Topic: Categories on Amazon?

[Anne Marie]

I swear on my galoshes this is just a curious question, NOT an obsessive one!  (I'm so afraid to seem obsessive these days.)

Have you noticed on Amazon that sometimes the categories of a book will be listed?  For example, the overall sales rank might be 242,859; but then there's a little line that says something like this:  #81 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Friendship

But some books DON'T have that.  How does that come about?  Anybody know?

[AnnH]

Maybe a book has to be ranked at less than 100 (or some number) in a category before a category is listed?

[wolfie712]

Yes, what AnnH said.  If your book makes it up into the top 100 of any category, it will display them.  Otherwise, it'll just give you your sellers rank.

[Anne Marie]

THAT makes sense!  Of course.  Thanks, peeps!

[Mandy Hubbard]

Yes, what AnnH said.  If your book makes it up into the top 100 of any category, it will display them.  Otherwise, it'll just give you your sellers rank.

Correct, and if your book is listed in a funky, less used category, you're more likely to rank there than say, "Teens>Romance."

For instance, YOU WISH is listed right now as: Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Children's eBooks > Holidays & Festivals > Non-religious

So i am totally a non-religious holiday bestseller.

[wolfie712]

Correct, and if your book is listed in a funky, less used category, you're more likely to rank there than say, "Teens>Romance."

For instance, YOU WISH is listed right now as: Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Children's eBooks > Holidays & Festivals > Non-religious

So i am totally a non-religious holiday bestseller.

LOL!  Right on, Mandy!

[JFriday]

Anne Marie, I think you should tell us the color of your galoshes.

[Jeanne Ryan (Serenissima)]

That's interesting.  Does the publisher set the categories or Amazon? Seems like we'd want our books to be included in as many categories as possible, thereby increasing our chances to claim that our book is the bestselling teen-->gothic-->secular-->non-smoking-->mermaid-->thriller.

[Mandy Hubbard]

That's interesting.  Does the publisher set the categories or Amazon? Seems like we'd want our books to be included in as many categories as possible, thereby increasing our chances to claim that our book is the bestselling teen-->gothic-->secular-->non-smoking-->mermaid-->thriller.

Yes, your publisher sets the categories, and there is a limit to how many they can set it for.

Also sometimes there are errors. My Harleqiun NASCAR book was totally a bestselling book on diabetes.

[Hélène Boudreau]

My first mermaid book was constantly on Amazon's best-selling DRAGON books  :dragon: so of course I had to put a dragon* in book #2.

 

*I called one of the boats The Lady Sea Dragon for fun.