Thanks, Dave. Great update, all good to know. And the improvements you've made to KDPRocket lately are sensational. The category insights and trend filters that you added are just perfect for these new KDP category changes!
WOW!! You are on it! I JUST went into KDP and saw the change. Amazing! I am glad they are doing this. Picking categories in their original list was very confusing to me, when I was trying to line that up with the more specific categories within Amazon.
So Dave, do you recommend going in and choosing the 3 categories we want now....or leaving it alone? If we were in say 5, will they choose the 3 that they think are best? Thankyou in advance.
I'd do it asap. They only chose two for all my books and were very generic. I was wondering why I had 0 page reads all week. I'm changing all mine right now.
Been waiting on your video to drop! Thanks for the update. This makes sense for new books, but do you know how it affects books that are currently listed in 10 categories? Will KDP automatically drop 7 of the categories? Or only if we make changes?
My take on this is: If you really stretched to get a category that you probably shouldn't be in, I'd recommend going and editing your category list (which will force you in 3). If you didn't and you're solid with your categories, I'd just leave them but monitor over time if you're still a part of your original requested. I say this because: A). If Amazon doesn't take action to auto remove (which it seems like they won't) then you might could benefit from having submitted your categories before this change) B). If Amazon does take action and just sets you for three automatically, then you can just go in and edit your three categories as you see fit.
Many thanks Dave, I’ve just published book #6 and have been using your Kindle Rocket 🚀 for almost 3 years now. It’s a really great asset to all authors and I highly recommend it.
Since my book is already published, should I go in and update to the three categories or leave it alone. Is there an advantage to update them. Right now, they list the three categories I do best in (I think) so should I update to just those 3 or leave it alone?
In your case, I would leave it alone. The only real upside is that you can now make sure the categories appearing on your book page are the correct ones. If the categories you most want on your page are already there, updating them will only serve the purpose of removing your book from any additional categories you may have requested beyond those main three.
My take on this is: If you really stretched to get a category that you probably shouldn't be in, I'd recommend going and editing your category list (which will force you in 3). If you didn't and you're solid with your categories, I'd just leave them but monitor over time if you're still a part of your original requested. I say this because: A). If Amazon doesn't take action to auto remove (which it seems like they won't) then you might could benefit from having submitted your categories before this change) B). If Amazon does take action and just sets you for three automatically, then you can just go in and edit your three categories as you see fit.
Hi.. what is your opinion on creating a startup company for self publishing books? On Amazon and other POD services? I meant to recruit professional graphic designers and marketing people to run as a company.. Please share your thoughts.. Thank you.
This is so helpful! Thank you so much for the update, Dave! Launching in 3 weeks and had my 10 categories ready for the day of the launch, so now will head back to the Publisher Rocket and do some research. Thank you again! You're the best!
Thanks, Dave! Two questions: 1) Can I choose three categories for the Kindle version, then three different ones for the paperback? Then, in theory, I'd have one book in six categories. (The books are non-fiction and cover several things within one broad topic.) 2) Some of the books are true crime and not meant for children but if I choose "adult only" I'm worried that they'll be lumped in with x-rated books and be harder to find.
Ever sense I updated my categories, my book doesn't appear on the general Amazon search. I need to pick "books" in order to see it, which has never happened before. This is a horrible thing!
Dave, I and others appear to have this question: is this only for newly published books? Or does everyone who has followed Publisher Rocket's past advice/videos need to go in and REMOVE enough categories to reduce to only 3? Thank you for all you do.
My take on this is: If you really stretched to get a category that you probably shouldn't be in, I'd recommend going and editing your category list (which will force you in 3). If you didn't and you're solid with your categories, I'd just leave them but monitor over time if you're still a part of your original requested. I say this because: A). If Amazon doesn't take action to auto remove (which it seems like they won't) then you might could benefit from having submitted your categories before this change) B). If Amazon does take action and just sets you for three automatically, then you can just go in and edit your three categories as you see fit.
@@Kindlepreneur Much appreciated Dave. And such a quick response. Wow. Thank you. On book #3 now, in no small part to your helpful courses and software (first heard you on James Altucher ages ago).
