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KDP Categories

You can now choose three Amazon Store categories based on primary marketplace for each title during setup. Since you can now choose your own categories, we are no longer accepting requests to add or update categories. Contact us if you're experiencing an issue with your categories, and we can help troubleshoot.


Categories are the sections of the Amazon Store where customers can find your book. Think of categories as the sections of a physical bookstore (science-fiction, history, and so on). When you set up your title, you can select up to three categories to help readers find your book. The available categories will depend on your primary audience and marketplace (for example, Amazon.com). We use the three categories you choose for your primary marketplace, along with your selected keywords, to place your book in categories on the Amazon Store for all of your enrolled marketplaces.

Note: Changing your primary marketplace on a previously published or pre-order book may impact your list price. Please confirm your book's list price on the Pricing page is correct before publishing your book.

Video: How to add book categories


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Key terms

Categories can be made up of multiple classifications, which together form a path:
  • Category: the top-level classification, which is typically very broad. For example, History.
  • Subcategory: a more descriptive classification that appears underneath a category. For example, if History is the category, US History is one of its subcategories. There can be multiple layers of subcategories.
  • Placement: The most granular classification in the category path where no further subcategories exist. It’s where your book is “placed” in the Amazon Store. For example, if History is the category, US History is the subcategory, and 19th Century is the last available classification in that path, then History > US History > 19th Century is the placement.
Important: We reserve the right to change the categories of a book at any time to ensure a positive customer experience. The categories you add and the categories shown online may not always match. Your book may be added to additional or different categories to improve the customer experience.


Contents


Tips for choosing categories

Book categories are intended to offer readers the highest-quality search results to make purchase decisions. To make it easier for readers to find your book, we recommend that you:

  • Choose accurate categories. Choosing categories that accurately describe your book's central topic or storyline helps readers find your book where they’d expect it to be. Do not mix fiction and nonfiction categories. For example, if you publish a werewolf romance book, choose Romance > Fantasy instead of Nature > Animals > Wolves.
  • Add fewer categories. Being selective with fewer categories that relate more specifically to your book helps readers find your book in their area of interest. Our analysis of customer activity on books shows that having more than a few categories decreases the relevancy of those categories and does not improve discoverability. For example, if you publish a historical travel journal from a famous traveler, choose Travel > Travel Writing as a category instead of History > World.
  • Focus on subcategories. Categories typically contain subcategories, for example the History category has many subcategories including United States, which has its own subcategories including 19th Century. We recommend you focus on the most granular subcategory that relates to your book because we automatically display your book in the top-level categories. Therefore, a book placed in the History > United States > 19th Century will also show up in searches for general history and United States history.
  • Select eligible categories. To ensure a positive customer experience, your book might not be eligible for certain categories. Eligibility depends on a variety of factors including availability of a category in the Amazon Store and book details including primary audience, primary marketplace, and keywords. For example, a book with a “Motorcycle” keyword, may not be eligible for Travel › Food, Lodging & Transportation › Auto & RV Travel category.
  • Give your categories time to perform. After you choose categories for your book, we recommend limiting changes to allow time for your book to gain momentum with readers. If you frequently change your categories, historical customer activity for your book may be recalculated based on your new categories, which could impact your sales rank.
Important: After you add or update your book categories, we will review your changes to ensure we provide a positive customer experience to our customers. We do not tolerate inaccurate or unexpected categorization that misleads or manipulates our customers. Your book categories must comply with our Guidelines.

To ask questions and learn from other KDP authors, visit our KDP Community.


Add or update categories


You can select categories for each of your books, new or existing. The categories available in your book’s Details tab stay up-to-date with the Amazon Store as new categories are added over time. You are required to enter at least one category for each format (for example, eBook and paperback). Keep in mind that categories may vary for each format, so a category available in the Books store, may not be available in the Kindle Store.

Before you start: Select Yes or No under Adult only content, and choose your Primary Marketplace to activate the Choose Categories button.

