Categories and Key Words

Signs and tags drive the world today. I'm pretty sure the sign pictured here is trying to tell me something but I'll keep going until I can figure it out.

Street signs tell us to stop, merge, turn here for yummy fast food.

Twitter hashtags let us know what's trending.

Categories and Key Words hold some kind of mystical power over how items are displayed in Amazon, Google, and most internet search engines.

Now, let's be honest. With the online world we've come to depend on, if we didn't have a powerful search engine telling us we want yummy fast food, feeding us directions to obtain said unhealthy delight, and the necessary prompts to tweet our crave to get #itscrappymealtime trending, we'd be doing something utterly boring like sitting around a table looking at family members eating meals actually prepared in the same house. How discouraging.

My foray into writing keeps digging up new items to be added to a "Lessons Learned" list. Recently I've added a new entry near the top in big letters, "CATEGORIES", which sits only a few lines above "Key Words".

CATEGORIES

These are the magic words spoken as you waive your wand before the unmovable rock blocking your path.

The categories used to tag your book in Amazon (and other sites) determine how it will be promoted. I've seen in multiple places that you (the author) need to identify your audience (the readers) and target your efforts at reaching that group. Sounds easy enough, but in this magical online world how do I find and zero in on that group? Categories.

In doing some research and reading blogs about how Amazon prioritizes it's items, I've learned I needed to rethink how I choose a category and that periodic category changes can be a good thing.

I will soon be changing the categories for Absolution's Curse to Religion&Spirituality->Fiction->Science Fiction & Fantasy (think Frank Peretti mixed with Stephen King's The Gunslinger).

It's a dance. Play with your categories, try to find those that aren't saturated by drilling down to sub-categories where your work can stand out.

Key Words

This doesn't get all big letters but it's still important. These would be the words uttered by our wand holding reader to determine which rock needs to be moved to clear a straight path to your book.

My biggest "a-ha" moment (other than the music video of "Take On Me" which popped up when I googled "a-ha") was the idea of using author names, book names, or characters that are similar to your book's themes or characters.

For Absolution's Curse, I will be adding references to Stephen King's Dark Tower series and Roland since I believe that character closely matches Frank's journey.

The biggest caveat is to make sure any category or key words you use, especially if you use author names or other books, are valid. Don't list J.K. Rowling as your key word for your bloody vampire romance novel.

So watch your signs, give your categories and key words their due respect, and stay away from late night Crappy Meals.

I wonder what happens after I get to the dead end?

C.L. Blanton