Blog
We WON!
We WON the Metadata Award at the Independent Publishing Awards 2024. The ceremony was a publisher-studded lunch at the OXO Tower in London, which unfortunately we couldn’t attend this year. We followed online and were ecstatic when our name was called out. Up against some of the big guns in the industry, and in such a dark and mysterious category (what is metadata??), we weren’t sure of our chances beforehand. So, the win felt extra special because of that.
What is metadata then?
It is the information related to a specific book. Without metadata, the industry wouldn’t know that our books exist. Because the metadata is linked to the book’s ISBN (the 13-digit number under the barcode), we enter the information just the once, then businesses up and down the supply chain can download it. Less room for human error!
Metadata can include quite basic data such as the title, the author, the illustrator, or the price. But it can also include more specific information such as which categories the book comes under, who the distributors are in each country, how many copies come in a carton. You can also add front cover images, back cover images, inside pages, content lists, as well as details of any awards the book has won, quotes from reviewers and so on.
The internet likes books because they have very simple, easy search terms (title, author) that help you find the book you want. What the internet isn’t so good at is helping people discover books that they might like but haven’t heard of. Good metadata doesn’t just make sure that your books are available to purchase in the first place (very important!) but by adding all this extra information we can help people discover our books when they’re browsing.
This award goes to show that being a massive data geek isn’t just FUN (!) but it’s also something worth celebrating. Better get back to our databases!
Written by Sam Hutchinson, Publisher at b small
Sam, Publisher
Responsible for most things, from commissioning new titles and supporting our sales agents to ordering stationery and doing the accounts, Sam lives and works in Twickenham with his partner Rudi.
