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You asked, I listened! For all you folks who like to listen to your books, there are now audiobooks available to listen to Ruth’s story!
The Girl in the Triangle Audiobook
The book is complete and available to purchase! It was narrated by the fabulous Dara Kramer, who really did an amazing job bringing my characters to life.
In answer to the main questions I know you might have–
Where Can I Buy The Girl in the Triangle Audiobook?
It is available at all the main audiobook vendors- Audible, Spotify, Chirp etc. You can check out all the main shopping sites that carry it below!
But, I’ll be honest, the place it would benefit me the most for you to purchase it is from me directly right here. It will be delivered to you directly from BookFunnel, so no difference for you to download and play it, but this way pays me the largest royalty rate. To even add incentive for you to buy directly, I offer a discount for direct sales! You can purchase the audiobook below.
SHOP THE GIRL IN THE TRIANGLE AUDIOBOOK HERE!
Buy the audiobook directly from me and get it delivered to you from BookFunnel. Thanks for your support!
AI has arrived in the world of publishing. Is it welcome? Let’s examine the use of AI in writing books.
*This post was updated in March of 2026
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My Feelings on an AI Writing Future
AI. Two letters that evoke such strong feelings. We have doomsayers predicting the end of the writing world as we know it. And then others praise the technology as the best thing since sliced bread. So, which is it? What does a future of AI in writing books look like?
I think there is a reason people are afraid and opposed to it. There has been evidence of competently executed manuscripts, articles, and artwork by this new technology. I believe it was Stephen King who used the technology to generate an example of artwork that was spot-on for one of his potential books. The staff of sci-fi magazine, Clarkesworld, had to close submissions for their annual writing contest in January after they were flooded with AI-generated submissions. But were those submissions successful? “It was “easy” to see which submissions were machine-generated,” said the magazine.
One can argue that will change in the future and people will soon be unable to differentiate as easily. Honestly, it already is. I’ve used it myself to come up with blog post ideas and outlines, course creation, research, and student exercises. It’s also vastly helped me with my historical fiction research. I’ve also used software like ProWritingAid to help me with chapter critiques and editing. It’s impressive.
But I still have to say, I don’t envision an AI program completely taking over the creator industry. Call me naïve- but I just honestly don’t.
Why I feel Creators are Safe
Thirty years ago, the first computer beat the best chess player in the world. Everyone predicted the end of chess. Why bother anymore? And yet, my son just had over forty kids sign up for his after-school chess club this past winter and a maxed-out chess camp session this summer with a waiting list.
There will always be fun in the “game” to draw people into wanting to create. The human element, both within and behind the creation, will always continue to attract people. People want someone to root for and relate to. People want to get to know the author or artist. They want to know what their inspiration was. What their thoughts, process, and difficulties were during the creation.
Perhaps that’s not always the case–hence why I’m not surprised AI-generated work is entering the marketplace. Just like people devour Hallmark movies, some individuals will appreciate formulaic AI reads. But I feel there will always be room for both, and people using AI for writing books will never completely dominate the marketplace.
What I DO Think Will Divide Us
Now, what I do envision happening is a divide between the creators who embrace this technology and those who don’t. Just like the technology of the past, those who grow comfortable with and use it will be the ones to rise to the top.
I imagine it being like the stigma associated with self-publishing for so long. There will be those who will retain a moral high ground, making it harder for themselves, while others will use its merits responsibly, and then those who will jump in with reckless abandon, giving it a bad name. But that’s again human error and abuse, not the fault of the technology itself.
Ways to Embrace Artificial Intelligence Technology in Writing
There are plenty of ways to utilize this AI creator technology responsibly. Who couldn’t benefit from gaining time by dictating with immediate editing software? Meaning, in addition to grammar, it would correct awkward sentence structure and misuse of words. This alone could save hours of rewrites and drafts.
Also, as I said earlier, it’s extremely helpful for research (although always double-check everything), idea generation, Title generation (this has always been one of my least favorite activities, so I’m more than happy to relinquish it), outlining, editing, critiquing, and more. (Important to note, ProWritingAid guarantees they do NOT use any of your writing for training AI software.)
Leveling a Playing Field
There is also AI narration and illustration. No, we do not want to replace human narrators or artists entirely. But it’s costly to use a human narrator or illustrator, which limits what we can publish. Using AI for shorter works, bonus content, low-content books, etc., could increase our marketing potential and library of content.
