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How to Choose the Right Amazon Categories for Your Book
What every indie author needs to know—before and after publishing
Over time, Amazon has made a lot of changes to how authors choose their book categories. Maybe the interface looks improved. Maybe it seems easier to use. But in reality?
Not necessarily.
There’s a lot more going on under the surface of the Amazon category system than meets the eye. And if you don’t understand how it works, you might end up hurting your book’s visibility and your chances at becoming a bestseller.
In this post, we’ll walk you through how authors should be choosing their categories today, plus three essential secrets you absolutely need to know. So let’s jump in.
The Old Way vs. The New Way
Back in the day, Amazon’s category system was… a bit of a mess.
Authors selected categories in their KDP dashboard from a list of BISAC codes (essentially generic categories). But there were only about 4,800 BISAC options—even though Amazon had over 1,000 live categories in its store. Then, you had to email Amazon to request changes or ask to be added to more categories.
It was chaos.
Now, Amazon lets you choose up to 3 categories from a dropdown menu right in your KDP dashboard. Simpler, right?
Well, not exactly.
Major Issues with Amazon’s Modern Category System
1. Over 54% of Categories Are Duplicates
Many categories in KDP are actually duplicates of each other. They may appear different, but selecting any one of them leads to the same underlying Amazon category.
This affects how your book is displayed and which subcategories or bestseller lists you’ll appear in.
2. 27% Are Ghost Categories
Ghost categories are real trouble. They:
- Can’t generate a bestseller tag
- Don’t appear in the public category tree (i.e., customers can’t navigate to them)
- Often don’t have proper names or category paths
Basically, if you place your book in a ghost category, you’re making it invisible. No joke—customers won’t even be able to find it there, and sales just won’t happen.
3. Amazon Picks for You
Even if you carefully choose your 3 categories, Amazon can override them.
According to Amazon’s own FAQ:
“We reserve the right to change the categories of a book at any time to ensure a positive customer experience.”
They’ll also add your book to different or additional categories if they think it makes sense. So how does Amazon decide that?
The Role of Keywords
One of the biggest factors Amazon uses is: your keywords.
If your keywords don’t match what a book in that category would typically use, Amazon can:
- Remove your book from that category
- Place you in a category more aligned with your keyword + metadata combo
On the flip side, if you use keywords that suggest relevant alternate categories, Amazon might add your book to those additional categories—automatically.
So yes, category selection starts in KDP, but the keywords you use strengthen your claim to those categories and can impact your reach.
Let’s Break Down the Ideal Category Strategy
Step 1: Start with Relevant, High-Opportunity Categories
Choose categories that:
- Best match your book’s topic or genre
- Have lower competition (e.g., categories where you only need a few daily sales to hit #1)
Tip: Tools like Publisher Rocket can show you how many sales are needed to rank in a specific category.
If you’re DIY-ing it, use Amazon’s Best Seller Rank and plug it into the free Amazon Book Sales Calculator on Kindlepreneur.
Step 2: Watch for Duplicates
You might think, “Avoid duplicates,” but duplicates can help if they are in different subcategory paths.
Just know:
- You can’t choose duplicates in the same path
- But being listed in multiple paths gives more visibility across the site
In Publisher Rocket, duplicates are marked clearly, and you can hover to see their alternate paths.
Step 3: Avoid Ghost Categories
They don’t help you. Seriously.
If all 3 of your selected categories are ghosts, you’re basically throwing away all of your placement power.
Here’s how to spot them:
- They don’t have a full breadcrumb path
- They don’t show a proper category page
- They’re unsearchable by the customer
Avoid ghost categories as much as possible.
Step 4: Select Your 3 Categories in KDP
Now that you’ve researched and ruled out ghosts and duplicates, go back to KDP and select your 3 ideal categories.
Step 5: Strengthen Your Claim with Keywords
Use 1–2 of your 7 keyword boxes to include category-aligned keywords.
Bonus: You can even include keywords for categories you didn’t pick—this increases your chance of being added to more categories.
Again, Publisher Rocket makes this part easy. They’ve researched which keywords Amazon associates with each category. Just grab a few from their list, add them into your keyword boxes, and that’s it.
Final Thoughts: It’s More Complex Than It Looks
Amazon’s current category selection process seems more user-friendly, but it’s filled with potholes:
- Duplicate categories
- Ghost categories
- Algorithm-driven reassignments
- Keyword-category relationships
But now that you know the system, you’re ahead of the curve. And that gives your book a real advantage.
If you take one thing away from this post, let it be this:
Choose wisely. Research your picks. Pair them with strong keywords.
That combination can skyrocket your book’s discoverability and ranking.