Kindle Forum banner

New Amazon Category KINDLE SHORT READS -- CONSOLIDATED thread

12K views 61 replies 36 participants last post by  AngryGames 
#1 ·
I apologize if someone already made a thread, but I checked the first three pages. Anyway, I just happened to notice a couple of my short stories were on the top 100 of this new category:

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-Short-Reads/zgbs/digital-text/8584457011/ref=zg_bs_unv_kstore_2_8584459011_1

and I see HM Ward topping the overall category, so good on her!

Any thoughts? If there's already a thread. stab me in the eardrum with a pencil and link me to it!

EDIT:

All right, weird... one of my stories is supposed to be #28 on "30 minutes (12-21 pages)" list, but it's nowhere to be found. This particular story is perma-free, and this list looks like all $.99+, so maybe they haven't implemented the free side of the list yet.

Same with another short story (the one from the Konrath challenge haha). It is supposed to be #68 in the scifi "30 Minutes (12-21 pages)" section, but they are all paid, and this story is perma-free as well.
 
See less See more
#3 ·
MeiLinMiranda said:
Huh! What are your keywords?
Typical for categories. For the crime one, it's in the crime / organized crime / kidnapping / murder / noir subcats. For the scifi one, short stories / scifi / alien / humor / etc. I've not messed with keywords in a while on either of these books.

I'm thinking this is a new bot trawling all of the ebooks and using the 'estimated number of pages' or the 'paperback # of pages' as a way to automatically assign it a slot:

15 minutes (1-11 pages)
30 minutes (12-21 pages)
45 minutes (22-32 pages)
One hour (33-43 pages)
90 minutes (44-64 pages)
Two hours or more (65-100 pages)
 
#4 ·
I've got a freebie showing this new catagory drill down tonight too. First thing I did was come here to see if there was any buzz about the new Cat :)



#8 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 90 minutes (44-64 pages) > Gay & Lesbian
#29 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Gay & Lesbian > Fiction > Lesbian
 
#6 ·
Same here. When I follow the linku that should show the book at the listed rank, it's nowhere to be seen- prob because it's free right now? Idk. Must be some kinks in the new bots or something.

Still, if it get running right it could be good for all the shorter works out there. Unless they want to segregate them eventually :-(
 
#7 ·
I doubt they'll segregate. I think (hope) it's more of a way to give exposure to the short stories / novellas. I still show up on the same lists as full-length novels, and I'd rather not see that disappear at all.

I'll probably get creamed for saying it by a few people, but this is another case of Amazon doing what they do best, which is experimenting to see if they make something better.

Unlike B&N, who had two blank covers for my books for almost a month until I finally emailed them and asked them to fix it.

Their reply: go here, do this, do that, blah blah blah.

My reply: You are getting your asses kicked by Amazon because of shit like this. Fix the damn covers yourselves, it's your responsibility since I distribute through Smashwords. Apple has my cover. Sony (had) my cover. Every place that Smashwords distributes to has my cover except you, yet you have all my other Smashwords titles with proper covers. FIX IT.

(yes, my email actually was very rude and very close to the above)

My wife cringed, and yelled at me.

Yet less than eight hours later, both books had covers.

 
#8 ·
As above, woke up to see two of my freebies in new categories, though nothing in the lists.
I think they're still working out the kinks with the lists, the cats might be gone in a few hours or the freebies might actually have their own lists.

I was wondering why it hadn't given me an increase in sales yet, but the freebies not having their own list yet would be the problem, yeah...

Kpfowler said:
Still, if it get running right it could be good for all the shorter works out there. Unless they want to segregate them eventually :-(
Well, one of mu freebies is still in their regular top 100 category on top of being in these short story lists. So it seems to be okay at the moment.

Magical Roads:
#22 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Teen & Young Adult
#59 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Science Fiction & Fantasy
#60 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Sword & Sorcery

Black Sheep: Letting go of the Past:
#8 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > Two hours or more (65-100 pages) > Gay & Lesbian
#16 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > Two hours or more (65-100 pages) > Teen & Young Adult
 
#10 ·
Ah, this seems to be the result. 
I don't have a Kindle but read on the app for Android and noticed like two updates ago it started to show "x hours xx minutes left for this book". Show Kindles this too? Seems Amazon grabbed data how long it takes people to read a book and now have enough for these new additional categories. 
Just curious if they do it with their whole catalogue ...