Overall, we need to examine the technology implementation. Instead of living in fear, let’s be strategic and discern how AI can improve our lives and be more productive.
What are your thoughts on AI? As usual, I always love to hear from you. Please share below in the comments!
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Are you a Gatsby Fan? Learn About the “Real” Great Gatsby!
Are you a Gatsby Fan? It’s been 100 years since Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby in 1925 and it’s also his birthday this week on September 24th! So, I think it’s definitely time to show a little Fitzgerald love.
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge Gatsby fan. This was actually one of the first things my husband and I bonded over. It was no surprise then that our wedding was Great Gatsby-themed and we named our first yellow furry friend Gatsby. 🙂
People question why I’m drawn to such a supposedly depressing book or why my husband and I chose to highlight our happiest day with a theme that ended in such catastrophe. But my thought is, you don’t “get” Fitzgerald then. And, sadly, that’s not surprising. Both the novel and Fitzgerald himself are tragically misunderstood by so many.
The Man Behind the Writing- The “Real” Great Gatsby
Fitzgerald began writing at a young age and published for the first time at thirteen. He continued writing short stories and plays to the point of neglecting his studies at Princeton and failing his classes. He eventually dropped out of school.
Without another plan, Fitzgerald joined the Army in 1917. Convinced he would die in war, he wanted to leave a piece of himself behind, so he rapidly wrote his first novel, The Romantic Egoist, which later became, This Side of Paradise.
Upon return from the war, Fitzgerald picked his writing back up and revised and sought publication for This Side of Paradise. When it did publish, it literally made him famous overnight, solidifying him as a voice of the Jazz Age.
Zelda
By this point, Fitzgerald had also established steady contacts for himself, writing short stories for magazines. He was fully supporting himself with his writing and his newfound wealth finally persuaded his long-time love, Zelda Sayre, to agree to marry him.
They married in March of 1920 and began what became known as a famously tumultuous marriage. They traveled the world and lived an extravagant lifestyle while often leaving chaos in their wake.
Fitzgerald’s Writing
Fitzgerald wanted the literary world to take him seriously. However, his drinking, partying ways, and chaotic marriage damaged his reputation with critics. They began to dismiss him as irresponsible and a flaky writer. This, however, was far from the truth. Although Fitzgerald was definitely an alcoholic, he always wrote soberly and was a critical perfectionist. He belabored over drafts, revising each line until he deemed it perfect.
Despite critics’ opinions of him as derelict or irresponsible, or perhaps because of it–– Fitzgerald’s name soon became synonymous with the Jazz Age in which he lived. He embraced this and even wrote about it in his novel, Echoes of the Jazz Age.
Fitzgerald’s writing mirrored his personal life in other ways as well. Many argued he was, in fact, the real Great Gatsby in his story. Like Fitzgerald, Gatsby and his other characters possessed his idealistic, romantic soul. They sought the American dream, striving for something better. But, instead they suffered as Fitzgerald himself did, with a lack of control and loss.
Chaos and Tragedy
Like his characters, Fitzgerald continued to strive for more-– constantly chasing his next dream-– to write for Broadway, to write for Hollywood. He attempted both of these and yet, never fulfilled the opportunities the way he envisioned. Much of this was due to his drinking and inability to handle his finances. He and Zelda always burned through money faster than he could make it. Zelda also struggled with mental health issues. She eventually entered a hospital care facility.
Fitzgerald’s last unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon, again mirrored many of his beliefs about his own life. Fitzgerald, unfortunately, passed away from a heart attack before finishing the novel and died believing himself a failure wasting away in literary obscurity. And, indeed for years, that did appear to be the case. However, somewhere in the late 1940s, his work went through a “resurgence” period until he was solidified in 1960 as an enduring American writer.
Hailed a Classic
Fitzgerald writes in a layered and multifaceted style. I’ve read The Great Gatsby countless times and I still find something new and a potential new understanding of its meaning each time. A master at symbolism, Fitzgerald and his themes withstand the test of time. After all, doesn’t society still obsess over status and money? Will unrequited love ever go away? Or sadly, even the treatment and lack of choices for women is still an issue today.
What are your thoughts on Fitzgerald? Literary classic? Idealistic waste? Have you read any of his other novels aside from The Great Gatsby?
Have you read any of Fitzgerald’s other books? Check out my Fitzgerald Book List Below!