To add categories to a new title during set up:



  1. On the Details tab, select Yes or No under Adult only content, and choose your Primary Marketplace.
  2. In the Category section, select Choose categories. A new window will open.
  3. Choose the top-level Category from the drop-down menu.
  4. Select at least one Subcategory. Placements will appear on the right. If the placement you’re looking for is not displayed, change or add to the selected Subcategories from the drop-down menus on the left.
  5. Check the box for your chosen Placement. The chosen placement will appear at the bottom of the window along with a link to view the category page on the Amazon Store. The link will open in a new window where you can view other books available in that category to determine if it’s right for you.
  6. Select Add another category to add additional categories and repeat steps 3 and 4. You can choose up to three category placements for your book.
  7. Select Save categories.
  8. After your book is published, we’ll add your book to all relevant categories on the Amazon Store.

To update or add to existing categories:


  1. Go to your Bookshelf and click the ellipsis (…) button next to your book.
  2. Choose Edit eBook Details, Edit Paperback Details, or Edit Hardcover Details
  3. On the Details tab, select Yes or No under Adult only content, and choose your Primary Marketplace.
  4. In the Categories section, select Edit categories or Choose categories. A new window will open.
  5. If you already have three categories selected, click on “remove” next to the category you wish to remove.
  6. Continue by following steps 1-6 above.
After you submit your title and it’s published, we’ll add your book to all relevant categories on the Amazon Store. Check our Timelines help page to learn more about how long it takes for changes to appear.


Adding books to the Children's or Teen and Young Adult categories

To have your book appear in the Children’s or Teen & Young Adult categories, set an appropriate recommended reading age in the Primary Audience section of title setup. These categories are not available for books with a minimum reading age of 18+ years.

To choose Children's categories:
  • Set the minimum recommended reading age from Baby to 11 years.
To choose Teen & Young Adult categories:
  • Set the minimum recommended reading age from 13 to 17 years.
  • For Amazon.de, set the minimum recommended reading age from 12 to 15 years.
Note: On Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, titles with a Juvenile Category and a minimum recommended age of 12 may be categorized in Children’s or Teen. This depends on other information about the book. Keep in mind that an independent category will show for Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.es, and Amazon.it.

See Primary Audience and Reading Age to learn which age is appropriate for your book’s audience.


Adding Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels

The Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels category is reserved for fiction or nonfiction books of sequential art, an illustrated storytelling medium in which adjacent images, or a combination of images with text.

The Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels category should not be used:
  • For an illustrated book unless it is a fixed layout comic format book.
  • In addition to another book category. Example: Literature & Fiction with a Comic category. , are used to make the narrative.

Restricted categories

These categories are assigned automatically in the Kindle Store and can’t be added or modified.
  • Kindle Singles
  • Kindle Short Read
Note: Companion books, also referred to as summaries, study guides, or analysis books, can't be added to any category outside of the Study Aid category on Amazon. See Companion guides guides to learn more about companion books.


View available categories by marketplace

There are thousands of Amazon categories for each marketplace, and they are subject to change. For that reason, we do not provide a full list of categories on our Help page. To view available categories, click the link to the eBook or print book store for your desired marketplace from the Categories table below. On the Amazon Store, open the Categories drop-down menu at the top of the page to view available categories and click on your preferred option. On the category page, you can view available subcategories using the filters on the left.

MarketplaceFor eBooksFor print books 
Amazon.comUS Kindle StoreUS Books Store
Amazon.co.ukUK Kindle StoreUK Books Store
Amazon.caCA Kindle StoreCA Books Store
Amazon.com.auAU Kindle StoreAU Books Store
Amazon.deDE Kindle StoreDE Books Store
Amazon.nlNL Kindle StoreNL Books Store
Amazon.frFR Kindle StoreFR Books Store
Amazon.itIT Kindle StoreIT Books Store
Amazon.esES Kindle StoreES Books Store
Amazon.com.brBR Kindle StoreBR Books Store
Amazon.inIN Kindle StoreIN Books Store
Amazon.co.jpJP Kindle StoreJP Books Store

Note: Categories can vary between marketplaces.




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