7 Steps to Write a Great Book Description

Let’s think like a potential reader for a second. We’re looking for a book to buy, and searching through our favorite genre. We see a book cover that intrigues us, but we need more. What’s the next thing we’ll do? We’ll read the book description. This goes for online shopping as well as for buying a book in a bookstore. The readers all follow these steps.

That means that you as the author need to write a great book description that will hook potential readers into buying your book. If you’re not sure how to write a great book description, just keep reading.

Here are the 7 ultimate steps for nailing your book description.

1. Open on a Strong Note

When you’re writing your book description, you need to keep one thing in mind. Potential readers don’t have the time to read dozens of book descriptions. They’ll only read the ones that speak to them from the first line.

This is why your opening lines should be:

• intriguing
• shocking
• mystical
• attention-grabbing

Make sure that you open on a strong note to inspire the potential readers to keep reading.

2. Don’t Reveal Too Much

Nobody wants to know what happens in your book before they decide to read it. It would be a huge mistake to reveal the most important plot twists or storylines in your book description.

Instead, you need to choose a small fraction of your book’s storyline and share it in the description. Make sure to:

• reveal no crucial moments of the book
• give minor hints of what to expect
• leave an open question that the readers will answer if the read the book

Give them just enough to help them imagine what your book might be like, and imagine themselves reading it.

3. Keep it Short

You don’t want to scare off any of your potential readers by making the description too long. It would be much more effective to keep it short, but to make sure it has all the elements:

• it’s informative
• it’s concise
• it’s to the point

Don’t waste any words on poetic descriptions and vague sentences. Instead, make sure every word counts and reveals something special about your book.

4. Explain What the Book Offers

You want to make sure your book description speaks to your target readers. The best way to do it is to tell them why they need to read it.

Explain what the book offers to the readers to help them decide whether to buy it or not. For example, it could offer:

• an emotional chronicle of a Jewish family’s life during WWII
• a passionate love story that was never supposed to happen
• a complex and emotional thriller that gives insight into the minds of both the good and bad

Make sure to reveal the value of the book and give the readers an additional reason to buy it.

5. Optimize For Google

Selling your book online means knowing how to optimize for Google searches. You have to think like a potential reader and understand the phrases they might be typing in the search box.

For example:

• a female-empowered adult drama book
• children’s fantasy novel
• an adults’ romance novel

Figure out what they’re going to google and use those phrases in your book description. Make sure they fit naturally, or you’ll lose the quality of the description.

6. Create Several Drafts

When writing your book description, chances are you won’t get it right the first time. Try creating several different drafts to explore different angles and approaches.

Then, let them rest for a day or two.

Go back to them and:

• read each one like you’re seeing it for the first time
• read it like a potential book buyer
• make notes about each one
• choose the best one

In case you need any help with writing your book description, there are professional essay writers who can help you nail it.

7. Show Your Writing Style

Your book description is supposed to reveal something about the emotion, atmosphere, or sensibility of the book. This is why you need to write it in accordance with the book’s content.

Make sure to:

• show your writing style
• show your uniqueness
• let them feel your energy

Make the book description a preview of what’s waiting inside the pages.

Final Thoughts

Writing a great book is not enough to make it a hit that sells like crazy. You need to do all the extra work for promoting it and making sure it reaches the right audience.

The tips above will help you write a great book description. Use them to help your book reach its full potential.

Jessica Fender is a professional writer and educational blogger at Bestwritingadvisor, an aggregator for useful college resources and websites. Jessica enjoys sharing her ideas to make writing and learning fun.