Keywords are an important part of self-publishing your book. They are words or phrases that describe your book—the keys that help readers find it among the millions of others available online. If you’re wondering how to choose keywords for your book, the process is simpler than it might seem, though does need some time and energy invested in it.
Websites use keywords for search engine optimisation (SEO), and book retailers work in much the same way. Without keywords, your book is far less likely to appear when someone searches for one like yours.
You will need at least seven keywords when uploading to the various platforms. These words can include your genre, categories, tropes, settings, era, or problems and benefits from reading your book if non-fiction.
Book metadata
Metadata is the information that describes your book—including title, subtitle, categories, keywords, price, publication date, ISBN and any other relevant information that readers may use to find your book. Readers depend on good metadata to find their next read, and search engines use it to match books to potential readers.
How to choose keywords for your book
The best thing you can do is think like a reader. If you were looking for your book, what words would you type into Amazon to find it? Use phrases that describe your book’s topic, character, or genre.
Authors often choose keywords that describe their book academically, but readers are more likely to search using simple phrases. For example, instead of “intergenerational narrative”, readers might search for “family secrets novel”.
Before publishing, search using keywords you’re considering on Amazon yourself, as if you were browsing. When typing into the search bar, look at the suggestions that appear in the “Search” field drop-down. Amazon will autofill phrases that readers frequently type into the search bar. This gives you some good intel on effective keywords. If you get irrelevant or unsatisfying results from your suggestions, make some changes.
Always be specific rather than broad, as the more general terms are too competitive. For example, instead of “fantasy” try “Arthurian fantasy retelling”. Or use “slow burn small town romance” rather than “romance”. These more specific keywords help your book appear in smaller, more targeted searches.
You can also look at books similar to yours. One of the easiest ways to find keywords is to analyse successful books in the same genre.
On retailers like Amazon:
- Search for books similar to yours. (Hopefully you have already researched some “comp” titles.)
- Look at:
- subtitle wording
- category listings
- Reader “also boughts”
- Note recurring themes and phrases.
These often reflect what readers are actually searching for.
If your book is available in different formats (physical, audio, e-book), keep your keywords and description consistent across formats.
Useful keyword types
These types of keywords drill down into your book’s content. Potential readers often search for specific settings, eras, characters, tropes, etc.
- Setting (Colonial America)
- Character types (single dad, veteran)
- Character roles (strong female lead)
- Plot themes (coming of age, forgiveness)
- Story tone (dystopian, feel-good)
- Tropes (enemies to lovers, found family)
Where to input keywords
Most self-publishing authors upload their books to one or both of these platforms: Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) or IngramSpark. While the use of keywords are the same for both, there are some differences.
- Target Audience & Algorithm: KDP keywords are designed specifically for the Amazon search algorithm. IngramSpark, as a distributor, feeds metadata to a wide range of retailers (Barnes & Noble, bookstores, libraries).
- Keyword Types: KDP allows for 7 distinct, often long-tail, keyword phrase entries. IngramSpark relies more heavily on standardized industry classification, specifically BISAC codes (Book Industry Standards and Communications), to categorize your book for retailers.
- Strategy: Because KDP is a retailer-driven system, its keywords are highly targeted for consumer searches on Amazon. IngramSpark keywords need to be broader to accommodate various retail search engines.
Best practices for using both
If you are using both platforms, your main metadata—such as title, subtitle, description and categories—should remain consistent, especially if you are using the same ISBN so the listings link correctly. The key themes and concepts of your keywords should also remain consistent, even if the exact phrases are adjusted slightly to suit each platform.
If you are using IngramSpark, it is generally advised not to use KDP’s “Expanded Distribution” option, as this can cause duplication and listing conflicts.
While the core keywords (genre, topic) should remain consistent, you should treat the 7 slots in KDP and the metadata fields in IngramSpark as two different, tailored marketing opportunities.
IngramSpark
IngramSpark allows up to 500 characters, which must be separated by semicolons.
For example, for my self-publishing guidebook, I used these keywords:
self-publishing guide; how to self-publish; indie author; learn how to publish your book; self-publishing for writers; steps to self-publishing; self-published author; how to format, print and distribute your book; self-publishing freedom; self-publishing success
KDP
You can use up to seven keyword slots in the KDP backend metadata, with each slot allowing for a phrase or string of words around 50 characters long. These, often called “7 backend keywords,” should be specific phrases to maximize searchability.
It is debated in the indie author world whether authors should use every last character or use more specific keywords or phrases, or even single words. This video by self-publishing expert Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur explores this quandary and as usual offers great advice based on thorough research:
Best practices
Avoid keywords that are not accurate descriptors of your book’s central storyline, or that are completely unrelated to what’s in the book. Inaccurate keywords can lead to unexpected or confusing search results and provide a poor customer experience. I advise reading through this list of do’s and don’ts to optimize your keywords:
- Do not repeat words already in your title, subtitle, or author name. This metadata is already there, so you are wasting valuable real estate and annoying the Amazon algorithm.
- Avoid vague terms like “new,” or “thriller”.
- The more chance you have of finding a reader, the better, so use all 7 slots for the best results.
- Combine keywords in the most logical order. Customers search for “military science fiction” but probably not for “fiction science military”.
- KDP does not tolerate keywords that mislead or manipulate their customers. Examples of items that are prohibited as keywords include but are not limited to references to:
- Sales rank (e.g., “bestselling”)
- Advertisements or promotions (e.g., “free”)
- Words already mentioned in your book categories (e.g. 19th Century History)
- Subjective claims about quality (e.g. “best novel ever”)
- Time-sensitive statements (“new,” “on sale,” “available now”)
- Information common to most items in the category (“book”)
- Spelling errors
- Books by other authors
- Anything misrepresentative like the name of an author not associated with your book. This kind of information can create a confusing customer experience. Kindle Direct Publishing has a zero-tolerance policy for metadata that is meant to advertise, promote, or mislead
- Brands that you do not own or that you are unauthorised to use
- Quotation marks in search terms.
- Amazon program names like as “Kindle Unlimited” or “KDP Select”
- HTML tags.
Other distribution platforms such as Draft2Digital or PublishDrive also allow keyword metadata, but their systems distribute your information to many retailers, just as IngramSpark does. For this reason, keywords on these platforms tend to work best when they are clear, descriptive phrases rather than highly specialised search terms designed for one store.
Learning how to choose keywords for a book takes a little research, but once you understand how readers search, it becomes much easier to help the right audience find your work. If you are reading this after inputting keywords, never fear! You can change keywords and descriptions as often as you like. In fact, it is good practice to check up on your keywords periodically.
I’m here to help!
I use an excellent program created by the above-mentioned Dave Chesson called Publisher Rocket. This powerful tool analyses how competitive a keyword is, how often it’s searched, and how many books are already using it.
As part of my self-publishing package, I can run your suggested keywords through the program and provide a quick health check. If they are too competitive or not used often enough, Publisher Rocket offers other suggested keywords; ones that may not have occurred to you during your research.
I hope this post helped you to get clarity on how to choose your keywords for your book.
