When you publish an ebook through Amazon’s KDP dashboard, you are allowed to select two categories, such as Fantasy/Historical or Fantasy/Epic. But not all of the browse categories on Amazon are available through the dashboard. I’ve written before about how important it can be for sales to get into the right categories here and here.
Much of what I wrote in those posts, however, is now obsolete, at least as far as strategies on how to get into obscure categories is concerned. But it is still true that for the sake of visibility, it’s important to be in categories where the competition isn’t as strong (unless you’re selling hundreds of copies a day, that is). Some of the subcategories for ebooks that aren’t options in the dashboard are wonderfully intimate little niches that will keep you book visible even with a much lower sales ranking. Because if your book drops out of the top 100, it is officially dead (believe me, I know).
But whereas once you had to write Amazon directly in order to be listed in the categories, now you need to use keywords.
When you publish through KDP, one of your options is to type in seven keywords. Little information is given as to their purpose, and it is easy to underestimate how important they can be. In the KDP help pages, however, there is extensive information on which keywords to use to get into various categories that can’t be chosen directly. Here are some examples that in my own experience have proven useful:
Science Fiction & Fantasy Keywords
Teen & Young Adult Category Keywords
Of course it makes no sense to aim for a category just because there isn’t as much competition. But if you can find some niche categories where your book would fit, I highly recommend using keywords to get into them. It just might give your book the edge it needs.
Other posts in this series:
Starting out as an indie author: preparing your manuscript for ebook retailers
Starting out as an indie author: Using distributors for getting into online bookstores
Starting out as an indie author: Smashwords, Draft2Digital, and Xinxii (Using distributors, part 2)
Starting out as an indie author: The costs of self-publishing
Starting out as an indie author: Why editing is important — and who can skip the expense after all
Starting out as an indie author: Creating your own covers
Starting out as an indie author: Interview with Kate Sparkes
Starting Out as an Indie Author: Getting Your Books into Google Play