In our last issue, we discussed limitations Amazon has made to how many categories a book can rank in simultaneously. While that article concluded it’s hard to say if these changes are intentional, a tip from author Andrew Shaffer led us to look more closely at Amazon’s informational page on sales ranking for KDP (self-published) authors.
This was the language prior to September 2022: “Best Seller and Category Ranks are based on customer activity of your book relative to the activity of other books. A book ranking #1 in Mystery & Thrillers is the book with the most activity in Amazon’s Mystery & Thrillers category. Books can appear in up to three categories. The book’s rank in each category will show under the Product Details section.”
This is the new language: “Best Seller and Category Ranks are based on customer activity of your book relative to the activity of other books. Books can be ranked in up to three best seller category lists, regardless of how many categories the book may feature within. Your book’s customer activity influences which three categories the book can be ranked in and will appear on the book’s detail page.”
Author Pamela Kelley says that multiple people at Amazon have confirmed to her that the change is intentional and not a glitch. Part of their response via email reads, “This change has caused a decrease in books that are miscategorized in bestseller lists and an increase in the number of ASINs receiving best seller badges.”
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
