Many authors want the distinction of being labeled an Amazon bestseller but aren't sure how to get there. Trying to become a bestseller can seem like a complicated or elusive process when you're doing it alone. Here are some tips that we’ve learned over the years for how to set yourself up for success when you’re working towards bestseller status.

An Amazon Bestseller is any book that reaches the number one seller in a subcategory. There are up to 2000 subcategories on Amazon.

Becoming an Amazon Bestseller is not an exact science. However, many factors can contribute to your book becoming a bestseller. Factors to becoming a bestseller include but are not limited to:

Velocity

• If you’re able to sell a large amount of books within the first 24 hours of your book’s release, that’s a great way to top the bestseller charts. But keep in mind, if you have zero sales, and then suddenly you have 200 books sold, that is looked upon less favorably than if the increase in sales is more gradual.

Reviews

• Reviews are not a huge determinant in bestseller rankings, but as time goes on, they are a big factor in how well a book shows up in search results and how sustainable your sales are. A good target is to try to get 100+ reviews on Amazon. If you can achieve that in the first year of your release, even better.

Book Description

• This should be a good summary that gives readers an idea of the book’s content. A well-written description can go a long way when it comes to showing up in search results.

Keywords

• Pick your keywords carefully! These words and phrases that people type into the Amazon search bar are very important to your book's SEO.

The basic formula for an Amazon bestseller is concentrated book sales, plus positive Amazon reviews and increased traffic to your page. To achieve this, there are two things you can do to optimize your bestseller strategy.

Pick Your Category Wisely

You want to first position your book into accurate categories. Each book gets uploaded automatically to two categories when it's added to Amazon. However, if you know how to find them, you can discover up to eight more categories that your publisher can add your book to.

Rally Your Network

Lean on your network and readership to lift your book. Rally your network by asking friends and colleagues to promote your book on their socials and share it with their audience. If someone lets you know they enjoyed reading your book, encourage them to leave you an Amazon review. There are plenty of ways your network can help you make the most of your book launch.

If your book has already been released and you haven’t hit a list yet, there are still ways you can try for Amazon bestseller status. The strategy is just slightly different.

Category Audit

Go to your book page and see what categories your book is currently showing up for. Click on them. Look at the other books in that category. Are those your competitors? If not, it might be time to rethink your category and pick one that better aligns with your content. There might be more relevant subcategories that your book would be better served in, allowing it to rank higher and go up against books that are closer to your subject matter.

Update Your Description

It might be a good idea to look at how your book description compares to other books that you consider competitors or in your genre and see how yours measures up. Take a look at your keywords and see if there are better ones that are going to bring more traffic to your Amazon listing.

We hope these tips help you build out your Amazon bestseller strategy, whether your book has been released or not. Keep in mind, not every book is going to be a bestseller, and that is okay! The reason our authors write should be to get their message out to a large audience and share their story with the world. Just getting your book published is an accomplishment in itself. If you reach that goal and just so happen to reach bestseller status as well, then that’s an amazing bonus!

This article was adapted from Published Podcast’s 65th episode, “Tips and Tricks to Become an Amazon Bestseller with Scott James.”