KDP Keywords and Categories: How to Fill the 7 Keyword Boxes and Pick 3 Categories
Categories and keywords are how Amazon decides where to shelve your book and which searches it shows up for. KDP gives you 3 categories and 7 keyword boxes per book. This guide sticks to what KDP's own help pages say, then shows a real example from KDPTop's free tools.
How categories and keywords work together
KDP describes categories as the digital shelves of the Amazon store. Together with your keywords, they tell Amazon where to shelve your book. When no category fits your book exactly, KDP suggests using keywords to describe what makes it specific.
Picking your 3 categories
KDP lets you select 3 categories when you create a book. Categories differ by format (eBook, paperback) and by marketplace, so set them for each format. New categories can take up to 72 hours to show on Amazon.
KDP's own tips: pick categories that accurately describe the book, and balance popularity with relevance so the book is neither lost in a huge list nor shelved where nobody browses. Unrelated categories can be removed or changed by KDP.
For Children's categories, set the reading age to 0-2, 3-5, 6-8 or 9-12; Teen & Young Adult categories use 13-17.
To compare candidate categories, look at each list's review barrier and new-release share in the KDP categories list, or describe your book in the free category finder.
Filling the 7 keyword boxes
KDP's best practices: use up to seven keywords or short phrases, keep words in the order readers would type them ("military science fiction", not "fiction science military"), search your candidates on Amazon before publishing, and think like a reader.
Keyword types KDP lists as useful: setting (Colonial America), character types (single dad, veteran), character roles (strong female lead), plot themes (coming of age, forgiveness) and story tone (dystopian, feel-good).
What to leave out
- Words already in your title, contributors or categories
- Claims about quality ("best novel ever") and time-sensitive words ("new", "on sale")
- Words common to everything in the category, such as "book"
- Misspellings and spacing, punctuation or plural variants
- Names of authors not associated with your book, and brands you don't own
- Quotation marks, Amazon program names such as "KDP Select", and HTML
Example: categories and keywords for a dinosaur coloring book
Generated with KDPTop's free tools on 2026-11-11, unedited.
3 categories (fit score)
- 95 Children's Books › Activities, Crafts & Games › Activity Books › Coloring Books › Nonfiction
- 80 Children's Books › Activities, Crafts & Games › Activity Books › Coloring Books › Fiction
- 70 Crafts, Hobbies & Home › Crafts & Hobbies › Crafts for Children
7 keywords
- dinosaur gifts for kids 3-5
- dinosaur encyclopedia for kids
- abc coloring book for kids ages 3-5
- dinosaur activity book for kids 3-5
- big sister coloring book
- big brother coloring book
- my first big book of coloring
These are full phrases people actually search on Amazon, and each adds at least one word that isn't in the title. Following KDP's advice, you can drop words that repeat the title (such as dinosaur and coloring) and keep only the new words, leaving room for more.
Common questions
Can I change my KDP keywords after publishing?
Yes. KDP says you can change keywords and descriptions as often as you like: edit the book details on your Bookshelf and publish again.
Should keywords be the same for paperback and Kindle?
KDP recommends keeping keywords and descriptions consistent across formats.
How many categories can I choose on KDP?
3 categories per book, chosen in the Categories section of the book details. Available categories differ by format and marketplace.
Sources
Related: How to Research a Kindle Niche: A Step-by-Step Method with Real Amazon Data · KDP research tools compared
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