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Amazon KDP is intimidating. But learning the basics can do a lot for you. Let’s discuss how to get Amazon Self-Publishing working for YOU!
Amazon KDP
Amazon KDP is the largest marketplace for book sales. They claim a 67% market share for e-books sold in the United States. And they sell a whopping estimate of 300 million print books annually generating $28 billion worldwide.
So, as much as you might hate it, and trust me, I get why authors are skeptical of Amazon. Their system is hard to navigate, they change things without warning, often to the detriment of the author and they’re unfair and even penalize authors for no reason. See my article here about the pros and cons of Kindle Unlimited.
But, at the same turn, authors need Amazon KDP to publish competitively. They can’t ignore the beast completely. So, read below to see how you can leverage the Amazon marketplace to work for you.
Figuring Out Keyword Strategy
One of the most common mistakes authors make when uploading their books in Amazon KDP is not being strategic with their keywords. One thing you must be mindful of is people’s search engine browsing habits. People almost NEVER type in just one or two words when they are searching for something. So the term “keyword” is misleading. A best optimized “keyword” is really a string of words. For instance- 20th century NYC books or feminist friendship story.
Most authors take a random guess at keywords associated with their book’s topic. This, however, doesn’t serve them most effectively. Instead, take the time to do some research. There are a couple ways you can do this. The free “tedious” way is to sit down with a pen and paper and type in some targeted keyword terms associated with your book and see what comes up. Are there a number of books? Go into their listings and check out their sales rankings.(This is under Product Details under Best Sellers Rank.) Do they appear to get good traffic?
An easier way to check this out is to use an App that checks this for you. My personal favorite for keyword strategy is Kindle Spy Pro.
How Kindle Spy Pro helps you on Amazon KDP
Kindle Spy has been an invaluable tool for me. Getting it is honestly a no brainer. One, it is really NOT that expensive and you only pay once and have lifetime access. The first time I used it and updated my keywords I noticed an immediate uptick in my rankings.
Now, to truly use this effectively, you should not set those keywords once and forget them. Much like everything in technology and the internet, things change frequently. So, logging in to update your keywords every few months would be good practice to continually keep that traffic coming.
I’ll be honest, I can stand to do better on this myself. I’m definitely due for an update- yay external accountability by admitting that. I’ll now put it on the calendar to make myself follow through. 😉
Figuring Out Amazon Categories and List Strategies
I’ve mentioned before my mixed feelings on bestseller rankings and what they mean. See my article here on that. The main reason is that they are based on manipulating the categories and rankings. But aside from bragging rights, there is a reason why authors do this. It increases their sales and visibility! I may not put much stock into an Amazon bestseller rankings, but trust me, I care about increasing my sales and royalty payments! So, acing your Amazon categories is truthfully really important. But how do you do that?
Amazon Category Changes
For the longest time Amazon misled authors by telling them they could only slot their books in two broad category lists while uploading it. This sorted authors into those that knew how to bypass the system and those who did not. However, Amazon changed all this last year.
Making the Most of Amazon’s New Category System
Once again, the way to help yourself in category rankings requires research. Amazon allows three categories now, but they now provide the a subcategory list allowing you to narrow down your niche market. However, where you used to be able to bypass the system by sending in a form to add your book to additional lists, they no longer allow that. It really is three for everyone now, so you must make your choices count. Here’s how to navigate this process.
Research the Best Seller Lists
Like earlier, you’re going to take out that pencil and paper and head to the product lists. Go to your book listing and head to Product Details under Best Sellers Rank. Click on one of your lists. This will bring you to the following page. Take your time to click on the lists to narrow down your niche.
An important thing to note– in the past it would pay to choose a more obscure list where your book MIGHT somehow be related to try and increase your chances of getting that top #1 rating. This new Amazon system has nixed that now. Since you can only get those three category listings, you need to make sure they really encapsulate your book. Amazon is also policing categories more now and will remove your book if they do not feel like it belongs on a list.
When you do your research and choose your categories, you want to be sure to really drill down to the heart of the subcategories that are relevant to your book. For instance, Kindle ebooks> Teen and YA> Literature and Fiction> Social and Family> Girl and Women or Books> Literature and Fiction> World Literature> Russian and Soviet. The more specific you can get, the better. These will not only have the least competition, but they will also give Amazon a better idea what your book is about so they can improve their own algorithms for where to show your book to potential buyers. Plus, if you choose a narrower subcategory Amazon automatically puts your book in the broader ones above it.
Broaden Your Reach
Try to not choose overcrowded areas and also try to not choose categories that are too closely related. For instance, if you book is a fantasy we all know the fantasy category is going to be overcrowded and competitive. But if your fantasy books has elves and mermaids in it, see if there is a more niche category for that. Maybe your book also has an alternative reality element involved. Focus on that as well instead of just fantasy lists.
When choosing my categories I made sure to focus on the Social Justice element of my story as well as the historical fiction. I also made sure to market my book as a YA book in addition to the adult market. By broadening my reach further than just historical fiction, my radius is way larger.
Tools to Help with This
You can definitely do this yourself for free with that pencil and paper research I demonstrated above. But there is also another app that is fabulous for aiding with this. Publisher Rocket is an AMAZING resource for finding the best Amazon categories. It was created by the Amazon guru Dave Chesson otherwise known as the Kindlepreneur. If you’re not following him for help with all things Amazon, I strongly suggest you do. Dave also has a fantastic video that goes even more in depth to navigating the Amazon Category Lists here.
Thanks for joining me today. Have anything to add? Feel free to comment below.
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