If you are undertaking self-publishing, either as print or ebook, a key part of both your production and marketing tasks is to define appropriate metadata for your book.

Download: Metadata Plan, with tips and links

Microsoft Word format
PDF format
[last update: February 23, 2016]

About Book Metadata

“Metadata” is the information that will help readers find your book. Metadata includes, at a minimum:
— Title … and subtitle
— Description
— Cover art
— BISAC category and ISBN number
— Keywords
— Author bio and platform
— Editorial reviews

When you create a book’s entry on an ebook distributor’s site or a print-on-demand vendor, you have to enter specific metadata. You can use the Metadata Cheat Sheet provided here to create and maintain your planned metadata. You’ll want to preserve this information in a document, specifically for:

— Quick entry in online forms.
— Easy editing later, to improve findability.
— Avoid inventing the same information for different uses.