Great content as always Dev, thanks! What happens if I don´t update the categories I already have set on my books? Which of the original 10 will remain?
I'm actually happy about this change. We can finally see the categories and make a selection - which is far more intuitive. Plus, this will stop some of the ridiculous things that have happened to game the categories. Great video - thanks Dave.
They haven't shown their hand on how they are going to deal with the past. So, I'm not sure. As for different territories, it looks like they are only allowing for us to input our 3 categories in one territory (because I tried and it just kept deleting past entries).
Nope - sadly, they won't let you. When you go to select a category, they ask which market is your primary. You then select categories for that market but don't get to then select categories for other markets. Not sure how Amazon will handle this though...
Since browse paths can be very different from one Amazon marketplace to another (US vs UK for example), does the interface allow you to set 3 for each separate marketplace? Or is this just a US thing for now?
So far, it looks like you only get to choose one main market, and 3 categories in that main market. I tried selecting other markets, and then selecting three, but each time I did that, it removed previous ones :(
I've asked Amazon KDP that question as I'm just launching a book - they reckon that the 3 categories will populate ALL marketplaces. Now, I'm not holding my breath as they have varied wildly historically. I did notice UK categories recently got changed, so maybe they were being aligned? Hey, we'll see.
It looks like my book, published last year, is still listed in 8 categories, according to Rocket. Thanks to your video, I submitted the form to add categories. They don't accept that form anymore. The net effect of this seems to be that you won't be able to spread as wide a net anymore. Ten categories was a lot. I'm glad I got grandfathered in, though!
Dave, Amazon arbitrarily changed one of my three categories to something I don't want. I have called twice and they won't change it back. Do I have any recourse with Amazon KDP?
If we are curently in ten categories, will Amazon just pick the first three when they switch over to the three only system? If not, how do they choose?
If you go in and change your categories via KDP for the UK, does it apply those same categories to the US? Only, some categories are different between the countries, and words are spelled differently too.
Dave, I noticed that the categories Amazon is showing you can choose still don't match those shown on Publisher Rocket. Is there a projected date when those will match up?
Well, here’s the thing: those categories that Rocket is showing still exist. They really are still there. So, I’m hoping that Amazon will updates to show them in time. But I wouldn’t hold my breathe on this. Instead, we’re also working to design a system that will help someone to automatically be included in the categories. As we speak, Rocket is learning what keywords make a book automatically be added to a category that isn’t listed. Gotta love working with Amazon. Haha.
Thanks Dave. Rocket rocks, and we all appreciate it. But is this only for new books, or do we need to go in and do something with books which are already published? Mine look the same right now. Thanks!
My take on this is: If you really stretched to get a category that you probably shouldn't be in, I'd recommend going and editing your category list (which will force you in 3). If you didn't and you're solid with your categories, I'd just leave them but monitor over time if you're still a part of your original requested. I say this because: A). If Amazon doesn't take action to auto remove (which it seems like they won't) then you might could benefit from having submitted your categories before this change) B). If Amazon does take action and just sets you for three automatically, then you can just go in and edit your three categories as you see fit.
Bryan Cohen said that (at the moment) your book may still be LISTED in all the categories but will only RANK in the three Amazon auto select. I'm monitoring mine.
Does this change mean there are no longer 16K categories? With this new change, the bisac doesnt seem much different. These long category strings my book is currently in don't seem to exist anymore when choosing this new category selection system. Using your software, I can't seem to find the exact category string order that kdp is suggesting. kdp categories still seem limited.
Dave or anyone, did they specify that we could select three categories for the e-book and three categories for the paperback version? And maybe three categories for the hardcove , maybe all different too huh ?
My Welsh crime books have been dipping in and out of the Welsh Crime thriller top 100 for the past few weeks. This is something I have never been able to achieve before. What's annoying, is that I have to deal with authors who are writing non Welsh crime fiction, like Angel Maker, and placing it in the Welsh crime category, because it’s a relatively easy category to rank in the top 100. I don’t know whether or not the author is doing this deliberately, because Amazon’s algorithms are very odd. In the sense they scan the metadata of the book and decide that it belongs in the Welsh crime category, even though it clearly states that it’s a Scandinavian crime thriller in the subtitle. Perhaps these new changes may weed out the discrepancies that have been plaguing the categories for years.
