I had a good run. Every time I saw that little orange flag next to my book, I felt great.
Today, I decided to end it.
Yes: I. Decided.
My decision, full stop.
Remember how those categories work? If your book’s overall ranking happens to put you top of a small, random category, then you can rank no. 1 and be a bestseller. For two weeks now I’ve been a bestseller in Child Care, Fertility & Infertility, and Parenting. My book is about those things. If you look in those categories, the top sellers are fiction books. I was not doing anything disingenuous or wrong. When people clicked on my Sponsored Product Ad I wanted them to see it was a bestseller and be more likely to buy. I think that did happen.
So why on earth did I decide to change the categories?
I won’t pretend to know how the amazon algorithm works. People a lot smarter than me are foiled by it. My book is in ten categories. Eight are fiction, but two are non-fiction. Having done some more research, I have come to the conclusion that this might be having a negative impact on my organic ranking.
Something is not working right. I need to make a change. This seems like a logical step. I need the amazon algorithm to work for me, not against me.
Things I do know
When I typed in major women’s fiction categories, my book was not coming up. This is a problem because it’s a women’s fiction book. This shows it is not ranking organically in these categories.
The root category “Parenting and Childcare” where all my bestseller flags were coming from is a so-called non-fiction category. There are fiction books in it, as I said. But only a few of them are top fiction sellers.
Here’s an interesting thing I noticed. The fiction books in the non-fiction categories are all put there by one publisher whom I shall not name. Big, established publishers are, for the most part, not doing it.
The fiction categories are a lot more competitive. Based on my ranking, I will be losing my orange flag.
This is an experiment. I can change it back if it’s a disaster.
Things I don’t know
Will my book start sinking like a stone in the rankings? We shall see.
It was hard to step forth into the unknown. To let go of something that I valued and had earned. To have my book go from being a bestseller to just another book is not a nice feeling. But something is not working, and I need to make a change. Before I spend more and more money on advertising, I need to make sure I am not shooting myself in the foot without knowing it.
Something needed to change – I’ve decided on this change. We will see what happens.
Lessons Learned:
Something needed to change. Based on my research, I was concerned that the categories were potentially having a negative effect. I have decided on this change. I will see the effects, and decide on a further course of action from there.
Sometimes it's necessary to let go of something in order to move forward. I want to move forward and improve more than I want that little orange flag. (Gosh – did I just say that?)
It feels good to take action. I am getting better at tolerating failure! This is leading me to take more risks in order to move forward.
I don’t know what’s going to happen, and that’s OK – for now.