When you publish on Amazon KDP, you get seven keyword slots. Seven chances to tell Amazon's search engine what your book is about and who it's for. Most authors fill them in as an afterthought — a few obvious words, a genre label, maybe the protagonist's name — and then wonder why their book never appears in search results.
Those seven slots are more powerful than you think. Used properly, they can put your book in front of readers who are actively searching for exactly your kind of story.
What Keywords Actually Do
Amazon's search engine uses your keywords — along with your title, subtitle, and description — to determine which searches your book appears in. When a reader types "time travel romance" into the Kindle Store search bar, Amazon scans its database for books that match. If your keywords include that phrase, your book has a shot at appearing in those results.
If your keywords are "fiction, novel, book, good read, page-turner, must-read, bestseller" — and I've seen exactly this — your book will appear in no useful searches whatsoever.
How to Choose Keywords That Work
Think like a reader, not an author. You wouldn't search for your own book using the word "novel." Readers search for specific things: a setting, a trope, a mood, a comparable author. "Small town mystery," "enemies to lovers romance," "psychological thriller with unreliable narrator" — these are what readers actually type.
Use phrases, not single words. Each keyword slot allows up to 50 characters. A single word like "thriller" is too broad and too competitive. A phrase like "British detective mystery series" is specific, targeted, and far more likely to match a real search.
Research what's working. Go to Amazon, start typing in the Kindle Store search bar, and see what autocomplete suggests. Those suggestions are based on what real readers are actually searching for. If Amazon suggests "cosy mystery with cats" when you type "cosy mystery," that's a keyword phrase worth considering — assuming your book actually features cats.
Include comparable author names. If your writing style is similar to a well-known author, include their name as a keyword. "Fans of Lee Child" or "similar to Marian Keyes" can capture readers browsing for their next read in a familiar style. You're not claiming to be those authors — you're making yourself discoverable to their audience.
Don't repeat what's in your title or description. Amazon already indexes your title and subtitle. Using the same words in your keywords is wasting a slot. Use keywords to capture searches that your title doesn't already cover.
My Process
For each book, I spend an hour on keyword research before I publish. I make a list of every relevant phrase I can think of, check Amazon's autocomplete for each one, and narrow it down to the seven strongest. Then I revisit them every few months and swap out any that aren't performing.
It's not glamorous work. It's not creative. But it's the kind of work that separates books that get found from books that don't.
A Quick Example
For a cosy mystery set in a Yorkshire village, my seven keywords might look something like:
- British cosy mystery series
- Village mystery with amateur sleuth
- Yorkshire detective story
- Humorous whodunit
- Fans of Faith Martin
- Light-hearted murder mystery
- Small town English mystery
Each one targets a different search behaviour. Together, they cast a wide net while staying relevant to the actual book. That's the goal — relevance and reach.
The Point
Keywords aren't optional. They're not admin. They're one of the few tools Amazon gives you to control how your book is discovered. Use all seven. Make them count.