I know this is a bit of a stretch from the male POV. Maybe not. They say older Italian males like to share their lives' experiences even if it means giving up a secret or something they had to figure out to give themselves an advantage in the marketplace. Guilty, but I do this out of love for you. Yes, you there, you doll.
Many of us are tempted to put our novellas in the Kindle store either to supplement our career with a publisher(s) or to indie-publish while we wait for that all important call from agent or editor.
I discovered a trick to stay on a top hundred Kindle list. Choose a category that doesn’t have many entrees, but often these categories aren’t assessable from your KDP author/publisher site. However, there’s a way around it. For instance, my new novella, The Wolves of Sherwood Forest, was originally listed under Fiction>Historical Fiction & Fiction > Romance > Historical Romance. It’s actually a romantic comedy but the closest I could find in the Kindle store was Fiction > Comic. So I wrote them. It turns out you can’t do it yourself. Below is the string of how I got to be 10th on Fiction>Comic. This just started and I expect it to climb higher. Being listed like this leads to more sales (so I have observed) and at the end of my novella I’ve plugged my original novel written & indie-published back in 2007, Neanderthals and the Garden of Eden. Since the books are related to each other by wolves (but not in style & I warn my reader) my older book’s sales numbers have gone up anyway.
I discovered a trick to stay on a top hundred Kindle list. Choose a category that doesn’t have many entrees, but often these categories aren’t assessable from your KDP author/publisher site. However, there’s a way around it. For instance, my new novella, The Wolves of Sherwood Forest, was originally listed under Fiction>Historical Fiction & Fiction > Romance > Historical Romance. It’s actually a romantic comedy but the closest I could find in the Kindle store was Fiction > Comic. So I wrote them. It turns out you can’t do it yourself. Below is the string of how I got to be 10th on Fiction>Comic. This just started and I expect it to climb higher. Being listed like this leads to more sales (so I have observed) and at the end of my novella I’ve plugged my original novel written & indie-published back in 2007, Neanderthals and the Garden of Eden. Since the books are related to each other by wolves (but not in style & I warn my reader) my older book’s sales numbers have gone up anyway.
EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE WITH KINDLE TECHS:
Hi, (from Bob)
I noticed that in the Kindle store under Fiction is Comic Fiction but I couldn't find that category when preparing my novella for Kindle. Is there something I'm missing?
Thanks,
RW Richard
I noticed that in the Kindle store under Fiction is Comic Fiction but I couldn't find that category when preparing my novella for Kindle. Is there something I'm missing?
Thanks,
RW Richard
Hello, (from KDP)
We can add a total of two categories that aren't currently available to select in your KDP Bookshelf, as long as they already exist in the Kindle Store. If you'd like us to manually change your category, you'll first need to remove the current categories. Here's how:
1. Visit https://kdp.amazon.com and log in.
2. Check the box at the left side of the book and then click on the "Actions" button at the top left, then click "Edit book details."
3. Scroll down to the "Target Your Book to Customers" section and click "Add categories."
4. Choose the categories on the right side of the screen, then click "Remove category."
5. Scroll down the category list on the left side of the screen, and choose the last category - "NON-CLASSIFIABLE."
Click on "Save."
7. Scroll down the page and click "Save and Continue."
8. You'll then be directed to the "Rights & Pricing" section. Check the box at the bottom of the screen to accept the Terms & Conditions, then click "Save and Publish."
After you have done this, reply to us with the exact path of the categories you wish to add (as shown in the example below), and we will add the categories for your title. *Please know that we can only add categories that are already available in Kindle Store.*
Example: Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Mysticism
We can add a total of two categories that aren't currently available to select in your KDP Bookshelf, as long as they already exist in the Kindle Store. If you'd like us to manually change your category, you'll first need to remove the current categories. Here's how:
1. Visit https://kdp.amazon.com and log in.
2. Check the box at the left side of the book and then click on the "Actions" button at the top left, then click "Edit book details."
3. Scroll down to the "Target Your Book to Customers" section and click "Add categories."
4. Choose the categories on the right side of the screen, then click "Remove category."
5. Scroll down the category list on the left side of the screen, and choose the last category - "NON-CLASSIFIABLE."
Click on "Save."
7. Scroll down the page and click "Save and Continue."
8. You'll then be directed to the "Rights & Pricing" section. Check the box at the bottom of the screen to accept the Terms & Conditions, then click "Save and Publish."
After you have done this, reply to us with the exact path of the categories you wish to add (as shown in the example below), and we will add the categories for your title. *Please know that we can only add categories that are already available in Kindle Store.*
Example: Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Mysticism
I sent them the paths I mentioned above. (Bob)
Hello, (from KDP)
In order to provide our customers with a more relevant searching experience and achieve parity with our guidelines for physical books, we can only add a maximum of 2 browse categories for titles on the Kindle store.
I've (KDP) added your book, "The Wolves of Sherwood Forest," to the following categories:
Kindle Store > Kindle Ebooks > Fiction > Comic Fiction
Kindle Store > Kindle Ebooks > Fiction > Romance > Historical Romance
This change will take effect on the Amazon website within 72 hours.
Regarding your other query on categories, please note that when you choose a broader category path, your book will be available in the search results for the broader section. If, however, you select a more specific category path, your book will show up in the results for the specific section alone. Also, when you change the category paths for your books, the category ranking for your book will also change.
I hope this helps. Thanks for using Amazon KDP
In order to provide our customers with a more relevant searching experience and achieve parity with our guidelines for physical books, we can only add a maximum of 2 browse categories for titles on the Kindle store.
I've (KDP) added your book, "The Wolves of Sherwood Forest," to the following categories:
Kindle Store > Kindle Ebooks > Fiction > Comic Fiction
Kindle Store > Kindle Ebooks > Fiction > Romance > Historical Romance
This change will take effect on the Amazon website within 72 hours.
Regarding your other query on categories, please note that when you choose a broader category path, your book will be available in the search results for the broader section. If, however, you select a more specific category path, your book will show up in the results for the specific section alone. Also, when you change the category paths for your books, the category ranking for your book will also change.
I hope this helps. Thanks for using Amazon KDP