This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This Side of Paradise is the debut novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1920. The book examines the lives and morality of post–World War I youth. Its protagonist Amory Blaine is an attractive student at Princeton University who dabbles in literature.
The novel explores the theme of love warped by greed and status seeking, and takes its title from a line of Rupert Brooke’s poem Tiare Tahiti. The novel famously helped F. Scott Fitzgerald gain Zelda Sayre’s hand in marriage; its publication was her condition of acceptance.
Its title taken from John Keats’s ‘Ode to a Nightingale’, Tender is the Night (1934) is Fitzgerald’s best-known and most widely read novel after The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald actually considered Tender is the Night to be his greatest novel. It was his fourth novel, and the last novel he completed before his death in 1940.
Set in the south of France in the late 1920s, Tender Is the Night is the tragic tale of a young actress, Rosemary Hoyt, and her complicated relationship with the alluring American couple Dick and Nicole Diver. A brilliant psychiatrist at the time of his marriage, Dick is both husband and doctor to Nicole, whose wealth pushed him into a glamorous lifestyle, and whose growing strength highlights Dick’s decline.
Lyrical, expansive, and hauntingly evocative, Tender Is the Night was one of the most talked-about books of the year when it was originally published in 1934, and is even more beloved by readers today.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This is probably Fitzgerald’s best-known short story, especially since it was made into a movie in 2008 by David Fincher, with Brad Pitt in the starring role.
Although better known today for his novels, in the 1920s F. Scott Fitzgerald ranked among the top writers of magazine fiction. Fitzgerald represented the dreams and aspirations of the post-World War I generation in his life as well as his works. With his glamorous wife, Zelda, and his cosmopolitan social circle, he projected the perfect image for narrating tales of restless youth in a hectic world.
These short stories offer insights into many themes, characters, and techniques that emerged in Fitzgerald’s later works. The title tale, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” reflects his preoccupation with life’s fleeting nature. “Winter Dreams,” written three years before The Great Gatsby, shares the concept of commitment to an idealized dream. “Babes in the Woods,” developed during the author’s Princeton days, evidences the roots of This Side of Paradise. Thirteen other selections offer further insights into the author’s growing skills as well as examples of his sparkling prose, understated wit, and deft characterizations.
Are you a Gatsby Fan? Then you should also check out these more recent retellings of the famous tale
Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor
“Jillian Cantor beautifully re-crafts an American classic in Beautiful Little Fools, placing the women of The Great Gatsby center stage: more than merely beautiful, not so little as the men in their lives assume, and certainly far from foolish. Both fresh and familiar, this page-turner is one to savor!” —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code
“Jillian Cantor’s shifting kaleidoscope of female perspectives makes F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic tale of Jazz Age longing and lust feel utterly modern. A breathtaking accomplishment.”—Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue
On a sultry August day in 1922, Jay Gatsby is shot dead in his West Egg swimming pool. To the police, it appears to be an open-and-shut case of murder/suicide when the body of George Wilson, a local mechanic, is found in the woods nearby.
Then a diamond hairpin is discovered in the bushes by the pool, and three women fall under suspicion. Each holds a key that can unlock the truth to the mysterious life and death of this enigmatic millionaire.
Daisy Buchanan once thought she might marry Gatsby—before her family was torn apart by an unspeakable tragedy that sent her into the arms of the philandering Tom Buchanan.
Jordan Baker, Daisy’s best friend, guards a secret that derailed her promising golf career and threatens to ruin her friendship with Daisy as well.
Catherine McCoy, a suffragette, fights for women’s freedom and independence, and especially for her sister, Myrtle Wilson, who’s trapped in a terrible marriage.
Their stories unfold in the years leading up to that fateful summer of 1922, when all three of their lives are on the brink of unraveling. Each woman is pulled deeper into Jay Gatsby’s romantic obsession, with devastating consequences for all of them.
Jillian Cantor revisits the glittering Jazz Age world of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, retelling this timeless American classic from the women’s perspective. Beautiful Little Fools is a quintessential tale of money and power, marriage and friendship, love and desire, and ultimately the murder of a man tormented by the past and driven by a destructive longing that can never be fulfilled.
A critically acclaimed novelist pulls Nick Carraway out of the shadows and into the spotlight in this “masterful” look into his life before Gatsby (Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls and Chances Are).
Before Nick Carraway moved to West Egg and into Gatsby’s periphery, he was at the center of a very different story-one taking place along the trenches and deep within the tunnels of World War I.
