has posted over at Western Fictioneers about using the right search words to use when listing your novel over at Amazon. From the blog:
Search words are one of the most important tools used to sell a novel, so you want to use them wisely. At Amazon you are allowed 7. That’s it, so you have to pick carefully. Did you know there are rules for what search words are allowed and which ones aren’t? The following is a list of what not to use.
- Reference to other authors
- Reference to books by other authors
- Reference to sales rank (i.e. ‘best-selling’)
- Reference to advertisements or promotions (i.e. ‘free’)
- Reference to anything that is unrelated to your book’s content
This list is straight out of Amazon’s rules. Wondering why you can’t use another author’s name as a search tool? Try searching for a famous author, it can become a struggle trying to actually find a book by that author. You shuffle through page after page of books by other people. By using that author in your listings, you are in fact damaging that writer’s career. Also it’s a big no-no as far as Amazon is concerned. When caught you will receive a warning, then your books will be taken off Amazon if the search words aren’t removed. I’m paranoid about upsetting Amazon. Let’s face it, most e-book sales come from Amazon, so I don’t want to do anything to get kicked off.
You can read the whole article HERE.