How this list is organized: 7 sales a day is around a 20,000 to 26,000 sales rank.
For each line, I’ve listed the subcategory on the left, then the rank of the #100 book in that subcategory on the right.
Note: Most of these categories can only be accessed through the use of keywords. But I’ve been able to get as many as 8 total categories on a single book before, so there’s a lot of room to maneuver here.
sports 77,000
sea adventures 105,000
biographical 42,000
parodies 107,000
humor/essays 47,000
british 69,000
-fiction/lit/humor-
/american 24,000
/british 1,000,000
/dark comedy 1,300,000
/literary 61,000
/satire 125,000
-christian-
/fantasy 118,000
/futuristic 252,000
/western 76,000
-fantasy-
/arthurian 207,000
/coming of age 24,000
/mythy and legends 71,000
/superhero 65,00
-literary fiction-
/action adventure 102,000
/biographical 160,000
/british 149,000
/romance 37,000
/humor 61,000
metaphysical 147,000
-romance-
/gothic 46,000
/paranormal/psychics 46,000
/paranormal/ghosts 20,000
/paranormal/demons and devils 21,000
/paranormal/angels 20,000
/time travel 20,000
/historical/victorian/ 33,000
/historical/ancient world/260,000
-science fiction-
/alien invasion 26,000
/alternative history 36,000
/colonization 85,000
/cyberpunk 174,000
/galactic empire 30,000
/genetic engineering 45,000
/space exploration 60,000
/first contact 61,000
steampunk 100,000
/time travel 46,000
-thriller-
/assasinations 27,000
/conspiracies 30,000
/financial 527,000
/historical 137,000
/medical 50,000
/military 69,000
/political 59,000
/terrorism 29,000
-women’s fiction-
/humor 22,000
/fantasy 242,000
/action adventure 242,000
/psychological 106,000
-historical fiction-
/scottish 83,000
/irish 290,000
/european 222,000
/british 43,000
/women’s fiction 120,000
crime (note. must choose fiction/crime as category, then enter kidnapping, heist, organized crime, murder, and/or vigilante justice as your keyword(s) to get into these cat’s)
/heist 432,000
/murder 22,000
/kidnapping 426,000
/organized crime 216,000
/vigilante justice 733,000
See also: SPRT 039 with Kevin Michael & Keywords/Categories
Also check out our blog post: Amazon Keywords and Categories Explained
For a guide to keywords, go here: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A200PDGPEIQX41
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These are really good to know. Keep them coming!
One of my freebies is currently #15 in Genetic Engineering 🙂 It’s also #24 in Space Opera – http://www.amazon.com/Adrift-Callisto-Series-Book-1-ebook/dp/B0056BLH2I
Other good ones are the ‘Anthologies and Short Stories’ sub categories.
BatmanErica So true. And almost every genre has an anthology and short story section.
Other new ones to watch out for–literary fiction just opened up to 15 subcategories, women’s fiction expanded, and horror has opened up some new subcategories.
Most surprisingly, westerns have a number of subcategories. One in particular is a curiousity–the sci fi western…yes, like Firefly.
RemarkableReads BatmanErica Why is there nothing like Firefly out there? The fans seem rabid, but maybe not for similar things?
RolandDenzel RemarkableReads I had a quick look through the sci fi western, but it’s more western sci fi. More emphasis is placed on the western aspect (especially with the covers). There are some that look appealing in their sci fi-ness, while others are steampunk, dinosaur-riding cowboys/girls, or lean more toward fantasy.
I haven’t yet found anything Firefly-esque, but haven’t looked at it all. There is one series (Guns of Seneca 6) that is planet-based with sci fi elements that I might read the first of and perhaps Sirian Summer. They both seem more western than sci fi, but at least the latter has sci fi elements on the cover.
If you reckon fans are gagging for something Firefly-esque, write it 😛
RemarkableReads One question. What is women’s fiction?
RolandDenzel RemarkableReads BatmanErica There is some. Not so great. Nothing big like Firefly. In saying that… Firefly wasn’t that popular either. It got cancelled for a reason.
BatmanErica RemarkableReads Fiction for women.
Carl Sinclair RemarkableReads I’ll be sure to avoid that then o.O
Carl Sinclair RolandDenzel RemarkableReads it got cancelled cause tv networks in America make dumb decisions all the time. Just look at Big Brother, Jersey Shore and the news.
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair RolandDenzel RemarkableReads It got cancelled because the ratings sucked for the time slot and the shows around it. I like Firefly. That being said, it gets WAY more credit than it does. It only went a few episodes and didn’t have time to develop. It was good. Very good. But it’s ridiculous that people put it alongside some of the top scifi shows of all time. It wasn’t.
Carl Sinclair BatmanErica RolandDenzel RemarkableReads I think it’s fair to put it in a similar class to the original Star Trek, was was pretty dumb (especially season 3) by modern standards.
It didn’t have time to develop, true. …and I agree on the timeslot issue.
I don’t think the movie did well, either. It’s not mainstream enough.
That being said, I wonder if novel or novellas wouldn’t do okay. There are all sorts of books that are popular that would never survive on tv.
RolandDenzel Carl Sinclair RemarkableReads they’ve been continued in comic book and graphic novel format http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_comics much like Joss has done with the Buffy universe.
Thanks for posting this: How do the keywords work though? Say I wanted to get a book in the historical fiction /irish category, does that mean I need “historical fiction” and “irish” in the list of keywords or “historical fiction/irish” ? Sorry this is probably a really dumb question but Ill appreciate any response
TimothyDH You need to use the specific keywords for the category you’re trying to get in. Go check out episode 39 of this podcast for all of the details Timothy.
Carl Sinclair TimothyDH Hey guys, I watched the podcast – thanks again for the tip, really cool! I tested it out yesterday with my book, but so far I haven’t seen it appear in the new categories that I added keywords for, even though KDP says the new book is live. Is there a delay in the book appearing on those new category bestseller lists? Given my book’s sales rank, it should be on page 1 of the new categories…
PiersPlatt Carl Sinclair TimothyDH Perhaps RemarkableReads can advise you.