[2OJ0yq24ennF09]

When I published by book in KDP I categorised it as a thriller. In the second category I called it a mystery. Not hugely specific, but I thought that I got the point across.

However when I look at some other book entries I see people have lists of subgenres that look a bit like this

kindlebook>ebook>thriller>medical>spine curdling>washinghton DC>and so on> and so on> and so on> you get the point
Rank #1

I have no idea how to make my genres more specific in order to try to increase my ranking and therefore visibility. I have gone onto KDP select, but still only get two choices, which certainly doesn't let me have as many options as I am seeing in the 'best seller ranking' in other listings.

Can anybody please help me?

 

[Sapphire]

I'll be watching for an answer to your question.  I've been wondering the same thing.

 

[kathrynoh]

I've had amazon put subgenres on my books once they've been up for a while.  Not sure how they classify them though.

 

[2OJ0yq24ennF09]

I have seen genres that start with kindle book, and then carry on to breakdown even further, and I have heard one author claim that they requested that KDP amend the category, but I'm not sure exactly what I should be requesting. 

The only place I can find is on 'edit my book' on my KDP dashboard, and this doesn't seem to offer the choices that other people seem to have taken control of.  I must be missing something.......

 

[Sapphire]

Hey, KB'ers, where are alll the experts out there?  HOW do you do this?  HOW does one add additional sub-genres to narrow down a book classification?

 

[Monique]

Not all categories have sub-categories. For instance, Fiction > Women's Fiction has no further subs.

Mystery, however, does. In the KDP dashboard, when you edit your book details, subcategories will appear in the box to the right of the master category (if they exist). Go into your dash and see what subs are available.

 

[PeggyI]

Not all sub genres are available in KDP. If you see a book similar to yours with an extended sub genre send them a message asking them to change the book to the selection you want.

I don't think that they will make repeated changes to a book, but it never hurts to ask once.

 

[Anne Victory]

Are you talking about this?

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #107 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Fantasy > Contemporary
#1 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Contemporary
#8 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction > Contemporary Women

I don't think indies (or even big 6) have any control over that. It shows up once you hit the top 100 for whatever category. Now, how Amazon sorts you into said categories - I think that's done with much waving of hands and some woo-woo.

To clarify: The above is based on what my clients have told me - I don't have any direct experience with KDP, so I could be wrong.

 

[LilianaHart]

Your keywords can actually help put you in a subgenre. For example, my romantic mystery, A DIRTY SHAME, came out in October and it spent several weeks at about #500 overall at Amazon. I chose the categories Medical Fiction and Mystery for my two choices. In my keywords, I used contemporary romance, female sleuth, romantic mystery, romantic suspense etc. So when it appeared on the list it looked something like this.

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #500 Paid in Kindle Store
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Mystery>Female Sleuth
#4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Genre Fiction > Romance > Romantic Suspense
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Genre Fiction > Mystery > Medical

So it's important to choose your categories so you have a good chance of appearing on a list, but it's also important to pick a broad range of keywords so you have a chance of being picked up on several lists.