How to WRITE a GREAT Book Description

Congratulations! Your title and cover did their job and made people stop for a closer look. Your book description, in the same way that a movie trailer works, is the last stop before readers decide to buy. Give it the attention it deserves!

Book Description 101

Headline (25-30 words)

Start with a striking headline. Hook the reader with a surprising fact, bold claim, or a promise (You will gain...; Will help you...) to get a busy reader interested. Keep it short and to the point. Use words that jump off the page.

Body (150-250 words)

In the body of the description, describe their pain and how the book will solve it (e.g.,, with your “Signature process” or “Proprietary formula”). How will their life/health/business change by reading this book? What will they get out of it?

Be clear what the benefits are, what results they should expect. Will they be smarter, happier, richer? Briefly let them know why they should listen to you. Years of experience? Awards? Any other claims to fame?

Note: Search engines use the book title and first 160 characters of the description, so get your keywords in early.

Close (25-50 words)

Be sure to close strong. Inspire them to buy.Do you have any powerful book review quotes you can use? You could also say who the book is for, such “as fans of ...” (if it’s topic related), or “Makes a great gift for...”Leave them hanging. Let them know they need to read the book to get the answer to their problem.

Final Tips

• Look at reader reviews for books with similar titles for inspiration.

• Use open loops**.

** Open Loops are a copywriting technique where you intentionally introduce a piece of information, a question, or a scenario that creates a sense of incompleteness or unresolved curiosity in the reader's mind. The "loop" remains open because the answer or resolution isn't immediately provided.

Share your new book description below. I’d love to see it!

Description Examples

Here are a long and short description of a book I highly recommend: The Coaching Habit—Say Less, Ask More And Change The Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier

NOTE: Stanier gets away with a very short back-of-book description because he surrounds it with three supporting quotes. I’ve included only the short description itself.

Back of the book description (36 words)

Harlan Howard said every great country song has three chords and the truth. This book gives you seven questions and the tools to make them an everyday way to work less hard and have more impact.

The description on Amazon (317 words)

In Michael Bungay Stanier's The Coaching Habit, coaching becomes a regular, informal part of your day so managers and their teams can work less hard and have more impact.

Drawing on years of experience training more than 10,000 busy managers from around the globe in practical, everyday coaching skills, Bungay Stanier reveals how to unlock your peoples' potential. He unpacks seven essential coaching questions to demonstrate how--by saying less and asking more--you can develop coaching methods that produce great results.

• Get straight to the point in any conversation with The Kickstart Question

• Stay on track during any interaction with The Awe Question

• Save hours of time for yourself with The Lazy Question, and hours of time for others with The Strategic Question

• Get to the heart of any interpersonal or external challenge with The Focus Question and The Foundation Question.

• Finally ensure others find your coaching as beneficial as you do with The Learning Question.

A fresh innovative take on the traditional how-to manual, the book combines insider information with research based in neuroscience and behavioural economics, together with interactive training tools to turn practical advice into practiced habits. Witty and conversational, The Coaching Habit takes your work--and your workplace--from good to great.

"Coaching is an art and it's far easier said than done. It takes courage to ask a question rather than offer up advice, provide and answer, or unleash a solution. giving another person the opportunity to find their own way, make their own mistakes, and create their own wisdom is both brave and vulnerable. In this practical and inspiring book, Michael shares seven transformative questions that can make a difference in how we lead and support. And he guides us through the tricky part - how to take this new information and turn it into habits and a daily practice." --Brené Brown, author of Rising Strong and Daring Greatly

Share your favorite book description examples below. There are so many examples we can all learn from!