I’ve known Richard McCartney, our guest blogger, for several years. He’s the founder of KBookPromotions, a site named by PAID AUTHOR as one of the Best Book Promotions Sites in 2022 and 2023. Richard is also the author of a book series on self-publishing. Each of his books reached #1 on Amazon’s bestseller lists, garnered hundreds of reviews, and won awards such as the Book Excellence Awards for Marketing. Richard is often invited to speak as an expert on publishing, self-publishing, and book marketing.

Huge changes in Amazon KDP: What authors need to know in 2023

By Richard McCartney

Just when you thought it was safe to dip your toes back into KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), Amazon has changed the rules again.

At the end of May, Amazon KDP announced a raft of immediate new changes, the most important of which concerned book categories. It also increased print on demand services pricing effective June 20.

These changes have much wider repercussions. For example, many books in the Amazon store related to self-publishing and dated before June 2023 will become largely out of date, because most reference book category selection or expected ROI from book sales.

Many authors were alarmed when they heard they could only select three categories. How would this impact their sales and visibility?  To better understand this, let’s look at how book category selection use to work, and how it works now.

Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission (at no extra charge to you).

Previously, on Amazon…

Previously, Amazon had a pretty flawed system where authors were asked to select two categories when uploading their book into KDP.

Unknown to many, the categories displayed to them were notably limited and different from the larger selection of categories readers could actually browse through on the Amazon website.

Also, unknown to many authors, up to 10 categories could be added to a book, but for this to happen authors had to email KDP Support.

As you can imagine, this was a rather unfair and troublesome system because many authors didn’t know they could add more than the two categories provided in KDP.

This put them at a disadvantage.

Changes in Amazon KDP should eliminate category stuffing issue

Added to this, Amazon Support rarely checked the category selections sent to them, so some more savvy authors started abusing the system by employing what some call “category stuffing.”

This malpractice places a book in niche categories where only a few sales are needed to reach the bestseller lists (perhaps even reach the #1 spot), even if the book is irrelevant in those particular categories. For example, a steamy vampire novel could appear in the bestseller list for photography.

Why it took Amazon so long to resolve this flawed system remains a mystery. However, finally, all that is largely over.

And now …

Amazon has simplified the category selection process by listing all categories inside KDP. That means we can now select from a much broader range of categories than before. And, should we change our minds on the categories selected, we can update them whenever we like through our KDP Bookshelf.

One notable limitation is that Amazon now restricts books to three categories. On the whole, this is a good thing because it should prevent the malpractice of “category stuffing” I mentioned before. It should also fix a glitch many authors reported in November 2022 regarding incorrect categories showing for their books.

NOTE: The three-category limitation takes effect when you update your book. If no change is made, then you remain with the categories you had before the May 2023 changes.

Category selection tips

Being limited to just three categories makes your book category selection all the more important.

When publishing an e-book in KDP, most authors will select the first two categories that come to mind when browsing the list of categories now provided in KDP. In many cases, this is a mistake.

One of the objectives in selecting categories for your book is not so much to select the most logical ones, but rather the “best fit” ones. By this, I mean selecting the categories where you book is most likely to be found in the Amazon Store.

Amazon shoppers often discover books by entering keywords in the search box and by searching through the bestseller lists. Amazon has a “Top 100” list in hundreds of categories, and many readers will look at these lists.

So, one of your goals should be to try and select at least one category where your book appears in these lists with minimum sales effort needed. Popular tools like Publisher Rocket help with this, if you don’t mind paying for such products.

If you have a very limited budget, there are books in the Amazon Store showing you how to achieve this, too.

Amazon KDP print cost changes

As for the change in print prices, the largest impact will be for large trim size books, especially those with color printing.

Pricing will vary by format, page numbers, trim size, and even marketplace (CA, EU, UK etc.).

Thankfully, Amazon provides a KDP Printing Costs and Royalty Calculator tool. It’s the best way to determine your new print costs and projected return on investment.

The changes in Amazon KDP aren’t so bad, right?

When selecting book categories, authors now have a full range of category selection within KDP without having to contact Amazon Support. All of this is, I believe, generally good news for all of us published in KDP.

For book pricing, using the KDP Printing Costs and Royalty Calculator which will show you that only large trim size books will be seriously impacted. Calculating costs in advance will help you decide if you want to make changes, too.

What questions do you have about these changes? Please ask Richard in a comment.

10 Amazon changes authors need to know about

By Rob Eagar

Amazon is a company that never sits still. It is constantly experimenting, pioneering, and creating new features for customers to enjoy. Its innovation also applies to authors.

Amazon recently launched numerous updates that benefit authors in the following three areas:

1. Amazon Advertising
2. Author Central account
3. KDP Self-publishing system

Here’s a rundown of the 10 most important updates you need to know.

New features for Amazon Ads

1. The release of Sponsored Brand Ads
Have you seen the special advertising box that appears at the very top of Amazon search results? It’s called a Sponsored Brand Ad, and it represents some of the most coveted and powerful space on their website.

For years, this exclusive ad space was reserved for publishing houses and authors with a vendor account. But, Amazon recently made Sponsored Brand Ads available to authors who self-publish with KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing). This ad feature levels the playing field between self-publishing and traditional publishing.