It's much worse so far as I can tell, Dave. I tried it out and see no categories for journals and notebooks. Where are games other than in children's? It seems extremely limited.
In a way, it was expected because it's huge work for the AMZ team to check if each author put its book in the right category from ten. So now, it's 2 BISACS + 3 categories instead of 10, right? Let's hope that even the most original of us will find a category considered right to fit their masterpiece! Thank you for updating us, Dave!
I would like to hear different opinions about this. The downside seems to be having your book removed from the many search categories they may be in currently, with the upside of actually being able to get the correct categories to appear on your book page (and on the associated "Top 100" lists). Seems like the benefits or drawbacks will depend heavily on how many people are finding your book organically by drilling down into Kindle categories vs other marketing efforts.
URGENT QUESTION Is Amazon putting already published books in draft mode and if so when? Or is this just for books that will be published from today onwards? I checked my books and nothing seems to have changed.
No - or there is no sign of them putting books in draft mode that were already published and choose their categories. All signs point to this being the process just for new books.
My take on this is: If you really stretched to get a category that you probably shouldn't be in, I'd recommend going and editing your category list (which will force you in 3). If you didn't and you're solid with your categories, I'd just leave them but monitor over time if you're still a part of your original requested. I say this because: A). If Amazon doesn't take action to auto remove (which it seems like they won't) then you might could benefit from having submitted your categories before this change) B). If Amazon does take action and just sets you for three automatically, then you can just go in and edit your three categories as you see fit.
Hi I just saw your video. I have some questions, and it will be wonderful if you can help. I am publishing my book in five languages: Hindi, Gujarati, Spanish, English, and French It will be an ebook, a paper book, and an audiobook format. The second book is The Daily Spiritual Diet and will be divided into 3 quarters. That will be in four languages: Hindi, English, French, and Gujarati. project is ending, but I will appreciate your help. Thank you for taking the time and showing the video. Author Elizabeth Das
Hi, I hope your doing well. I'm an self publisher from India. I want to register publishing company in usa🇺🇸 and i need ISBN. Kindly guide me. Thank you
Wait, what, if you're a fan of hard science fiction or cyberpunk you might not have to wade through a ton of books that aren't those things? Wonders never cease... I'm curious why they've done something that's logical and helpful when it will cost them money. They've gone less Molochy on us? I doubt it, there must be another reason we're not seeing.
I'm glad they're doing something about the inappropriate categories that people have been deliberately choosing! 😊
Thanks, Dave. Great update, all good to know. And the improvements you've made to KDPRocket lately are sensational. The category insights and trend filters that you added are just perfect for these new KDP category changes!
WOW!! You are on it! I JUST went into KDP and saw the change. Amazing! I am glad they are doing this. Picking categories in their original list was very confusing to me, when I was trying to line that up with the more specific categories within Amazon.
So Dave, do you recommend going in and choosing the 3 categories we want now....or leaving it alone? If we were in say 5, will they choose the 3 that they think are best? Thankyou in advance.
Same question here.
I'd do it asap. They only chose two for all my books and were very generic. I was wondering why I had 0 page reads all week. I'm changing all mine right now.
Been waiting on your video to drop! Thanks for the update. This makes sense for new books, but do you know how it affects books that are currently listed in 10 categories? Will KDP automatically drop 7 of the categories? Or only if we make changes?
I have the same question!
My take on this is: If you really stretched to get a category that you probably shouldn't be in, I'd recommend going and editing your category list (which will force you in 3). If you didn't and you're solid with your categories, I'd just leave them but monitor over time if you're still a part of your original requested. I say this because:
A). If Amazon doesn't take action to auto remove (which it seems like they won't) then you might could benefit from having submitted your categories before this change)
B). If Amazon does take action and just sets you for three automatically, then you can just go in and edit your three categories as you see fit.
@@Kindlepreneur Sounds like a good plan. Thank you for your feedback!
Many thanks Dave,
I’ve just published book #6 and have been using your Kindle Rocket 🚀 for almost 3 years now. It’s a really great asset to all authors and I highly recommend it.
That's awesome and glad you like it!
