In my last post, I described my two choices for addressing the new-to-me rule in KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) that restricts an independent author to three categories instead of choosing up to ten as I did with my first self-published novel, Pearl Fields & the Oregon Meltdown.
Last week, I mentioned my two choices at that juncture—walk away or delve into it.
Of course, I chose the latter & came up with what I thought were the three best categories (thanks again to Publisher Rocket):
- Action & Adventure (Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction > Action & Adventure)
- Disaster Fiction (Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Disaster)
- Literary Fiction (Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction > Literary).
However, Amazon’s algorithm made its own determination:
- Action & Adventure Literary Fiction
- Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction
- Contemporary Literary Fiction
The overall rankings have improved somewhat, but my own third choice is faring the worst. Guess two out of three isn’t so bad.
So now I have a new, true dilemma:
- Choice #1: email support at Amazon & ask for clarification &/or a change, wait a decent amount of time, then move to choice #2;
- Choice #2: accept my fate.
In the meantime, I’m reevaluating my launch date for my serialized companion novel on Kindle Vella. Just this morning, I had an aha moment (or rather a duh! moment) when it dawned on me that I don’t need to adjust my overall life to fit into a self-imposed publishing deadline—no way, nohow.
I am, after all, an independent author, right?
Keep you posted.
Drew
