The information below brings all your book’s essential details together in one place, helping you stay consistent across platforms and improving how readers discover your work. Every retailer requires some form of this metadata, and having it ready makes the upload process far smoother.

Project Basics

These details establish your book’s identity and ensure consistency across the cover, the interior pages, and all retailer listings.

  • Author Name (as it will appear on the book) – Must match exactly across the cover, interior pages, and metadata to avoid indexing issues.
  • Author/publisher contact information – Keep current email, phone, and website information with your project records. These may be needed during publishing and distribution, although they are not necessarily public-facing book metadata.
  • Book Title – Use the exact title as it appears on the book’s cover and title page, including spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.
  • Subtitle – Use the exact subtitle as it appears on the book. A well-crafted subtitle can clarify the book’s subject or focus and support discoverability.
  • Series name and number, if applicable — Identifies the book as part of a series and establishes its position within that series.
  • Edition, if applicable – Identifies a substantially revised or updated version of a previously published book (revised edition, second edition, etc.).

Format and Production Details

These define how your book will be produced, distributed, and displayed.

  • Formats – Identify each version you plan to publish, such as hardcover, paperback, ebook, or audiobook. Each format may require its own production specifications and identifying information.
  • Trim size for print formats – The finished dimensions of the printed book. Trim size affects page layout, page count, printing costs, and cover specifications.
  • Page count – The final page count is determined after formatting and is needed for print specifications, pricing, and calculating spine width.
  • ISBNs (one for each format) – Different editions and formats generally require separate ISBNs. Requirements for ebooks and audiobooks may vary by platform and distribution method.
  • Publisher/Imprint (exact name) – Identifies the publishing entity or imprint associated with the book and should remain consistent across ISBN records and distribution platforms.
  • Publication date – The date the book is officially released or made available for sale. Used by retailers, distributors, libraries, and bibliographic databases.
  • Copyright year – The year associated with the book’s copyright notice, usually the year the work is first published. It may differ from the publication date, particularly for revised or new editions.

Discoverability and Classification

Essential information that determines how readers, retailers, and librarians find and categorize your book.

  • BISAC subject codes, 2-3 (https://www.bisg.org/complete-bisac-subject-headings-list) – Help retailers, distributors, and libraries classify your book.
  • Retailer Categories (generally 3, may differ from BISAC subjects) – Retailer-specific categories that influence browsing and bestseller lists.
  • Keyword phrases (7-15) – Think about the words and phrases readers might actually use when searching for a book like yours. Platform requirements and limits vary.
  • Audience – Identifies the primary readership for the book, such as general/trade, professional, scholarly, young adult, or children. Available audience designations vary by platform.
  • Age/grade range, if applicable – Particularly important for children’s and young adult books and helps retailers, librarians, educators, and readers identify the appropriate audience.
  • Comparable titles (2-3), including ISBNs – Help position the book in the market and guide metadata optimization.
  • Tone, themes, and reader interests (especially useful for fiction) – Identify the mood, themes, tropes, and interests that may help you develop effective keywords, categories, descriptions, and marketing copy.

Descriptions and Marketing Copy

This information shapes how your book is presented to readers and influences purchasing decisions.

  • Short description – A concise version of your book description for platforms or marketing uses where space is limited.
  • Long description – A fuller, sales-focused description for retailer pages, websites, and marketing materials. Incorporate relevant keywords naturally where appropriate.
  • Author bio – A short professional biography for retailer pages, websites, book covers, media materials, and other marketing uses.
  • Tagline/hook – A brief, compelling statement that captures the book’s core appeal.
  • Endorsements or reviews – Gather strong endorsements, editorial reviews, or review excerpts that may be used on retailer pages, book covers, websites, and marketing materials.

Distribution

These choices determine how and where the book is sold.

  • Retail and distribution platforms – Identify the platforms and distributors you plan to use, such as Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Barnes & Noble Press, BookVault, Kobo Writing Life, Apple Books, or Draft2Digital.
  • Library distribution preferences – Identify whether and how you want your book made available to libraries through applicable distribution services.
  • Ebook Digital Rights Management (DRM) preference – Determines whether restrictions are placed on copying or sharing the ebook. Options vary by platform, so consider your distribution strategy before making this choice.
  • Sales territories (country-specific, regional, or worldwide)

Pricing and Royalty Options

These decisions establish what readers and institutions will pay for your book and, along with printing costs, distribution terms, and royalty structures, affect how much you earn per sale.

  • Retail price for each format
  • Library/institutional price, if applicable – Often higher than retail and used by library distributors
  • Promotional pricing
  • Territory-specific pricing – Allows you to set appropriate prices for different markets rather than relying solely on automatic currency conversions.
  • Ebook royalty option, where applicable
  • Audiobook distribution/exclusivity option, where applicable

Royalty options – Available royalty structures vary by platform, format, price, territory, and distribution choices. Review the current options on each platform before setting your pricing and distribution strategy.

Wholesale and Returns (Print Books)

Wholesale discounts apply to print books offered through certain distribution channels and determine the discount available to retailers and booksellers. A larger discount reduces the publisher’s compensation per sale but may make the book more attractive to traditional retail channels.

  • Wholesale discount – The discount offered to retailers and other booksellers. A larger discount reduces the publisher’s compensation per sale but may make the book more attractive to traditional retail channels.
  • Short-discount option, if available – A lower wholesale discount that may be appropriate for books focused primarily on online rather than traditional bookstore sales.
  • Returnability – Some bookstores prefer or require books to be returnable. Authors should understand the financial risk before choosing this option, because returned books may result in printing costs and other fees.
  • Returns option (destroy or return, if applicable)

Other Enhancements

These are optional but can add value and improve your book’s professional presentation.

  • Cover image/file – Keep both the final print-ready cover file and a high-quality digital cover image for retailer listings, websites, social media, and marketing.
  • Author photo – Keep a high-resolution original that can be resized appropriately for print and online uses.
  • Illustrations/interior images – Record the number and type of images (color or black-and-white), along with any placement requirements. This information is important for layout, printing specifications, and production costs.
  • Table of contents – Especially for nonfiction; helps readers and retailers understand structure.
  • Excerpt/sample – Useful for marketing, retailer previews, and metadata samples.
  • Awards and honors – For credibility and visibility.
  • Content Warnings – For transparency and reader trust.

Feeling overwhelmed? Don’t be. Not every item on this list will apply to your project, and you can gather the rest as you move through writing, editing, and formatting. The more of this information you collect early, the smoother your publishing and marketing steps will be. Consistency is key—keeping your core book information as consistent as possible across platforms and websites helps prevent errors and ensures readers are seeing accurate information about your book. With everything in one place, publishing and updating your book becomes largely a matter of copy and paste.

For a one-page, printable metadata checklist, click here.

Metadata – What to Gather and Why