Metadata: The most important self-publishing tool you may never have heard of
Troubador Publishing
Helping serious authors get their books published, distributed and sold to the market
In this interview, the Head of Professional Services at Nielsen BookData Clive Herbert reveals the most important self-publishing tool you may never have heard of. Join his session at the Self-Publishing Conference (Leicester, April 22, 2023.)
Clive Herbert worked in the book trade for over twenty years. Joining Nielsen BookData in 2002 in the role of Head of Publisher Services and then as Head of Professional Services, he has worked with publishers, large and small, helping them to improve the quality of their bibliographic data to support their sales and marketing activities. His other responsibilities include managing the Registration Agency, which supplies ISBNs and SANs to the UK book trade, and he continues to encourage publishers and promote the benefits of good metadata throughout the global book trade.
Interview Q&A
Q: In simple terms, what is metadata in terms of book publishing?
A: Metadata is the ‘oil’ that lubricates the book supply chain enabling books to be discovered by consumers, ordered, distributed, sold and (hopefully) reordered. All e-books and around half of all printed books are now sold online where product metadata, the information that describes a book, is your only sales tool.
Q: How early should authors be thinking about their data?
A: For new title information the book trade standard is for the title record to be available to bookshops at least 5 months ahead of the publication date. This is to ensure that retailers have your new product information in time to support your pre-sales marketing activity and to be considered for retailer promotions, signings or inclusion in book events.
Now you don’t need to have every single detail of your book confirmed 5 months out from the publication date, but the basic core information such as ISBN, Title, Author, format etc. should be part of your initial book record. You can then build up the record by adding additional information as the publication date approaches.?
Q: What is the biggest mistake that authors often make with their metadata?
A: Not getting their book metadata out there early enough. Speaking to retail buyers and event organizers who work months in advance, they say when making their selections that all too often books from small publishers or self-published authors cannot be considered because their titles aren’t visible.
Another common mistake authors make is not maintaining their book data and keeping it up to date. It is a cause of irritation to both bookshops and their customers when they order a book which is listed as ‘available’, only to find out it is out of stock or waiting to be reprinted, or that the price is different on arrival.
Q: What enhanced metadata should authors include to get ahead?
A: Nielsen BookData research shows the best-performing titles are the ones which contain descriptive content in the book record. The main description is the most important descriptive data element as this is used by most of our data customers, but an author biography, reviews, and short description all add to the richness of the record. Tables of contents are especially important for academic books and some children’s and reference works.?
Simply uploading an image of your book is especially important as our research shows that the inclusion of a cover image in the product record has a positive effect on sales and, let’s face it, when you are searching on a retailer's website do you even stop at an entry which does not have a cover image?
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Q: Can you provide tips for authors new to publishing to try and improve their data?
A: My advice, be it slightly boring, is to concentrate on the basics and on getting them right. The Nielsen BookData database contains hundreds of pieces of information that can describe a book in all its many forms and complexity where the retailer or library needs that level of granularity, but there is a core set of fields that all our data customers receive which are key for discovery and to differentiate your book.
These core fields include ISBN, Title, Author, Format, Subject Classification, Publisher Name, Publication Date, Cover Image, Supplier, Price & Availability.
Spend time classifying your book correctly as our research shows that 30% of consumers purchased a book because they were “interested in the subject”.?
Think about the length of your title and how it might appear on retail websites and work in book distribution systems. Exceptionally long titles may appear truncated or appear spilt across more than one field.
Pay attention to the all-important trading information so the bookshop knows where the book can be purchased from, whether the book is available for sale or when be available from and what the RRP is.
And finally, do make your book record as comprehensive as possible. There are many additional pieces of information that authors seldom complete. For example, providing a link to their own website, or linking different formats (paperback and e-book) of the book together. All potentially valuable information to bookshops and libraries.?
Clive Herbert at the Self-Publishing Conference
Catch Clive Herbert explaining the building blocks of the book trade and how they can help your book at the Self-Publishing Conference.
Selling books is all about making the cover attractive, and getting the media interested, no? Well, no. Selling books is about data, that often technical stuff that accompanies the more glamorous aspects of publishing a book. Data can include reviews, author biography and photo, a contents list, the price, page extent, a detailed synopsis and an extract… and the more data (and the more accurate it is), the better the sales are likely to be. This session looks at the importance of data to self-publishing authors and advises that it should be ignored at your peril.
About the Self-Publishing Conference
The Self-Publishing Conference is the UK’s longest-established self-publishing event, offering authors a chance to find out about a wide range of publishing options, to hear from and question those who work within the thriving self-publishing world, and to network with fellow authors, many of whom will already be experienced self-publishers.
In 2023, the event will take place at the College Court Conference Centre, Leicester, UK on April 22nd.
Data/Research > Information > Knowledge (+Experience) > Wisdom > Share<3
1 年Will this conference have a recorded Live video uploaded onto Nielsen's website?
Open to whatever life has to offer!
1 年Clive's session is probably one of the most important that authors can attend, as it deals with a subject often overlooked but which has so much importance when it comes to making books visible to get them selling.