Since my book is already published, should I go in and update to the three categories or leave it alone. Is there an advantage to update them. Right now, they list the three categories I do best in (I think) so should I update to just those 3 or leave it alone?
I have the same question!
Me too
In your case, I would leave it alone. The only real upside is that you can now make sure the categories appearing on your book page are the correct ones. If the categories you most want on your page are already there, updating them will only serve the purpose of removing your book from any additional categories you may have requested beyond those main three.
My take on this is: If you really stretched to get a category that you probably shouldn't be in, I'd recommend going and editing your category list (which will force you in 3). If you didn't and you're solid with your categories, I'd just leave them but monitor over time if you're still a part of your original requested. I say this because:
A). If Amazon doesn't take action to auto remove (which it seems like they won't) then you might could benefit from having submitted your categories before this change)
B). If Amazon does take action and just sets you for three automatically, then you can just go in and edit your three categories as you see fit.
Hi.. what is your opinion on creating a startup company for self publishing books? On Amazon and other POD services? I meant to recruit professional graphic designers and marketing people to run as a company.. Please share your thoughts.. Thank you.
Thanks Dave! You always give the most up-to-date information and make it easy -- even for beginners -- to understand!! I reallyappeciate it!
This is so helpful! Thank you so much for the update, Dave! Launching in 3 weeks and had my 10 categories ready for the day of the launch, so now will head back to the Publisher Rocket and do some research. Thank you again! You're the best!
Thanks, Dave! Two questions: 1) Can I choose three categories for the Kindle version, then three different ones for the paperback? Then, in theory, I'd have one book in six categories. (The books are non-fiction and cover several things within one broad topic.) 2) Some of the books are true crime and not meant for children but if I choose "adult only" I'm worried that they'll be lumped in with x-rated books and be harder to find.
Ever sense I updated my categories, my book doesn't appear on the general Amazon search. I need to pick "books" in order to see it, which has never happened before. This is a horrible thing!
Dave, I and others appear to have this question: is this only for newly published books? Or does everyone who has followed Publisher Rocket's past advice/videos need to go in and REMOVE enough categories to reduce to only 3? Thank you for all you do.
My take on this is: If you really stretched to get a category that you probably shouldn't be in, I'd recommend going and editing your category list (which will force you in 3). If you didn't and you're solid with your categories, I'd just leave them but monitor over time if you're still a part of your original requested. I say this because:
A). If Amazon doesn't take action to auto remove (which it seems like they won't) then you might could benefit from having submitted your categories before this change)
B). If Amazon does take action and just sets you for three automatically, then you can just go in and edit your three categories as you see fit.
@@Kindlepreneur Much appreciated Dave. And such a quick response. Wow. Thank you. On book #3 now, in no small part to your helpful courses and software (first heard you on James Altucher ages ago).
@@IPGAdministrator No problem - and best of luck with that. James Altucher - wow...yeah that was a while ago. Very cool :)
Great content as always Dev, thanks!
What happens if I don´t update the categories I already have set on my books? Which of the original 10 will remain?
I'm actually happy about this change. We can finally see the categories and make a selection - which is far more intuitive. Plus, this will stop some of the ridiculous things that have happened to game the categories. Great video - thanks Dave.
Yup - very true!
Do we know if Amazon deletes the remaining 7 categories? And do we know if we still have all the different categories in different territories?
They haven't shown their hand on how they are going to deal with the past. So, I'm not sure. As for different territories, it looks like they are only allowing for us to input our 3 categories in one territory (because I tried and it just kept deleting past entries).
@@Kindlepreneur Fascinating times we live in! Nail-biting stuff ... ;-)
@@Kindlepreneur What does "One Territory" mean?
So we can no longer request the 8 extra categories, is that correct? 3 and done?
Correct.
What about categories for other marketplaces? UK, Canada, Australia etc.? Do we still need to send separate categories for these countries?
Nope - sadly, they won't let you. When you go to select a category, they ask which market is your primary. You then select categories for that market but don't get to then select categories for other markets. Not sure how Amazon will handle this though...
Thanks for the reply Dave. That might be difficult for authors from countries like Netherlands, France, India to get visibility for their book.
