Metadata Exposed
Presented via webinar:
Sept 11, 2014

Where Publishers, Content and
Readers Meet

Speakers
Rebecca Albani
Publisher Relations Manager, BOWKER
Clark Fife
Director of Metadata, MACMILLAN US
Rob Stevens
Chief Community Officer, FIREBRAND
TECHNOLOGIES

Title
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Everything in Title
• This Heart Within Me Burns – From Bedlam to Benidorm
(Revised & Updated)
• How Ottawa Spends Series, Volume 33: How Ottawa
Spends, 2012-2013 : The Harper Majority, Budget Cuts,
and the New Opposition
• Losing Hope: Book One of the Sienna St. James Series
• #06 Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Sussex
Vampire
• Bartending 101 4th Edition
• Quiero a mi papa Porque (I Love My Daddy Because
English / Spanish edition)
• Harold and the Purple Crayon 50th Anniversary Edition

Where the Data Should Go
• Subtitle
• Series Title
• Translated Title
• Series Number
• Volume Number
• Edition Number
• Edition Info
• Language

7
First Edition

8
Numbered Edition
<title>
<b202>01</b202>
<b203>Bartending 101</b203>
<b029>The Basics of Mixology,
4th Edition</b029>
</title>
<title>
<b202>05</b202>
<b276>40</b276>
<b203>Bartending 101
(4E)</b203>
</title>
<b057>4</b057>
<b058><![CDATA[Fourth
Edition]]></b058>

9
BISG Best Practices

10
Foreign Language Edition
<title>
<b202>01</b202>
<b203><![CDATA[Qu
iero a mi papa
Porque (I Love My
Daddy Because
English /
Spanishedition)]]></b
203>
</title>
<language>
<b253>01</b253>

11
Special Edition
<title>
<b202>01</b202>
<b203>Harold
and the Purple
Crayon 50th
Anniversary
Edition</b203>
</title>

12
BISG Best Practices

Series
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Standardization of Series Name
<series>
<b018>The Haruhi Suzumiya Series</b018>
</series>
<title textcase="02" refname="Title" >
<b202>01</b202>
<b203>The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya</b203>
</title>
<series>
<b018>Immortal Beloved</b018>
<b019>3</b019>
</series>
<title textcase="02" refname="Title" >
<b202>01</b202>
<b203>Eternally Yours</b203>
</title>

15
Bowker Best Practices

16
Series Subtitle
<series>
<b018>Let's-Read-and-Find-Out
Science 1</b018>
</series>
<title>
<b202>01</b202>
<b203>How a Seed
Grows</b203>
</title>

17
First Book in Series
<othertext>
<d102>08</d102>
<d103>02</d103>
<d104><![CDATA[
"A fantastic new dystopian series...Littlefield's compelling
writing will keep readers turning pages late into the night
to find out what happens next. Outstanding!" Top Pick, 4
1/2 stars<P> -RT Book Reviews]]>
</d104>
</othertext>
<othertext>
<d102>08</d102>
<d103>02</d103>
<d104><![CDATA[
<P>"A series starter that will appeal to fans of Jeff Kinney and
Dav Pilkey . . . A treat for all . . . And guess what? It makes for
good tree house reading." -- <I>Booklist</I><P>"Fans of Jeff
Kinney&#8217;s &#8220;Diary of a Wimpy
Kid&#8221;(Abrams) and Lincoln Peirce&#8217;s &#8220;Big
Nate&#8221; series (HarperCollins) will be drawn to this book,
while parents will enjoy the absence of snarky humor." --
<I>School Library Journal</I>]]>
</d104>

Subject
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Subjects

20
Subjects
• BISAC is a standardized list of terms and codes used
within the book industry
• Subject codes are required for titles sold to USA retailers
• Provide the most specific code applicable to a product
rather than general subjects
• Choose as many codes as needed to describe the book
content
• List the most relevant or important code first in case
retailers and librarians choose only to use the first few
codes

21
BISAC Subject
EDU045000 EDUCATION /
Counseling / Crisis
Management PSYCHOLOGY /
Psychopathology /
Depression
ART / Subjects & Themes /
Landscapes & Seascapes
SOCIAL SCIENCE /
Sociology of Religion

Audience and Subject Codes

Cover Image
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Cover Images

Cover Image Placeholders

Descriptive Fields
Book descriptions and author
biographies are the most
important places to make the case
for your book. But they are also
the biggest opportunities to affect
how your book is found online.
• Think about web copy before jacket copy
• Don’t write context-dependent copy
• Write evergreen copy

Book Description
Before you write your
description, you need to
think about the language
you plan to use:
• What are the most
important words related to
my book?
• What kinds of searches do I want my book to be
found in?
• What words will readers use to find my book?

Keywords to Consider
• Full title & subtitle of
your book
• Names of all the major
contributors
• Basic words about the
book
– e.g. “novel”, “essay”,
“collection”, etc.
• Subject keywords
• Genre keywords
• Audience keywords
– Ages
– “expert”, “beginner”, etc.
• Tone & emotion keywords
– What’s the mood of your book?
– How will your book make the
reader feel?
Research your keywords and try to find the language
that will reach the best possible audience for your book

Description Pitfalls
• Time-sensitive information
– “… is currently working on the sequel ….”
– “ … is the author of seven novels … “
– “… also available as an audio book ..”
• Too-short descriptions
• Not starting with the most important
information
Avoid Including:
• Comparative titles and authors
• URLs and 3rd party links

Author Biography
Author Biographies are like resumes!
Always Include
• The author’s name
• Basic keywords:
– e.g. “author”, “writer”, novelist”,
etc.
• The name of at least one book
Good to Include
• Professional qualifications
• Awards
• Praise & Publications

Strike the Right Balance
SEO and keyword research will help
searchers find your book. But once
they do, you have to provide good,
readable descriptions that make
the sale.
• What your book is about
• What a reader will take away from the experience of reading
your book
• What makes your book is different and better than all the rest

• Supplier
• Publishing Status
• Availability
• Dates
• Prices
• Related Products

ONIX
http://www.editeur.org/8/ONIX/

• Supplier

• Publishing Status

• Publishing Status

• Availability

• Availability

• Product Availability

• Pub Status/Availability/Product
Availability

• Dates

• Prices

• Prices

• Related Products

• Related Products

So how do you manage all of
this?

Questions?

Contact Us
Rebecca.Albani@Bowker.com
Clark.Fife@macmillan.com
robert@firebrandtech.com

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