vision, from brainstorming to sharing the ideas to using the document to drive progress in the years to come.
By focusing on mapping out how you see your company looking and feeling in every category of business, without getting bogged down by data and numbers, Vivid Vision creates a holistic road map to success that will get all of your teammates passionate about the big picture.
Your company is your dream, one that you want to share with your staff, clients, and stakeholders. Vivid Vision is the tool you need to make that dream a reality.
- Vivid Vision by Cameron Herold
What makes this a great book description?
This book description is a great example, because it is compelling from the start. It has all the elements that a good book description needs.
As it was stated earlier, if you are going to write a book description, it is important that you give the readers a clear cut picture of what they should expect from your book.
Which the book description does, and a lot more. Aside from the credentials, the book description addresses the readers assertively and compels them to read about new and innovative concepts.
As a whole, this book description for Vivid Vision by Cameron Herold is very well-written.
6. Example of A Bad Book Description
Noted media pundit and author of Playing the Future Douglas Rushkoff gives a devastating critique of the influence techniques behind our culture of rampant consumerism. With a skilled analysis of how experts in the fields of marketing, advertising, retail atmospherics, and hand-selling attempt to take away our ability to make rational decisions, Rushkoff delivers a bracing account of media ecology today, consumerism in America, and why we buy what we buy, helping us recognize when we’re being treated like consumers instead of human beings.
- Coercion: Why We Listen to What “They” Say by Douglas Rushkoff
What makes this a bad book description?
While this book description might seem adequate, it is in truth limited. Remember that you will need to advertise your book in your book description.
But, it went a bit overboard with the superlative terms, without anything to back up these claims. There was also no build-up to the main concept, which made the book description feel a bit rushed.
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