Since browse paths can be very different from one Amazon marketplace to another (US vs UK for example), does the interface allow you to set 3 for each separate marketplace? Or is this just a US thing for now?
So far, it looks like you only get to choose one main market, and 3 categories in that main market. I tried selecting other markets, and then selecting three, but each time I did that, it removed previous ones :(
I've asked Amazon KDP that question as I'm just launching a book - they reckon that the 3 categories will populate ALL marketplaces. Now, I'm not holding my breath as they have varied wildly historically. I did notice UK categories recently got changed, so maybe they were being aligned? Hey, we'll see.
Thanks for the update. And I think it is a great idea to be able to see the categories.
I use Publisher Rocket and this helps clarify choosing the right categories for my upcoming next book. Thanks Dave.
It looks like my book, published last year, is still listed in 8 categories, according to Rocket. Thanks to your video, I submitted the form to add categories. They don't accept that form anymore. The net effect of this seems to be that you won't be able to spread as wide a net anymore. Ten categories was a lot. I'm glad I got grandfathered in, though!
Do I have to change all my old books categories? Or just the new ones ?
Dave, Amazon arbitrarily changed one of my three categories to something I don't want. I have called twice and they won't change it back. Do I have any recourse with Amazon KDP?
Thanks for sharing Dave. I'm confident this change will serve us authors in the long run
If we are curently in ten categories, will Amazon just pick the first three when they switch over to the three only system? If not, how do they choose?
Thank you Dave for keeping on top of all these changes for us authors!!!
If you go in and change your categories via KDP for the UK, does it apply those same categories to the US? Only, some categories are different between the countries, and words are spelled differently too.
Thank you Dave - will there be consistent categories now for UK/US authors? ie one set of categories..?
Do I need to change the categories my books are now listed under? What happens if I just leave it as it is?
I'm using KDPUploader category finder tool to find the new KDP categories
Dave, I noticed that the categories Amazon is showing you can choose still don't match those shown on Publisher Rocket. Is there a projected date when those will match up?
Well, here’s the thing: those categories that Rocket is showing still exist. They really are still there. So, I’m hoping that Amazon will updates to show them in time. But I wouldn’t hold my breathe on this. Instead, we’re also working to design a system that will help someone to automatically be included in the categories. As we speak, Rocket is learning what keywords make a book automatically be added to a category that isn’t listed. Gotta love working with Amazon. Haha.
Thanks for staying on top of this stuff, Dave!
Glad to help :)
Thanks Dave. Rocket rocks, and we all appreciate it. But is this only for new books, or do we need to go in and do something with books which are already published? Mine look the same right now. Thanks!
My take on this is: If you really stretched to get a category that you probably shouldn't be in, I'd recommend going and editing your category list (which will force you in 3). If you didn't and you're solid with your categories, I'd just leave them but monitor over time if you're still a part of your original requested. I say this because:
A). If Amazon doesn't take action to auto remove (which it seems like they won't) then you might could benefit from having submitted your categories before this change)
B). If Amazon does take action and just sets you for three automatically, then you can just go in and edit your three categories as you see fit.
Bryan Cohen said that (at the moment) your book may still be LISTED in all the categories but will only RANK in the three Amazon auto select. I'm monitoring mine.
Does this change mean there are no longer 16K categories? With this new change, the bisac doesnt seem much different. These long category strings my book is currently in don't seem to exist anymore when choosing this new category selection system. Using your software, I can't seem to find the exact category string order that kdp is suggesting. kdp categories still seem limited.
not sure if you respond here, but Im trying to find a solution for formatting/margin getting messed up when saving Word document to pdf. (I'm on Mac)
Hi Dave, do you offer one on one training/consulting? I have several relatively successful books but I want to break into the next $ level. TIA! Lisa
Sadly I don’t. And there isn’t someone I’d specifically recommend but if I come across someone, I’ll let you know.
Dave or anyone, did they specify that we could select three categories for the e-book and three categories for the paperback version? And maybe three categories for the hardcove , maybe all different too huh ?
It looks like it is 3 for each.
My Welsh crime books have been dipping in and out of the Welsh Crime thriller top 100 for the past few weeks. This is something I have never been able to achieve before.
