The terms genre and category are often used interchangeably. If we’re being precise, genre designates a broad category like fiction or nonfiction while categories are more specific like romance, horror, business, or memoir. To make things even more complicated, there are many subcategories under many categories. These genres, categories, and subcategories come in strings (see examples below).
Think of genres, categories, and subcategories like virtual shelves that help organize books. Though you don’t get to label these shelves, you do have an opportunity to choose the best shelves for your book—and the more specific your choice, the better the chance your book will stand out. It’s part of the secret sauce we use at Bublish to propel unknown authors’ books to #1, which unlocks organic exposure and enhances discoverability by the right readers.
To show you what this looks like, here are some fiction and nonfiction category strings. On a retailer like Amazon, three category strings typically appear on a book’s product page. Note how specific the last subcategory is in each string.
Fiction:
- Along Came a Spider (An Alex Cross Thriller) by James Patterson—Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Crime > Serial Killers
- The Movement (Time Corrector Series Book 2) by Avi Datta—Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Time Travel
- Too Late: A Novel by Colleen Hoover—Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Thrillers > Psychological
- Christmastime 1940: A Love Story (The Christmastime Series) by Linda Mahkovec—Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Holidays
- Lessons in Chemistry: A Novel by Bonnie Garmus—Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction > Humor
- Charleston Green: A Novel (Tipsy Collins Series Book 1) by Stephanie Alexander—Literature & Fiction > United States > Southern United States
- A Match for a Bookish Bride (The Mystery Matchmaker of Ella Pointe Book 2) by Tess Thompson—Romance > Historical Romance > American
Nonfiction:
- Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell—Health, Fitness & Dieting > Counseling & Psychology > Social Psychology & Interactions
- Running with Grace: A Wall Street Insider’s Path to True Leadership, a Purposeful Life, and Joy in the Face of Adversity by Lori Van Dusen—Business & Money > Management & Leadership > Ethics
- Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek—Business & Money > Business Life > Motivation & Self-Improvement
- Ignite Culture: Empowering and Leading a Healthy, High-Performance Organization from the Inside Out by Margarat Graziano—Business & Money > Organizational Behavior > Organizational Learning
- The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential by John C. Maxwell—Business & Money > Management & Leadership > Motivational
- The Proactive Executive: A C-Suite Recruiter's 5-Step System for Achieving Greater Career Success by Chris Nadherny—Business & Money > Job Hunting & Careers > Interviewing
- The 5AM Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life. by Robin Sharma—Business & Money > Business Life > Time Management
Additionally, in this section of the AI Positioning Report, you'll see BISAC codes, which are used to organize books in other important industry and retail databases and keywords, which are added whenever you upload a book for distribution. All of this information plays a role in giving your book a key competitive advantage in a crowded book marketplace. The more precise the information you provide when uploading a book for distribution, the more visible your book becomes to the right readers.