Choosing categories

What categories do

Categories place your book on Amazon's browse shelves and in the bestseller lists for those shelves. They are also a signal to search about what the book is. A well-chosen category puts the book in front of readers who are already looking for exactly that kind of book.

KDP's category selection has changed more than once, including how many you may choose and how they map to Amazon's store. Check the current options in your KDP bookshelf rather than relying on an older guide.

BISAC subject codes

Many publishing systems, and KDP's own category picker historically, describe subjects using BISAC codes — a standard subject list maintained by the Book Industry Study Group. Each code is a heading path such as Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Cozy. The category browser in this app is built on a structured BISAC data set, so you can search and filter it rather than scrolling a long list.

Precise beats broad

This is advice, and it is the most useful advice about categories: a specific category usually serves a book better than a broad one. In a broad category your book competes with every title in it and is unlikely to be seen. In a specific one it can be near the top of a shelf its readers actually browse.

Precise does not mean misleading. Choose categories that honestly describe the book. A book in the wrong category disappoints readers, collects poor reviews, and can be moved by Amazon.

A practical method

• Find five to ten books a reader of yours would also buy.
• Note the categories they rank in, shown on each product page.
• Prefer the most specific of those that genuinely fits your book.
• Revisit after launch; categories can be changed in your book's details.

Categories and keywords together

Words in your categories are already associated with the book, so there is no need to repeat them in keyword boxes. Use the categories to say what kind of book it is and the keywords to say everything else a shopper might search for.