Choosing the Best Categories for a Book on Amazon

Best Categories

It has been said that choosing the correct category for a book is critical in the book becoming a best seller on Amazon. While this may or may not be true, choosing the right category can certainly help if a customer is searching for a certain type of book.

When we publish a book on Amazon, we are limited to choosing two categories from a limited drop-down menu. However, it turns out there are ways to get a book listed in more categories and ones that are more specific.

You may have noticed on Amazon that books are ranked in categories according to how well they are selling. You might see a category string something like this:

#14 in Books > Romance > Paranormal > Vampires

#15 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Vampires

#23 in Books > Romance > Multicultural

Notice there are three categories listed. Also, when we publish a book on Amazon, Romance>Paranormal>Vampires is not available in the drop-down menu for choosing categories. We, the publisher, have to contact Amazon directly and request that category.

What Can the Author Do?

1. Make sure you visit the BISAC Site listed on the contract and choose the genre that best fits your book. You can list more than one or two, but put them in order with the most desirable first.
2. Look at other books on Amazon to see what category strings they list. If you find one that you would like for your book but is not available on BISAC, let us know and we can request it.
3. Choose up to seven keywords that fit the category you want for your book. Be specific. Choosing “Fiction’ or “Ebook” does not really help. Neither does putting your name or the name of the book or characters in your book, unless it is an established character’s name someone might be searching for. Amazon sometimes adds category strings on their own, and the right keywords might help.

More Information

Much of this information and more is found in the article SECRET METHOD TO CHOOSING AMAZON BOOK CATEGORIES IN KDP on kindlepreneur.com. I would encourage you to read this article for more information on choosing the right categories for your book. And let us know if you have any questions or suggestions.

Hunter: The Serpent Mounds