Jim’s Comments (group member since Feb 12, 2014)

Jim’s comments from the Taming Amazon group.

Interesting, I'll have to look into that.

To find out what categories you're in, search for "your book by your name" on Amazon. The results in the left column will be your categories.

Also, if you look at the bottom of your book's product page you'll see, "Look for Similar Items by Category," which will list your categories.

Hi Amber, you should notify the Goodreads librarians to have them fix the link to your book, The Calling, on your profile. You have 4 editions and the link to Amazon doesn't work on some of them. Do you need 4 editions?

It doesn't do any good to list search terms that no one uses. I wouldn't be too concerned about fitting exactly in a category. You just wouldn't want your book in the "humor" genre.

It looks like you are in three categories:

Children's eBooks > Science Fiction, Fantasy & Scary Stories > Fantasy & Magic

Children's eBooks > Science Fiction, Fantasy & Scary Stories > Science Fiction > Time Travel

Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Time Travel

I'm not sure what happened, if you didn't request the categories. I've never heard of Amazon doing it on their own. That's very interesting.

Hi Amber, I'll try to help. I think your book is in these 2 categories:

Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Metaphysical
and
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

By "browsing" categories, I mean to go directly to a category and then viewing the results. You can "filter" the results a certain way by using the "Sort by" dropdown box on the right.

The "mystery" category has over 62,000 books in it you would have to compete with. By "drilling down" to another level, for instance, Women Sleuths, you only have 12,000 to compete with.

I haven't read your books, so I couldn't say for sure if this is a good fit for you, but does that help explain it better?

Interesting idea, let us know what happens.

Looks great, J. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Bob, I'm surprised that more people don't use this feature. I've looked at several books and the large majority of them use very little, if any, formatting. I think it really makes your description stand out.

I've had the same experience. One of my books is in 6 different categories.

If you've used Author Central to edit your description, you won't be able to use HTML. Maybe you could try it on your next book.

E.G., you can add editorial reviews from the Author Central dashboard. When you've signed in to AC and claimed your books, you'll see an "Editorial Reviews" tab.
Let me know if you need more information.
Jim

Great! I'm glad it worked out for you.

Thanks, I'll have to check it out.

Hi Martyn,
Here is an example of the Amazon Orange heading tag and list tags in the description.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HUZNRXA

Jim

Amazon has recently made changes that prohibit you from using HTML from Author Central to edit your description. So, even though it propagates a lot faster than using the KDP dashboard, I don’t suggest using Author Central. Once you’ve edited your description using Author Central, all future changes will have to be made there.

Using the KDP dashboard, Amazon allows you to use certain HTML tags to format your description. Here are some examples:
<h1> <h2> <h3> Up to h6
Be sure to close the tags:
</h1> </h2> </h3>

Goodreads doesn't allow use of these tags so I can't show an example of how it would look, but these “heading” tags are what gives you the familiar “Amazon Orange” text. Here's an example of the code:
<h1>Example Heading Text</h1>

Some of the other tags allowed are:
<b>Bold</b>
<i>Italics</i>
<u>Underline</u>
<br>
Line break

Here is a link to a KDP help page listing the allowed tags.
https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A...

Are you using HTML to format your book’s description on Amazon?
I think it helps to make your description stand out. If anyone needs help with adding the formatting to their description, I'd love to help you with that. Just let me know!

Thanks and good luck!
Jim

I think that placing your book in a smaller category can make a big difference. Let me know how it works out for you Martyn and Amber.

Great information, Jenny, thanks for sharing. I think your suggestion for entering contests is a good idea. How much do you usually spend to enter one?
Good luck to you.

Allen, I just wanted to tell you that I downloaded The Reprisal and I loved it! I'm writing a review on Amazon now and will also post it here on Goodreads. I wanted to let you know that the link to Amazon from your Goodreads page for The Reprisal isn't working, you might want to have one of the Goodreads librarians look at that. Amazon gives this message: "Your search "2940045753654" did not match any products."

"Trophy Target" is on my list to read soon!

I've had good luck with PixelofInk and eReaderNews

If your book is new, Booksends requires a minimum of 5 reviews.

Here are a few I use:
http://www.pixelofink.com/sfkb/
http://ereadernewstoday.com/ent-free-...
http://www.freebookdude.com/2014/03/l...
http://bookgoodies.com/submit-your-fr...
http://www.ereaderperks.com/authors/
http://www.armadilloebooks.com/submit...

Good luck,
Jim

Great, I'll check it out, thanks!

Hi Allen,
I've submitted the B&N link to Amazon. Be sure to notify customer service from your KDP dashboard. They were quick to respond when I notified them about a cheaper price on my book.
Jim