Amazon Categories

[BWFoster78]

For all you published (self or traditional) out there, what categories did you choose for your books?

EDIT: I'm more interested, btw, in a) that you chose categories and b) your thought process in doing so than in which actual categories you used. Though that information is fine too. Thanks!

I was looking things over and noticed the big selling books have the categories listed, but books from people I know at this site don't seem to. I checked Queen of Mages, Flank Hawk, Critical Failures, and Throne of Ao.

I'm assuming all four of these authors didn't leave the category spaces blank. Does Amazon not list it for books that don't reach the top 10 on a list or something?

 

[ALB2012]

I think you can only have 2 categories and it is hard to decide.

 

[robertbevan]

i think i picked general fantasy as one category and humor as the other for Critical Failures. i didn't have a strategy behind that. i just thought that, of the categories offered, those were the ones that fit best.

it's weird, though. i noticed that one of the Song of Ice and Fire books was in the humor charts.

 

[BWFoster78]

Robert,

It's interesting that the categories for Critical Failures aren't listed when I pull up the book page.

I have a theory about that:

Apparently, Amazon will place books in categories that have nothing to do with the ones the author chose, and they don't restrict themselves to two. They, I would guess, do this only after they have enough information comparing the book in question with other books that were purchased. Maybe they only list on the book page the categories that Amazon has chosen for you.