Floundering in the wake of the destruction he witnessed firsthand, Nick delays his return home, hoping to escape the questions he cannot answer about the horrors of war. Instead, he embarks on a transcontinental redemptive journey that takes him from a whirlwind Paris romance-doomed from the very beginning-to the dizzying frenzy of New Orleans, rife with its own flavor of debauchery and violence.
An epic portrait of a truly singular era and a sweeping, romantic story of self-discovery, this rich and imaginative novel breathes new life into a character that many know but few have pondered deeply. Charged with enough alcohol, heartbreak, and profound yearning to paralyze even the heartiest of golden age scribes, Nick reveals the man behind the narrator who has captivated readers for decades.
Hope you enjoyed and found some new good reads to try! If you enjoy getting new book recommendations, here are a few more you may enjoy….
Find more ways to spoil your inner bookworm!
Check out the Amaryllis Co. Shop, fully stocked with custom designs perfect for every book loving Amaryllis Girl! From shirts, mugs, wine glasses, and more, I have curated a shop with all of my favorites! SHOP HERE! You can also find my collection of bookish merchandise on Etsy.
As authors we constantly hear about marketing. But what about self promotion? What’s the difference?
What Exactly is Self Promotion?
We constantly hear about marketing and how important it is. But what about self promotion? What exactly is self promotion and why is it important? Join me below to discuss the differences and how authors can incorporate some simple self promotion examples into their tool belts.
Differences between Self Promotion and Marketing
Let’s start by defining marketing. Marketing’s defined as the activity of promoting and selling products or services. Simple enough, right? You want to sell your book- you need to market it. But, one of the biggest mistakes I see authors making is thinking their marketing should focus solely on their book. That’s where self promotion comes in.
Technically, self promotion is presenting yourself as an accomplished, skilled, capable person. But honestly it’s more about building a connection with your readers and building yourself as a brand that supersedes one individual book.
Why You Need an Author Brand
I recently had an intake coaching session with an author. While doing a website audit for her I discovered that her website name was not her own name, but her book’s name. When I asked her what she’d do when she wrote a new book, she was stumped by the question. “I hadn’t thought about that,” she admitted.
This is not uncommon for many authors. They’re understandably excited about launching their first book and all their efforts are on selling and marketing that book for success. However, you need to think about the long game. Hopefully, you WILL write more than one book and you’ll want readers to buy that book too. That’s where brand identity comes in.
Brand Identity
Brand identity is necessary for a business, it helps build loyalty and a trust in the style and quality of a book with your name on it. If you want to make being an author your JOB and your BUSINESS, you have to promote your brand – you have to commit to self promoting.
You can do this by first determining what is the common theme you want to write about or do you see in your current stories? For instance, I write historical fiction and I can see myself writing about different time periods and different kinds of people. But one thing I know my books will all have in common is they’ll all be about women. They will also all be about women fighting for change. So, my brand identity? “I write about women in history overcoming obstacles to fight for change.” This is what I tell people when they ask about my books and this is what I’ve built my website and social media platform messaging around. Therefore, when readers find and follow me, they know exactly what to expect when they pick up my books.
More Self Promotion Examples
The other important part of self promoting is selling yourself. We have to build relationships with our readers and allow them to see us as people. I know I probably have some of you authors shaking in your boots right now. The last thing most of us want to do is spotlight ourselves. That’s why we hide behind our books, right? But if we’re unwilling to open up and share, our books will languish and never get read. So, let’s see if we can find a comfortable way to work some of these self promotion examples into our regular routines.
Working Our Livelihood into Conversations
I tell people I’m an author. I’m not saying I walk around introducing myself that way. But I do seize on natural opportunities to bring it into the conversation. And luckily with Amazon there’s the immediate opportunity to make a sale once I do. I’ve sold books in the pediatrician’s office, in the dentist chair, on an airplane, on the sidelines at a soccer game etc. When there’s an opportunity to bring up what I do, I take it. But to make sure this feels natural and easy, I’ve made sure to perfect my elevator pitch synopsis of what my book is about.
Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch
Have you ever been asked what your book is about and find yourself freezing or launching into a long winded explanation where you can see the person’s eyes glazing over? We’ve all been there at some point. That’s why it is crucial to master your elevator pitch synopsis. This is simply a two-three sentence max description of your book. For me I say- “I created a fictional character who escapes from Russia at the beginning of the revolution. She settles on the Lower East Side of New York and is involved in the 1909 Garment Worker’s Uprising. She’s then involved in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and the aftermath.“
My elevator pitch immediately identifies my book’s genre- historical fiction. The time period I’m writing about- early 1900s. It also gives an overview of the main historical events and obstacles my character is facing.
