Monday 20 July 2020

SELF PUBLISHING - HOW TO GET YOUR NOVEL NOTICED - PART ONE


HOW TO CLASSIFY YOUR NOVEL


It's easy to classify your books if you write a police procedural novel or a time travel fantasy or a conventional romance where two young people meet, hate and misunderstand each other but fall into each other's arms in the last chapter.

But how do you classify a book which crosses over from one genre to another, or even a third - or (in the case of one of mine, The Family on Pineapple Island) can be read by parents to their youngest children, yet equally can be read by parents and grandparents for their own enjoyment?

There are books that defy any classification. Sometimes they are exceptional and become best sellers, but often they sink into oblivion. However, even if they fit a classification, it's still a writer's minefield.

If you're self-publishing via KDP, Amazon's publishing arm, take time to work through their quite comprehensive selection lists. It's helpful to select a category which at least directs readers on to the right path leading to your book. However, if it's a particularly popular category, readers might never reach your new baby.

Take ROMANCE as an example. There are thousands and thousands of novels in this category, listed in order of popularity, page after page after page. It's a known fact that the majority of potential readers give up on the list after scrolling through the first ten pages. So how will readers find your newly published novel?

You can lessen the odds by choosing a sub-category, eg Romantic Comedy, or Romantic Historical or Romantic Contemporary, but these still include thousands of books already on sale. This is where keywords help (See Part Two).

You're allowed a second category. My novel AFFAIR WITH AN ANGEL is a sort of romance, but it's also a fantasy, as the title suggests. Check out this category (below). As you see, there are several options. Choose the one that's most specific - and if you're lucky, that may also be one where you're not competing with thousands of others.

FANTASY:
General
Collections & Anthologies
Contemporary
Dark Fantasy
Epic
Historical
Paranormal
Urban


It's a time-consuming exercise and you may never be completely satisfied, but the good news is that you can change your novel's categories at any time if you're not happy.

Interesting note: The first 100 books in any category are listed as Best Sellers. I've not personally investigated but apparently there are some categories which contain fewer than 100 books. If your book fits into one of these categories it will automatically be classified as a best seller!

If you want to take this further, and have the time, check out the following links:
https://www.kindleranker.com/articles/kdp-category-browser/

https://kindlepreneur.com/how-to-choose-the-best-kindle-ebook-kdp-category/


NEXT TIME: PART TWO - CHOOSING THE RIGHT KEYWORDS






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