How to Choose Amazon Book Categories in 2023

Amazon has changed the way authors can choose their book categories. At first it may seem more user friendly and easier to use then before. However, that isn't the case.

There is a lot more going on that authors should be aware of and some key things authors need to know with regards to the Amazon Category system. Therefore, in this video, I’m going to show you what changed, how authors should go about choosing their categories and 3 secrets that every author needs to know in order to not hurt their book.

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[Kindlepreneur]

HOW to figure out if a CATEGORY IS A - I realized I should have put this in the video specifically on the steps - the ONLY way to figure out if a category is a Ghost is with Publisher Rocket. Rocket has every category tagged if it is a ghost. There is a way you can do it manually but it will require a bit of programming.

[halinagold]

THANK YOU! I have noticed something weird was going on since the change to just 3 categories. Now I understand. And am so grateful for your guidelines and for keeping us and KDP Rocket up to date!

[pyheartworks]

Thank you! I have to admit that changing categories was difficult for the reasons you pointed out. I really like your Rocket and have used it to update my keywords and categories on my Amazon books.

[Karenbrough]

Absolute game changer! Can publisher rocket get any better!?! Honestly, thank you!🎉

[anniepaquette]

I have a question. My book is a self-help/memoir hybrid from the perspective of a Highly Sensitive Person. I have found 3 categories that have low threshold for reaching #1, so I’m thinking of using those.
1.) Self-help/creativity, Health
2.) Fitness & Dieting / Psychology & counselling / personality (All books about HSPs are in here)
3.) Religion & Spirituality / New Age & Spirituality / self-help)

As you can see, they do not include Biographies & Memoirs/memoirs, or Biographies & memoirs / Community / women, which have higher thresholds.

Would you suggest I choose one of the Biographies categories because it best describes my book even if there are 50, 000 books in these categories? Or, is it good to choose the 3 categories I named above and use memoirs / women / biographies in the keywords (?)
Thanks.

[Netzarim]

Dave, if you can, would you please break down what constitutes a ghost category when selecting a category in KDP?

I understand the example you gave looking AT an Amazon page where the left side was blank of categories, but am a bit baffled as to how to detect a ghost category within KDP when selecting actual categories for a book.

Thank you so much. Just love your videos…PR and everything Kindlepreneur. Just started my KDP business…and Kindlepreneur has become such an invaluable tool for me.

[RosequistJared]

Dave you just need to have a section of your business being book managers for people haha I’d love to hire you to pick the categories and run the ads and such to make it more successful :)
Love the great information you provide. Thanks for diligent research. There’s not many people I trust their information but you’re always at the top of that list for this industry.

[VAShannon]

Am struggling to get to grips with improving my sales and you have the most amazing range of video tutorials. I bought Publisher's Rocket last year and it's so comprehenisve and easy to use. And this video is brilliant. Thank you!!

[nightyowl]

Really awesome video Dave... I've hung off messing around with my categories for months, but sales have also suffered. So I've watched this today, and feel like I'm ready to roll my sleeves up. Thanks for all you do! I even signed into youtube (which I haven't done for years) just so I could hit subscribe and say 'Thank you'.

[nogreenwashin]

Good! Yet confused about the ghost section

[chrissyqmartinYARomance]

Thank you for this! I appreciate all the updates and information.

[LisssyLi]

Perfect timing that I came across this video as I’m just about to launch the first book in 2 years.

[authorstephanywallace]

The updates to rocket are amazing but this video also gutted me because I write Paranormal Romance so my categories have always included Science fiction and Fantasy/Fantasy but now those are ghost categories? 😳What am I supposed to choose? 😩

[prateekrawat]

Hey Dave,
Hope you are doing well.
I have a question;
Suppose I have a marketing content on my website.
Now why I choose book publishing over affiliate marketing.
Like I can earn affiliate commission by directing the traffic toward hostinger, tubebuddy, get response.

Tell me reason why I divert traffic to a marketing book page.

Because in affiliate marketing, I don't have to convince anyone about how good the product is because it's somebody else product and everyone know about the hostinger, get response and tubebuddy.
So it's easy to get conversion.

So why I choose book publishing?

[dn]

Thank you Dave - helpful as always! :)

[Moonwalker_Forever]

Thank you so much for making things simple for us. Keep up the great work. My Best Wishes! 🌻💫

[TracyJohnson-or]

Do you recommend having the same categories for both the paperback and ebook?

[MicheleEGwynnAuthor]

Okay, I watched this and have spent the last hour updating categories and keywords. Will see if this helps since the 'Zon seems to have done something yet again that is affecting the algorithm and tanking sales despite ads. Thanks, Dave!

[DrLaurenBaker]

Question on ghost categories — as I pick categories on amazon for my paperback it will not let me NOT pick a ghost cateogry. Ie it will not save for book>parenting and relationships > parenting > early childhood (it wont save if you stop there) and forces me to pick “child development, ” “infants, ” “toddlers, ” “general, ” “breastfeeding, ” or “toilet training.”

Otherwise it will not show up under category placements selected. And every single one of those options show up in publisher rocket as ghost options — so it kind of seems like while early childhood is a legit category because it forces you to pick a ghost category it becomes unusable? Is this right?

[leewoodauthor]

Great info, as we have come to expect from you, Dave.