Interview: The Digital DNA of Your Book — Metadata Insights with Anna Featherstone and Abbey Clark

ALLi nonfiction adviser Anna Featherstone speaks with Abbey Clark of NielsenIQ BookData Australia about book metadata—what it is, why it matters, and how it shapes discoverability and distribution across the publishing ecosystem. Clark offers clear, practical advice on when to set up metadata, how to keep it updated, and the common pitfalls authors and publishers can avoid. The conversation prompted Featherstone to update her own metadata right away and offers useful guidance for any author who wants to give a book the best chance of being found.

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About the Host

Anna Featherstone is ALLi's nonfiction adviser and an author advocate and mentor. A judge of The Australian Business Book Awards and Australian Society of Travel Writers awards, she's also the founder of Bold Authors and presents author marketing and self-publishing workshops for organizations, including Byron Writers Festival. Anna has authored books including how-to and memoirs and her book Look-It's Your Book! about writing, publishing, marketing, and leveraging nonfiction is on the Australian Society of Authors recommended reading list. When she's not being bookish, Anna's into bees, beings, and the big issues of our time.

About the Guest

Abbey Clark is the account manager for metadata at NielsenIQ BookData Australia, where she oversees a wide range of clients across metadata services and works on consumer data projects. She joined NielsenIQ BookData in September 2022 after nearly twenty years in the book industry, with experience in retail, publishing, and library supply. Clark holds a bachelor of arts in creative writing and literature.