There is a caveat, though. You must have at least three books published and be willing to pay top dollar for this ad space. But, any author with a reasonable ad budget can promote their books alongside the top publishing houses, including HarperCollins and Penguin Random House.

2. Negative Product keywords
Amazon added another great feature within its advertising system called “Negative Product Targeting.” This option was sorely needed, because Amazon’s “automatic” targeting function sometimes wastes money by showing ads on irrelevant book detail pages.

Fortunately, the addition of Negative Product Targeting gives greater control to limit losses from Amazon’s automatic targeting algorithms. This feature helps improve profitability for author ad campaigns. Nice work, Amazon!

3. Buy international ads in 8 countries
Can you say “Buy my book” in French or Spanish? Amazon makes it possible by offering new ad capabilities on its international websites, including the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, and Australia. More countries will be added soon.

It’s never been easier for authors and publishers to reach readers around the globe. In addition, there’s less competition for ad space on Amazon’s international sites. Those who act quickly can sell more books at a lower advertising cost.

4. KENP reads and royalties results from ads
If you self-published a book using Amazon’s KDP service and enrolled your e-book into KDP Select, now Amazon shows how your ads drive KENP (Kindle edition normalized pages) reads and royalties.

If you’re unfamiliar with KDP Select, it’s the option to sell an e-book exclusively on Amazon in exchange for extra income based on the “page reads.” Amazon currently pays around $.0045 per page. So, an e-book that’s equivalent to a 300-page paperback would yield $1.35 of royalties.

Until now, Amazon’s system didn’t measure the performance of Amazon ads on e-book page reads and royalties. But, the company figured out how to make it happen, which is an impressive feature for KDP Select authors to enjoy.

New features for Author Central

1. Author Central gets a makeover
Every author should create a free Author Central account, regardless if you’re self-published or traditionally published. But, Author Central looked woefully outdated until Amazon released a beautiful redesign last month.

Now, Author Central offers an intuitive interface and easier navigation to find your books, update your author profile, and review helpful reports. If you haven’t visited Author Central, see the new look at: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/

Now, Author Central offers an intuitive interface and easier navigation to find your books, update your author profile, and review helpful reports.Click to tweet2. Easily update multiple formats
The old Author Central version had a major flaw. You couldn’t easily locate every format of your book to update the product descriptions. Amazon addressed this problem by making each book format visually stand out when a title is selected in your account, including Kindle and paperback versions. It’s a much-needed improvement. Nice work, Lord Bezos!

3. Create international author pages
Earlier, I mentioned that Amazon offers multinational advertising in numerous countries. Author Central matched this global update by enabling authors to create “Author Pages” in the US, UK, Germany, France, Japan, and Brazil. Authors can also add bios using multiple foreign languages. Below is my Amazon Author Page in France:

It’s a big world out there. If you’re only focused on selling books in America, Amazon wants to help you think internationally.

Updates to KDP Self-Publishing Service

1. New version of KDP Reports
If you’ve self-published a book using Amazon KDP, you’ll love the new beta reporting features. It’s easier than ever to gauge real-time book sales, compare title performance, and estimate monthly royalties. KENP page reads are also included along with an updated payment history section.

To access the beta reports version, click on the “Reports” tab within your KDP account. Then, look for the link that says, “Try the new KDP Reports beta.”

2. Nominate your e-book for a Kindle Deal
KDP added a new section labelled “Marketing” that acts as one-stop-shop for all of the book promotion tools. There are quick links to KDP Select, Amazon Advertising, Author Central, and Price Promotions.

But, KDP also added a new marketing tool in beta version called “Kindle Deal Nomination.” Kindle Deals are limited-time discounts on e-books typically priced at $.99 – $2.99. If Amazon accepts your nomination, your e-book could be featured on its website for a day and even possibly multiple weeks.

You can nominate up to two eligible e-books at a time. If a book nomination isn’t accepted, you can automatically renew it every 90 days. This is a great opportunity to gain prime promotional access to thousands of Amazon shoppers.

3. Create and manage a book series
Writing books in a series is the smartest way to build your author career. But, arranging a series within KDP used to require reaching out to Amazon’s customer service team. Now, you can create and manage a series on your own directly within KDP. This is a great time-saving feature that makes it easier to cross-promote related books to avid readers. Once again, Amazon did authors a huge favor. Bravo!

In my 14 years as a book marketing consultant, I’ve never seen Amazon release so many updates in such a short period. These 10 upgrades are good news for authors, because they provide more control over your success.

Learn more about Amazon

Note from Sandra:

Friends, if you still haven’t made Amazon your top priority for selling books, now is the time to get on board.

Register for a FREE WEBINAR on Thursday, July 15th, at 2:00 pm Eastern, where Rob and I will discuss these Amazon updates and answer your questions. Click the link below to reserve your spot:

Register for Free Webinar

Amazon is leading the way with new innovation. Rob and I are here to help you stay on top of all the changes.

Together, let’s make 2021 the best year ever for you and your books!

Are your books selling well on Amazon? What’s your best tip for succeeding on that retail platform? Please tell us in a comment!