A Quick Guide to Creating the Perfect Amazon Book Description
So, you’ve written and self-published a book. Now you need to generate sales and get it out
to readers. Some people hire a professional from the book marketing world to create the copy
for their book description. However, by following this short guide, there is no reason why
you can’t do it for yourself and see sales figures to be proud of.
1. Grab Some Attention
The first thing you will need to do is grab the reader's attention. The first line needs to be
attention-grabbing and make an impact. Here are a couple of examples from the top-selling
books on Amazon when this guide was written.
-This is the story of Sam and Sadie. It's not a romance, but it is about love.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.
-IT WAS A CASE THAT GRIPPED THE NATION LUKE RYDER’S MURDER
HAS NEVER BEEN SOLVED
Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter
In just a short sentence, both writers have managed to convey the genre and provide a hook to
the key characters and their story. One is a Love story, the other a murder mystery. Notice
how Cara Hunter has published her first line hook in capital letters. In both cases, the reader
is left in no doubt about the book's theme and what they can expect.
2. Shout it Loud
If you look at either of these books before the headline is revealed, both have pretty
heavyweight reviews from famous literary critics. In the beginning, you may not have these
to hand, so you can gloss over this, but if you do, get some stellar reviews. It’s undoubtedly
worth editing your book description and adding these before you go for the tagline.
The first thing you will read when you look at the listing for Murder in the Family by Cara
Hunter is this incredible endorsement from bestselling author Ian Rankin.
‘This devilishly clever, ground-breaking novel will keep you guessing’ IAN RANKIN.
3. Get to the Description
By now, we can safely say that the reader is hooked, and that is just one sentence and perhaps
a couple of celebrity endorsements. So now it’s time to move on with the book's description,
but you do not want to spoil the plot. In the industry, this is what we call a synopsis. You’re
not looking to explain every plot point just to give some essential information that will make
them want to see what happens and get them excited to read.
Let’s take Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter as our example again:
In December 2003, Luke Ryder was found dead in the garden of the family home in
London, leaving behind a wealthy older widow and three stepchildren. Nobody saw
anything.
Now, secrets will be revealed – live on camera.
Years later, a group of experts re-examined the evidence on Infamous, a true-crime
show – with shocking results. Does the team know more than they’ve been letting on?
Or does the truth lie closer to home?
Can you solve the case before they do?
The truth will blow your mind.
4. The Keywords
Now the clever bit is including keywords that help target the audience that will love your
stories. Readers look for books using different keywords, and if you can get these in the title,
description, or headline, so much better. The title makes it very clear that this is a murder
mystery, and in the description, she has added words such as truth, solve the case, evidence,
true crime, and more. This means anyone looking for books in this genre will quickly turn up
this one.
Here we have highlighted the keywords from Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by
Gabriel Zeven.
When Sam catches sight of Sadie at a crowded train station one winter morning, he is
catapulted back to the brief time they spent playing together as children. Their unique spark
is instantly reignited.
What comes next is a story of friendship and rivalry, fame and creativity, betrayal and
tragedy, perfect worlds and imperfect ones. And, ultimately, our need to connect: to be loved
and to love.
5. It is Over to You
Finally, it’s time to sell yourself. You should always talk in the third person and introduce
yourself and why you are an authority in your genre. If you have other books published, you
can mention these, report on any awards you have won; for example, Cara Hunter is a Sunday
Times bestselling crime novelist, and give a little background on your life, where you came
from and how this impacts your writing.
Cara Hunter is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling crime novels Close to Home,
In the Dark, No Way Out, All the Rage, The Whole Truth and Hope to Die, all featuring
DI Adam Fawley and his Oxford-based police team. Close to Home was a Richard and
Judy Book Club pick (as is her latest) and was shortlisted for Crime Book of the Year in
the British Book Awards 2019. No Way Out was selected by the Sunday Times as one of
the 100 best crime novels since 1945. Cara's novels have sold over a million copies
worldwide, and the TV rights to the series have been acquired by the Fremantle group.
She lives in Oxford. Murder in the Family is her first stand-alone crime novel. The
Fawley series will also continue.
We will leave you with one final heads-up, be sure to proofread your work and see how it
looks on the page once uploaded. You can always go back and make changes.
