On the Directions for Your Journey PDF is the metadata that you’ll need when you upload your book onto whatever sites you’ve chosen. The form assumes one pen name and publisher imprint. If you are using an additional imprint or pen name, you might wish to make a note of those.

Metadata is all the behind-the-scenes information that lets the distributors know what kind of book it is and who might be interested in it. Their search engines pay particular attention to the title, subtitle, categories, and keywords. These should be self-explanatory.

Release date is included for future reference and if you are planning a pre-order so you can ensure that date is the same everywhere you upload your book.

ISBN refers to the International Standard Book Number. It is a unique identifier for each format of your book. There is one provider of these per country, and some of you are lucky enough to get them free. Most e-book retailers assign their own numbers, so some people do not use an ISBN for their e-book. Paperback, hardback, and audio will need their own. Both KDP and IS offer free ISBNs, but they belong to those platforms, and it will show them as the publisher of record. It may also confuse libraries and potential readers if they see are two numbers for the same thing. After you’ve purchased them, you will need to assign an ISBN to each format of your book.

Bowker is the place to purchase ISBNs in the U.S. and Neilson is for the U.K. Canada, France, and South Africa provide them for free for their citizens. Other places selling ISBNs, or giving them away, like KDP and IS have purchased them in bulk, which reduces the price, from the appropriate place in that country and are reselling them.

The description is the sales copy or blurb for your book. This text will sell the book to potential readers once the cover has caught their eye. You can use the Kindlepreneur Book Description Generator (https://kindlepreneur.com/amazon-book-description-generator/) to attractively format your description and then paste that into the field at KDP.

Keywords are not just single words but phrases that people might search for to find your book. You have seven available to you in most places.

Categories are where you can drill down to the best niche for your book. Remember the market research you did before? Use that information to help guide your choices here. The categories for print and e-book are slightly different, so this is a great way to increase your discoverability by choosing different but still applicable categories.

If you know what your prices will be, you can make a note of them before you begin. If not, both IS and KDP have suggested prices and/or calculators that show the potential profit at the price points you choose to help you decide. Some people adjust prices for a specific profit per book; others prefer consistent pricing. Again, refer to the research you did earlier to assist you in these choices. Your price is not locked in, so you can adjust this later if you desire.

Metadata

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