diff --git a/make-db.py b/make-db.py
index d3dd9ed..907dade 100644
--- a/make-db.py
+++ b/make-db.py
@@ -19,10 +19,10 @@ with open(a.input, newline='') as file:
   for row in reader:
     if len(row) == 0:
       continue
-    if len(row) <= 2:
+    if len(row) <= 3:
       entries.append(list(map(lambda x: x.strip(), row)))
     else:
-      print('encountered a row with more than two cells')
+      print('encountered a row with more than three cells')
       exit(1)
 
 if a.shuffle:
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ cur.execute('''
   CREATE TABLE entries(
     name TEXT UNIQUE NOT NULL,
     emoji TEXT,
+    description TEXT,
     status INT NOT NULL,
     last_poll_number INT NOT NULL,
     sort_number INT UNIQUE NOT NULL
@@ -68,6 +69,11 @@ cur.execute('''
 for i, row in enumerate(entries):
   name = row[0]
   emoji = row[1] if len(row) > 1 else None
-  cur.execute('INSERT INTO entries VALUES(?, ?, 0, 0, ?)', (name, emoji, i))
+  description = row[2] if len(row) > 2 else None
+  if emoji == '':
+    emoji = None
+  if description == '':
+    description = None
+  cur.execute('INSERT INTO entries VALUES(?, ?, ?, 0, 0, ?)', (name, emoji, description, i))
 
 dbcon.commit()
diff --git a/post-poll.py b/post-poll.py
index ad40fd4..fb4f8f6 100644
--- a/post-poll.py
+++ b/post-poll.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ last_number = cur.execute('''
 poll_number = last_number[0] + 1 if last_number else 1
 
 rows = cur.execute('''
-  SELECT name, emoji FROM entries
+  SELECT name, emoji, description FROM entries
   WHERE status == 0
   ORDER BY last_poll_number, sort_number
   LIMIT 2
@@ -48,7 +48,10 @@ def media(name, emoji):
   emoji_obj = {'id': emoji} if emoji.isascii() and emoji.isdigit() else {'name': emoji}
   return {'text': name, 'emoji': emoji_obj}
 
-result = discord.post(discord.session(token), f'/channels/{a.channel}/messages', {
+s = discord.session(token)
+e = f'/channels/{a.channel}/messages'
+
+result = discord.post(s, e, {
   'poll': {
     'question': {'text': f'Poll #{poll_number}'},
     'answers': [{
@@ -60,6 +63,12 @@ result = discord.post(discord.session(token), f'/channels/{a.channel}/messages',
   }
 })
 
+if rows[0][2] is not None:
+  discord.post(s, e, {'content': rows[0][2]})
+
+if rows[1][2] is not None:
+  discord.post(s, e, {'content': rows[1][2]})
+
 posted = int(time.time())
 expires = posted + hours * 3600
 channel_id = result['channel_id']
diff --git a/readme.txt b/readme.txt
index 7843cc1..788ec2d 100644
--- a/readme.txt
+++ b/readme.txt
@@ -16,12 +16,12 @@
   == create database ==
 
     next, we need to make a csv file with a list of entries in our bracket.
-    each line of the csv file corresponds to one entry. if a line has one
-    column, the text in that column is the name of the entry. if a line has
-    two columns, the text in the first column is the name of the entry, and
-    the text in the second column is an associated emoji. this can be a unicode
-    emoji (at time of writing, discord supports up to unicode 15.0), or it can
-    be the id of a server emoji that your bot will have access to.
+    each line of the csv file corresponds to one entry. the first column has
+    the name of the entry. the second column has an associated emoji. this can
+    be a unicode emoji (at the time of writing, discord supports up to unicode
+    15.0), or it can be the id of a server emoji that your bot will have access
+    to. the third column is a description for the entry, which is allowed to
+    use discord's markdown-like formatting.
 
     now, use the make-db.py script to create the database. there are two
     positional arguments, first the path where the database will be created,
@@ -54,7 +54,10 @@
     the most recent polls they were each in in occurred. for two entries that
     have the same most recent poll (i.e. ones where the most recent poll was a
     tie), the order from the database creation step is used. if there are not
-    two qualified entries, the script just prints a message and quits.
+    two qualified entries, the script just prints a message and quits. the two
+    descriptions are posted after the poll. if neither entry has a description,
+    no description is posted. if only one entry has a description, only the one
+    description is posted.
 
   == processing polls ==
 
@@ -90,6 +93,7 @@
 
     name TEXT UNIQUE NOT NULL - json string representing the name of the entry
     emoji TEXT - either null, a unicode emoji, or a discord emoji id
+    description TEXT - either null or a description to post with any polls that have this entry
     status INT NOT NULL - 0 = safe, 1 = in poll, 2 = eliminated
     last_poll_number INT NOT NULL - poll_number for the last (or current) poll it was in, or 0 if none
     sort_number INT UNIQUE NOT NULL - a number used to sort the entries (the values don't matter, just the order)