Day 23: The 30-Day Book Launch Challenge

Formatting the Book Description using HTML code

DAY 23. Week Seven. What has to be done by the end of this week?

Formatting the Book Description.

How to get HTML code to make your description look better

HTML tags are the hidden keywords within a web page that define how the browser must format and display the content.

The tags usually start with a <symbol> at the beginning of the text and </symbol> at the end.

For example. <h1> indicates that the text should be displayed as a large Header One. </h1> closes out the formatting and tells the browser to return to Normal font.

You should also try to keep the text on your Amazon (or other sales page) neat and tidy by using bold text, italics and headings.  One way to make your book details stand out is to add in some code around the text.

If you’re using WordPress—create a new blog post and type out your book description. Then switch to “Text” instead of “Visual”—it will show you the HTML version of your text with all of the code. You can copy that text and paste it directly into your book description on KDP.

Not using WordPress? Then keep it super simple.

To make your text bold, insert <b> in front of the text, and then close it with </b>.

To make your text stand out in Amazon orange, insert <h2> at the beginning of your header, and close it with </h2>.

These are additive, so if you wanted a bold orange header, use both pieces of code.

<h2><b>Are you ready to learn how to transform your Romance eBook sales?</b></h2>

You can always change this at any time by going back into KDP if you don’t like how the book description appears on the Kindle Store.

You can preview the book description at sites such as: https://ablurb.github.io/

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing allows you to use the following html tags inside your book description area (up to date as of Dec.2017):


Supported HTML for Book Description

Remember to properly close your HTML tags to avoid formatting errors. For example, to properly close this tag for bold text <b>, you will need to add </b> which will prevent the rest of your content from appearing as bold text.

 

HTML Tag  Description

 

HTML Tag Description
<b> Formats enclosed text as bold.
<br> Creates a line break.
<em> Emphasizes the enclosed text; generally formatted as italic.
<font> Determines the appearance of the enclosed text.
<h1> to <h6> Formats enclosed text as a section heading: <h1> (largest) through <h6> (smallest).
<hr> Creates a horizontal “rule” or line. Often used to divide sections of text.
<i> Formats enclosed text as italic.
<li> Identifies an item in an ordered (numbered) or unordered (bulleted) list.
<ol> Creates a numbered list from enclosed items, each of which is identified by a <li> tag.
<p> Defines a paragraph of text with the first line indented; creates a line break at the end of the enclosed text.
<pre> Defines preformatted text.
<s> Formats text as strikethrough. See also, <strike>.
<strike> Formats text as strikethrough. See also, <s>.
<strong> Formats enclosed text as bold. See also, <b>.
<sub> Formats enclosed text as subscript: reduces the font size and drops it below the baseline.
<sup> Formats enclosed text as superscript: reduces the font size and places it above the baseline.
<u> Formats enclosed text as underlined.
<ul> Creates a bulleted list from enclosed items, each of which is identified by a <li> tag.

<ul>            Creates a bulleted list from enclosed items, each of which is                   identified by a <li> tag.
For example:

<h3><strong>The1st book in the NEW Kingsmede Cozy Murder Mystery series!</strong></h3>

What do you do when your elderly Italian godmother is accused of murdering the chef brought in to replace her – and she probably did it?

 

<em>This book will delight fans of TV shows like ‘Midsomer Murders’ and ‘Murder She Wrote’ who love reading cozy mysteries such as the Agatha Raisin and Peridale Café series.</em>

 

Lottie Brannigan thought that life was complicated enough when all she had to cope with were her friends and the latest antics of her Italian relatives, but then she finds her neighbour knocked out on his doorstep and her godmother is accused of murdering a rival chef!

 

Running an Italian deli in an English country village has never been so deadly!

 

<strong>Book 1 in the Kingsmede Mystery series! A standalone witty cozy mystery with a deli owning female amateur sleuth. No cliffhangers, swearing, intimate or graphic scenes.</strong>

This is what that book description looks like in text, using sites such as: https://ablurb.github.io/:

The 1st book in the NEW Kingsmede Cozy Murder Mystery series!

What do you do when your elderly Italian godmother is accused of murdering the chef brought in to replace her – and she probably did it?

This book will delight fans of TV shows like ‘Midsomer Murders’ and ‘Murder She Wrote’ who love reading cozy mysteries such as the Agatha Raisin and Peridale Café series.

Lottie Brannigan thought that life was complicated enough when all she had to cope with were her friends and the latest antics of her Italian relatives, but then she finds her neighbour knocked out on his doorstep and her godmother is accused of murdering a rival chef!

Running an Italian deli in an English country village has never been so deadly!

Book 1 in the Kingsmede Mystery series! A standalone witty cozy mystery with a deli owning female amateur sleuth. No cliffhangers, swearing, intimate or graphic scenes.

I think that looks okay!

Now back to the manuscript. Nina