01
Plain definition
Metadata is everything about the book that is not the book: title, subtitle, author name, description, categories, keywords, series, language, publication date and identifiers.
02
Why it matters to an author
A retailer's search and browse systems only see the metadata. A book with a strong manuscript and thin metadata is invisible; the fields are how a reader who would want it ever finds it.
03
Where it appears in the publishing workflow
Every field is entered on the publishing form at upload. The book metadata checker on this site scores whether the essential reader-facing fields are present before you get there.
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