Using this elevator pitch and being nervy enough to bring my book up in conversation is how I’ve not only gotten sales, it’s how I’ve landed speaking engagements, bookstore signings and other festivals and events. I’m constantly on the prowl. Both for selling opportunities, but also for chances to network and add to my Rolodex of contacts. You never know when they’ll come in handy.
Promoting Ourselves on Social Media
Ah, the dreaded word. But one of the reasons I find people have such apprehension about using social media to market is they don’t know what to post. For starters, you need to know going into it that it’s not where you’ll sell books. Social media will not translate to sales. It just doesn’t. So, then what’s the purpose and why waste your time?
To network and build a community of followers. If nurtured with a targeted purpose that follows your brand identity, social media will hopefully translate to an engaged audience who WILL sign up for your newsletter, like your posts, be your beta readers and early reviewers etc. And yes, some will also hopefully buy your books at some point. But more importantly, they’ll be loyal and feel like they know and care about YOU which will go way further than the person who buys one of your books from Amazon or off a shelf from the bookstore.
To sum up, think of it this way- you can market to sell one book once. This can be done with targeted ads, book promo newsletter features, virtual book tours etc. And this should and could be done as well. But if you self promote yourself- you’ll be nurturing a loyal base of readers who will buy every book you ever write. You do the math.
Find more ways to spoil your inner bookworm!
Check out the Amaryllis Co. Shop, fully stocked with custom designs perfect for every book loving Amaryllis Girl! From shirts, mugs, wine glasses, and more, I have curated a shop with all of my favorites! SHOP HERE! You can also find my collection of bookish merchandise on Etsy.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Books and movies have always had a special relationship, so what does the end of famous actors in movies mean in books?
I recently watched a movie on Netflix with my husband and realized there was not a single actor or actress I had heard of in the movie. We discussed it and realized that’s happening more and more these days. I used to think it was because I’m getting older and more out of touch. But then I did some digging as I’m apt to do and found this is actually a “thing” now.
In the past there were always the gatekeepers. The content curators. Studio heads would greenlight the few movies made each year. Or choose the main channel shows for the fall season. Therefore, content exposure was limited. We only got to partake in what the curators chose for us.
However, that’s all changed with streaming platforms. Movies and shows now launch with regularity. Suddenly we can get access to almost anything. You can go down rabbit holes of niche topics and shows. Gone are the days when the curators kept us limited.
But with that constant stream of content there are less and less of those big Hollywood “stars”- those famous actors we all knew- rising to the top with the notoriety of the past. How could they? They can’t be cast in everything. More actors HAVE to come to the stage and play.
The same is happening in publishing. With self publishing becoming more popular and writers launching new books with regularity there is just more content out there. More content equals more competition and less opportunity to rise to the top like the John Grishams, J.K. Rowling, Stephen King and other “blockbuster” writers of the past.
So, does that mean that fame and fortune is a thing of the past? Will there no longer be famous actors like Jennifer Aniston or Brad Pitt? Possibly.
I can honestly say I’m okay with that. This might sound surprising coming from me as a writer. Wouldn’t I want the possibility of becoming a “blockbuster” success? Yes, but so few ever got to be. Whereas, in this current oversaturated market it’s anyone’s game. How though?
It’s all about niche marketing. Think about it. As content consumers we all have our particular genres of books and films we prefer. Netflix sets up our recommended for you algorithms as does Amazon. There are also the follow buttons. If you like an author’s book you can follow them on Amazon, Goodreads and Bookbub. Then you get an alert whenever they publish something new.
I do this with all my favorite authors. And as soon as I get that alert, I know to preorder the next book they have coming out. I just did this with Deborah Harkness’ new book Blackbird Oracle (was fabulous by the way) and Lynda Cohen Loigman’s The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern.
However, these systems still garner loyalty. Just like you’d always go see the new Julia Roberts movie, you’re continuing to follow people you like. It’s just more spread out and catered to your specific tastes. In the long run, I feel it’s a more equitable and sustainable market. What are your thoughts on the matter? Are you enjoying the availability of more content or do you miss the days of content curators? As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
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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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