amazon-category-research skill

---
name: amazon-category-research
description: Research profitable Amazon KDP categories for book publishing. Use when planning a book launch, analyzing competition, or optimizing category selection for discoverability.
---

# Amazon Category Research

Guided workflow for finding profitable Amazon book categories with low competition.

## Quick Facts

- You can only select **3 categories** per book
- Amazon has **tens of thousands** of subcategories
- Categories drive **algorithm visibility**
- Lower BSR (Best Sellers Rank) = more sales

## Workflow

### Step 1: Identify Your Genre Space

What broad category does your book fit?

| Fiction | Nonfiction |
|---------|------------|
| Romance | Self-help |
| Mystery/Thriller | Business |
| Sci-Fi/Fantasy | Religion/Spirituality |
| Literary Fiction | Health/Fitness |
| Children's/YA | Biography |

### Step 2: Research Subcategories

Go to [Amazon Best Sellers](https://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books) and drill down:
- Click your main category
- Keep drilling into subcategories until you find a niche
- Example: `Fiction > Fantasy > Short Stories > Coming of Age`

### Step 3: Analyze #1 and #100

For your target subcategory:

**#1 Bestseller:**
- Find the book's product page
- Scroll to "Product Details"
- Note the BSR (Best Sellers Rank)
- Plug into [Kindlepreneur Calculator](https://kindlepreneur.com/amazon-kdp-sales-rank-calculator/)

**#100 Bestseller:**
- Repeat the process
- Compare daily sales estimates

### Step 4: Interpret Results

| Signal | Meaning |
|--------|---------|
| #1 has high sales, #100 has decent sales | Healthy category with room |
| #1 has high sales, #100 has very low sales | Top-heavy, hard to break in |
| Both have low sales | Small market, easy to rank but limited upside |
| Large gap between #1 and #100 | Competition concentrated at top |

### Step 5: Competitor Analysis

For top 10 books in your target category, note:
- Price point
- Number of reviews
- Cover design style
- Keywords in title/subtitle
- Page count

## Output Template

```markdown
## Category Research: [Book Title]

### Target Categories (pick 3)
1. [Category path] - BSR range: X-Y, Est. daily sales: X-Y
2. [Category path] - BSR range: X-Y, Est. daily sales: X-Y  
3. [Category path] - BSR range: X-Y, Est. daily sales: X-Y

### Competition Analysis
- Avg price: $X
- Avg reviews: X
- Cover style: [description]
- Common keywords: [list]

### Recommendation
[Which 3 categories to select and why]
```

## Tools

- **Free:** [Kindlepreneur Calculator](https://kindlepreneur.com/amazon-kdp-sales-rank-calculator/)
- **Paid:** [Publisher Rocket](http://www.publisherrocket.com) ($199), [BookBeam](http://bookbeam.io) ($29+/mo)