Gesendet mit Galaxy S3 durch Tapatalk

 
#11 ·
CeeDee said:
Ah, this seems to be the result.
I don't have a Kindle but read on the app for Android and noticed like two updates ago it started to show "x hours xx minutes left for this book". Show Kindles this too? Seems Amazon grabbed data how long it takes people to read a book and now have enough for these new additional categories.
Just curious if they do it with their whole catalogue ...
They've had that on the kindles for a while, at least since the touch (so, 2012??), and is dependent on your reading speed.
I think they'll only implement this for the short works as this will give people a better idea how long the shorter works are.
 
#12 ·
Hey, I actually made one of these lists! RED is here:

#70,338 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#49 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mythology & Folk Tales > Fairy Tales
#63 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 90 minutes (44-64 pages) > Science Fiction & Fantasy

This is the first time I've ever been "in" on something new. Yay, I can sit at the cool kids' table for a few minutes! :D
 
#13 ·
I'm pretty sure this is new, unless I just haven't seen it before!

Curiously, my short story, BESTSELLER, is ranked #3 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 30 minutes (12-21 pages) > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

The only problem is... I can't seem to find it on the TOP 100 list that it's saying I'm ranked in.

Scroll down to my rank to see what I'm talking about - http://www.amazon.com/Bestseller-Short-Story-Gary-Cecil-ebook/dp/B00IQT3RBQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396000231&sr=8-1&keywords=gary+cecil

NOTE: It must be by page number only, because I can assure you, I do NOT have any keywords for this category.
 
#15 ·
Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.
 
#16 ·
AngryGames said:
I'm thinking this is a new bot trawling all of the ebooks and using the 'estimated number of pages' or the 'paperback # of pages' as a way to automatically assign it a slot:

15 minutes (1-11 pages)
30 minutes (12-21 pages)
45 minutes (22-32 pages)
One hour (33-43 pages)
90 minutes (44-64 pages)
Two hours or more (65-100 pages)
Thanks for the info. Nice way to wake up this morning. ;)
 
#18 ·
Ooh, I'm on a Short Reads list, too!

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,055 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
#19 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Time Travel
#63 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 90 minutes (44-64 pages) > Science Fiction & Fantasy
 
#20 ·
Yay, I finally started a thread where no one blocks me or PM's a mod to ban me!

Still no free list, but that's okay. Like Kia says, could be a free list within hours / a day, or they could scrap the whole thing and two hours from now it's all a smoky, hazy dream and we all wake up in an opium den and it's 1912 San Francisco.

I'm always happy to be on another list (a good list anyway... it isn't fun being on an 'arrest on sight' list).
 
#21 ·
I've been having problems with Amazon only wanting to display the category that I'm highest in, stripping out other top 100 categories.  (I'm not that awesome--I have some very noncompetitive categories.)  It did it again when they introduced this, ditching my Paranormal > Vampire rank.  *sobs*
 
#22 ·
Before, my Paranormal > Vampire rank was usurping my Fantasy > Urban rank.  :(  (I'm currently too high for that now, though.)  If I messed with the keywords, I could get up to three 100 Bestsellers appearing, but within 10 minutes, I'm back to just one again--without my rank updating.  Very frustrating.

At least I'm still visible to browsers.
 
#23 ·
vmblack said:
Before, my Paranormal > Vampire rank was usurping my Fantasy > Urban rank. :( (I'm currently too high for that now, though.) If I messed with the keywords, I could get up to three 100 Bestsellers appearing, but within 10 minutes, I'm back to just one again--without my rank updating. Very frustrating.

At least I'm still visible to browsers.
You should still be in the top 100 list in other categories. One of mine shows me the top 3 cats it is in (#9/#10/#13) on the product page, but when I check the other three categories it is also in, it shows up there as well (again, just not on the product page). It's nice to know I'm #9/#10/#13/#26/#35/#58, though I suppose I'd like see all six (or however many) of those categories show up so I can gloat to myself.
 
#25 ·
AngryGames said:
You should still be in the top 100 list in other categories. One of mine shows me the top 3 cats it is in (#9/#10/#13) on the product page, but when I check the other three categories it is also in, it shows up there as well (again, just not on the product page). It's nice to know I'm #9/#10/#13/#26/#35/#58, though I suppose I'd like see all six (or however many) of those categories show up so I can gloat to myself.
No, this has been an ongoing problem with this book from before this rollout.

This rollout means that the category that I've been camped in no matter how far I've fallen isn't showing up anymore on the book page. I can actually turn to the bestseller pages and find a picture and link to my book, thank goodness, but it's not showing up on the profile page.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top