How to choose KDP categories and keywords
Categories and keywords are how Amazon decides where to "shelve" your book and which searches it shows up in. You can change both after publishing. Amazon is strict about accuracy, though: misleading choices can be changed or removed. This guide summarizes KDP's own rules and suggestions.
How we wrote this: we drafted this guide with AI assistance from Amazon KDP's official help pages, fetched on 2026-10-17, then checked each step and number against those pages. It is a plain-English summary, not legal or publishing advice. Amazon, Kindle and KDP are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates; we are not affiliated with or endorsed by Amazon. Prices and figures are as of Oct 2026.
How categories work
- You choose up to three categories for each book during title setup.
- The list you see depends on your primary audience and primary marketplace (the Amazon store where you expect most sales, such as Amazon.com). You must choose a primary marketplace before you can pick categories.
- Categories differ by marketplace and by format. Some exist for ebooks but not paperbacks, or the reverse.
- Amazon updates its categories from time to time, which can change your book's placement.
How to pick categories: KDP's three suggestions
- Research your genre. Look at where similar books are shelved on Amazon and in other bookstores. KDP's help page links to each marketplace's Kindle and Books store so you can browse the category tree.
- Pick accurate categories. Irrelevant categories create a poor experience for readers, and KDP says it does not tolerate categorization that misleads readers.
- Balance popularity and relevance. Aim for categories with enough reader interest that are not so broad, or so narrow, that your book gets lost.
KDP's support team can't recommend specific categories, so the research is up to you. If no category fits closely, KDP suggests using keywords to help place the book.
Reading age and children's or teen categories
- To appear in Children's categories, set a reading age of 0–2, 3–5, 6–8 or 9–12.
- For Teen & Young Adult, set a reading age between 13 and 17 (12–15 on Amazon.de).
- If you answer Yes to the sexually explicit images or title question, the book can't appear in Children's categories, and you can't set a reading age.
How keywords work
- You can enter up to seven keywords or short phrases. Watch the character limit in each box.
- KDP's metadata guidelines recommend phrases of 2–3 words.
- Combine words in the order readers type them ("military science fiction", not "fiction science military").
- Don't use quotation marks. KDP explains that a quoted phrase only matches people who type every word in it, while separate words can each match.
Useful keyword types KDP lists: setting (Colonial America), character types (single dad, veteran), character roles (strong female lead), plot themes (coming of age, forgiveness) and story tone (dystopian, feel-good).
Keywords KDP says to avoid
- Information already in your title, contributors or other metadata, and words already in your categories.
- Other authors' names, books by other authors, and brands you don't own or aren't authorized to use.
- Sales rank claims ("bestselling"), subjective quality claims about the book, time-sensitive words ("new", "on sale", "available now") and promotional words ("free").
- Amazon program names such as "Kindle Unlimited" or "KDP Select".
- Words common to everything in the category ("book"), misspellings, spacing or plural variants, and HTML tags.
- Anything unrelated to your book's content. KDP says it has zero tolerance for metadata meant to advertise, promote or mislead.
A simple research routine
- List 5–10 books that a reader of yours would also buy. Note their categories from the Amazon store pages.
- Pick your three categories: the most accurate first, then ones with reader interest that still fit closely.
- Draft keyword phrases for what your categories and title don't already cover: setting, character type, theme, tone.
- Type each phrase into Amazon's search box. KDP suggests checking the results and the drop-down suggestions. If the results are irrelevant, change the phrase.
- Review after publishing. You can change keywords as often as you like. New category placements can take up to 72 hours to show.
Paid research tools can speed up steps 1, 3 and 4 with search and category data. See Publisher Rocket vs KDSPY. Their sales figures are estimates, and they don't change Amazon's rules above.
How to change categories or keywords later
- Go to your KDP Bookshelf and click the ellipsis (…) next to the book.
- Choose Edit details (or Edit book details for that format).
- For categories, check Primary Audience and Primary Marketplace, then choose Edit categories. Remove one first if you already have three. For keywords, edit the Keywords section.
- Save and submit (keywords: Save and Continue, then Publish on the Pricing page).
If your book has several formats, KDP suggests keeping keywords and descriptions consistent across them.