What's annoying, is that I have to deal with authors who are writing non Welsh crime fiction, like Angel Maker, and placing it in the Welsh crime category, because it’s a relatively easy category to rank in the top 100.
I don’t know whether or not the author is doing this deliberately, because Amazon’s algorithms are very odd. In the sense they scan the metadata of the book and decide that it belongs in the Welsh crime category, even though it clearly states that it’s a Scandinavian crime thriller in the subtitle.
Perhaps these new changes may weed out the discrepancies that have been plaguing the categories for years.
Thank you so much for this. And thank goodness for you and Rocket
It's much worse so far as I can tell, Dave. I tried it out and see no categories for journals and notebooks. Where are games other than in children's? It seems extremely limited.
Thanks, Dave. Your insight is so helpful.
In a way, it was expected because it's huge work for the AMZ team to check if each author put its book in the right category from ten. So now, it's 2 BISACS + 3 categories instead of 10, right? Let's hope that even the most original of us will find a category considered right to fit their masterpiece! Thank you for updating us, Dave!
What is "2 BISACS"? New author here.
I would like to hear different opinions about this. The downside seems to be having your book removed from the many search categories they may be in currently, with the upside of actually being able to get the correct categories to appear on your book page (and on the associated "Top 100" lists). Seems like the benefits or drawbacks will depend heavily on how many people are finding your book organically by drilling down into Kindle categories vs other marketing efforts.
Thanks this was a great article
Very helpful information... as usual. Thank you.
Am I still able to add up to 10 categories by contacting Amazon?
No... that is the whole point of this change. They have completely stopped that.
URGENT QUESTION Is Amazon putting already published books in draft mode and if so when? Or is this just for books that will be published from today onwards? I checked my books and nothing seems to have changed.
No - or there is no sign of them putting books in draft mode that were already published and choose their categories. All signs point to this being the process just for new books.
@@Kindlepreneur Thanks
Thanks for the update, Dave.
I did prefer the previous way, i looking for categories fora book writing about Alzheimer's and mental health, and i couldn't find it
Perfect, thanks Dave!
Thanks Dave! Very helpful.
Thanks for the update!
what will happen to the books that are already in 10 categories?
My take on this is: If you really stretched to get a category that you probably shouldn't be in, I'd recommend going and editing your category list (which will force you in 3). If you didn't and you're solid with your categories, I'd just leave them but monitor over time if you're still a part of your original requested. I say this because:
A). If Amazon doesn't take action to auto remove (which it seems like they won't) then you might could benefit from having submitted your categories before this change)
B). If Amazon does take action and just sets you for three automatically, then you can just go in and edit your three categories as you see fit.
Thanks. This is good news. I appreciate you.
Its so much easier to select categories now
Thank you, Dave!
Very nice and interesting video...
Hi
I just saw your video. I have some questions, and it will be wonderful if you can help.
I am publishing my book in five languages: Hindi, Gujarati, Spanish, English, and French
It will be an ebook, a paper book, and an audiobook format.
The second book is The Daily Spiritual Diet and will be divided into 3 quarters. That will be in four languages:
Hindi, English, French, and Gujarati. project is ending, but I will appreciate your help.
Thank you for taking the time and showing the video.
Author Elizabeth Das
Hi,
I hope your doing well.
I'm an self publisher from India.
I want to register publishing company in usa🇺🇸 and i need ISBN.
Kindly guide me.
Thank you
I think I like this new rule because the reader-me was very frustrated with browsing for books.
Exactly.
If it kills the category pollution, it will be well worth losing a couple of categories.
Yup
Good news! Thanks
How is this being driven by Ingram
Wait, what, if you're a fan of hard science fiction or cyberpunk you might not have to wade through a ton of books that aren't those things? Wonders never cease... I'm curious why they've done something that's logical and helpful when it will cost them money. They've gone less Molochy on us? I doubt it, there must be another reason we're not seeing.
Nice video
How about AI generated content? Is it allowed or not?
I think that’s a good thing
I think they should use AI to ‘read’ our books and select or suggest the best category. 😅
Oops! The audio volume was too low this time.
Great Content!! I sent you an email, hope you see it.