Why format your Amazon description?
Most shoppers decide in the few seconds they spend on your product page. A wall of grey text is easy to skip; a bold opening line, short paragraphs and a few bullets are easy to scan. Amazon shows the first few lines above a "Read more" link, so those lines do the heavy lifting.
KDP doesn't give you a rich-text editor. The description box takes plain text with a handful of HTML tags, and anything it doesn't recognise is stripped. That is why formatting copied from Word vanishes — and why you need HTML.
How to use the formatter
- Write or paste your description on the left. Leave a blank line between paragraphs.
- Select text and click a button to make it bold, italic or underlined, or to turn lines into a heading, bullets or a numbered list. You can also type the shortcuts directly:
**bold**,*italic*,++underline++,## heading,- bullet. - Check the preview on the right and the character count underneath.
- Copy the HTML and paste it into the Description field on KDP's Kindle eBook or paperback details page. Then use KDP's own preview to confirm it displays as you expect.
Which tags are allowed?
This formatter only ever outputs <b>, <i>, <u>, <br>, <p>, <h4>, <h5>, <h6>, <ul>, <ol>, <li> — the basic set KDP has supported for years — with no attributes, styles or links. Amazon does revise its rules, so treat this as a strong starting point and check KDP's current list of supported HTML before publishing. Your text is escaped first, so stray < and > characters can't break the markup.
What makes a description sell
Lead with a hook
Put your strongest line first, often in bold or as a heading: the core conflict for fiction, the promise for non-fiction. It is the line people see before "Read more".
Keep paragraphs short
Two to four sentences each. On a phone, a six-line paragraph becomes a twenty-line block.
Use bullets for non-fiction benefits
"In this book you'll learn…" followed by four or five concrete outcomes is a proven pattern. Fiction can use a short "Perfect for readers who love…" list of comparable themes.
Close with a nudge
End with a line that tells the reader what to do or feel next — "Scroll up to start reading" is common on Kindle, though a closing line about the story itself often reads better.
Common mistakes
- Formatting everything. If every other phrase is bold, nothing stands out. Bold one line, maybe two.
- Reviews and quotes you can't back up. Amazon's rules restrict reviews, testimonials and time-sensitive claims in descriptions; use the Editorial Reviews section in Author Central for genuine quotes.
- Keyword stuffing. Lists of search terms read badly and can break Amazon's metadata guidelines. Put keywords in KDP's keyword boxes.
- Forgetting the tag characters. The 4,000-character limit includes the HTML, which is why this tool shows both counts.
Need the words before the formatting? Draft back-cover copy with the book blurb generator, then paste it here to format it.