Metadata: Why is it important for publishers?

Metadata is data about data. For publishers, book metadata can be very useful in organizing content as well as improving visibility and sales.

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What is metadata?

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The simplest way to describe metadata is: it is “data about data.” In the context of publishing, metadata is information about an article or a book.

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In the case of journals, article metadata includes information about the article, including the article title, author(s) details, date of publication, keywords, and the journal ISSN (International Standard Serial Number). This data essentially helps to identify an article.

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It encompasses the data items that a reader can use to identify a book, including the title, subtitle, price, date of publication, and ISBN (International Standard Book Number). Metadata can be considered as a “gateway” that allows readers to discover a particular book, making it a critical resource for a book’s successful sales.

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How does metadata help book publishers?

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With the focus of this blog being book metadata, here is a list of data items that can boost your book’s visibility to potential readers:

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Bibliographic Metadata: Book title, subtitle, author names, publisher details, ISBN.

Commercial Metadata: Price, date of availability for sale, and discounts. For print books, commercial metadata will typically comprise details such as the dimensions and weight. For eBooks, commercial metadata includes the file size, file type, etc.

Marketing Metadata: Author bio, awards or prizes the book has won, other books written by the author, etc.

Subject Metadata: This type of metadata, although beneficial, is not mandatory because it deals with the internal subject matter of a book.

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A simple way to classify the different types of metadata would be to group these items under “core metadata” or “enhanced metadata.” Core metadata includes all those data items that are crucial to identifying a particular book, such as its title, author name, ISBN, price data, and publisher information. Without core metadata, a book will be virtually impossible to find by readers. Enhanced metadata, however, covers the optional data points such as the author(s) bios, jacket copy, book reviews, prizes and awards won by the book, etc. Although enhanced metadata is not mandatory, it has been found to help improve SEO, and ultimately, book sales.

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