Free tool for authors
Amazon Book Description Generator
Format your book description for Amazon KDP without touching HTML. Bold the hook, add italics, headings and lists, see what shows before “Read more,” and check it against Amazon’s rules. Free, no sign-up, no email.
Already have HTML? Paste it here
Don’t have a description yet? The free Blurb Writer asks six questions about your book and drafts one for you.
How to
How to format your book description for Amazon
Paste or type your description
Paste it from Word, Google Docs or anywhere else. Formatting you can see comes with it, and the hidden characters that make KDP reject a description are removed.
Format it
Bold the hook, italicize a title, add a heading or a list. Use the buttons, or Ctrl+B and Ctrl+I. Enter starts a new paragraph; Shift+Enter starts a new line.
Check it
See what shows before “Read more” on a phone, count the characters the way KDP counts them, and fix anything that breaks Amazon’s description rules.
Paste it into KDP
Copy the formatted text and paste it into the Description box on your book’s details page in KDP. Or copy the HTML, click Source on that box, and paste it there. Then save.
In KDP, the Description box is on the details page of each format: Kindle eBook Details, Paperback Details and Hardcover Details. Each format has its own Description box, so paste into each one.
Amazon’s rules
The HTML Amazon accepts in a book description
KDP accepts a short list of HTML tags, and the tags count toward the 4,000-character limit. This tool only ever writes these, so there’s nothing for Amazon to strip.
| Tag | What it does |
|---|---|
<p> | A paragraph, with space after it |
<br> | A new line inside a paragraph |
<b> | Bold |
<i> <em> | Italic |
<u> | Underline |
<h4> <h5> <h6> | Headings, h4 the largest. h1, h2 and h3 are not supported. |
<ul> <ol> <li> | Bulleted and numbered lists |
Source: KDP Help, “Description”. Several spaces in a row show as one, and anything else in angle brackets is removed or rejected.
What KDP won’t allow in a description
These come from the same KDP help page. The checks in the tool look for the ones a pattern can catch.
- Web addresses, emails and phone numbers.
- Reviews, quotes and testimonials, or asking for reviews. Those go in Editorial Reviews.
- Prices, deals and availability, including where else to buy the book.
- Time-sensitive information like tour or event dates.
- Emoji.
- Keywords or tag phrases. Those go in KDP’s seven keyword boxes.
- Spoilers, and advertising or promotional material.
Formatting that sells
How to format a book description
Formatting can’t save a weak description, but it decides whether a good one gets read. Readers skim, and on a phone they see only the first few lines.
Put the hook first, and make it short
One or two sentences, in bold, that would sell the book on their own. They are most of what shows before “Read more.”
Keep paragraphs short
Two to four sentences each. White space on a phone screen reads as easy; a solid block reads as work.
Use bold once
Bold the hook, maybe a closing line. When half the description is bold, nothing stands out. Italics are for titles and the odd word of emphasis.
Headings and lists are for nonfiction and series
A short list of what the reader will learn works well for nonfiction. For a novel, a heading is usually only worth it to name the series (“Book 2 of the Harbor Trilogy”).
Skip the all-caps
Capitals are harder to read than bold and come across as shouting.
Fixing problems
Why your description looks wrong on Amazon
- It’s one long block. Amazon ignores plain line breaks. Paragraphs need to be real HTML paragraphs, which this tool writes for you.
- KDP says it “may not contain invisible characters.” Text copied from Word, Google Docs or a website carries characters you can’t see. Paste it here and copy it out again; they’re removed.
- Everything came out bold. A paste from Google Docs can carry a bold wrapper around the whole text. This tool reads the real formatting instead.
- Your heading is the wrong size or vanished. KDP doesn’t support h1 to h3. Headings here are converted to the h4 to h6 that KDP accepts.
- It’s over the limit but shorter than 4,000 characters. The HTML tags count too. The counter here includes them.
FAQ
Amazon book description questions
Is this Amazon book description generator free?
Yes. No sign-up, no email, no limit. It runs in your browser, so your description isn’t sent anywhere.
Does it write my book description for me?
No. It formats a description you already have, so it looks right on Amazon. To write one, use our free Blurb Writer: answer six questions about your book and get a draft, then send it here with one click.
How long can an Amazon book description be?
KDP allows 4,000 characters, and the HTML tags count toward that. A bold tag pair alone is 7 characters. The counter here counts the same way KDP does, tags included. Most descriptions that sell are far shorter, about 150 to 300 words.
What HTML does Amazon allow in a book description?
KDP accepts line breaks, paragraphs, bold, italic, emphasis, underline, headings h4 to h6, and numbered and bulleted lists. Headings h1 to h3 are not supported. This tool only ever produces those tags, and turns a big heading from Word into an h4.
How do I fix “Description may not contain invisible characters”?
Paste your description into this tool and copy it back out. Text from Word, Google Docs and websites often carries zero-width spaces, soft hyphens and other characters you can’t see. The tool removes them and tells you how many it found.
Why does my description run together into one paragraph on Amazon?
Amazon ignores plain line breaks unless they are written as HTML. Formatting your description here turns each paragraph into a real paragraph, so the spacing you see is the spacing readers get.
Can I put reviews or quotes in my book description?
No. KDP doesn’t allow reviews, quotes or testimonials in the description. Put them in the Editorial Reviews section of your book page instead. A credential like “New York Times bestselling author” is fine; a quote with a reviewer’s name after it is not.
Can I use emoji in an Amazon book description?
No. KDP’s rules don’t allow emoji in descriptions, and the checks here flag them.
Will this work for Barnes & Noble, Kobo or Apple Books?
Use “Copy formatted text” and paste it into that store’s description box, which keeps bold and italics where the store supports them. Or use “Copy plain text”. Each store has its own rules, so check how it looks in their preview before you publish.
Does formatting really matter?
Readers decide in the first few lines, and on a phone Amazon shows only about the first 200 characters before “Read more.” A short bold hook and short paragraphs make those lines easy to read. A wall of unformatted text is easy to skip.
Updated October 25, 2026.
Need the words, not just the formatting?
The Blurb Writer asks six plain questions about your book and turns the answers into a draft, then checks it for the mistakes most blurbs make. Send the draft here with one click.