About this episode

The episode discusses Amazon's updates affecting self-published authors and offers insights on maintaining visibility in a changing landscape.

Amazon's latest updates are raising concerns for self-published authors, as hundreds of new KDP categories may actually be hurting book discoverability instead of helping it. In this Self-Publishing News update, we break down the growing issue of ghost categories, along with what authors can do to stay visible. We also cover Amazon's push into AI-powered ads, new metadata guidance from Barnes & Noble Press, and a cover design case study from CraveBooks with surprising results. Publisher Rocket - https://DaleLinks.com/Rocket (affiliate link) Novel Report - https://DaleLinks.com/NovelReport (affiliate link) Use code GETMYREPORT for $20 off - Amazon Advertising - https://advertising.amazon.com Barnes & Noble Press: 7 Steps to Spring Clean Your Book Metadata! - https://press.barnesandnoble.com/bnpress-blog/spring-clean-your-book-metadata/ CraveBooks - https://DaleLinks.com/CraveBooks (affiliate link) CraveBooks Marketing Hub (on Discord) - https://discord.gg/AYYbKKWGDJ The Alliance of Independent Authors - https://DaleLinks.com/ALLi (affiliate link) ALLi: The Indie Author Bookstore - https://bookstore.allianceindependentauthors.org/ My ALLi Author Page…

People in this episode

Host: Dale L. Roberts

Topics covered

• self-publishing
• Amazon updates
• book discoverability
• ghost categories
• AI-powered ads
• metadata guidance
• cover design case study

Keywords

• self-publishing
• Amazon KDP
• book categories
• ghost categories
• AI ads
• metadata
• cover design
• CraveBooks
• Barnes & Noble Press

Sponsors

Publisher Rocket, Novel Report, Amazon Advertising, CraveBooks, Alliance of Independent Authors

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Amazon, Barnes & Noble Press, CraveBooks, Alliance of Independent Authors, Writer Beware

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• Amazon KDP Rolled Out New Features | Self-Publishing News (Apr. 8, 2026) · April 8, 2026 · 13 min
• MORE Signs Amazon Wants You to Bring the Traffic | Self-Publishing News (March 27, 2026) · March 27, 2026 · 15 min
• Draft2Digital Reveals AI Problem Flooding Nonfiction | Self-Publishing News (Mar. 10, 2026) · March 10, 2026 · 17 min
• [BREAKING NEWS] Draft2Digital and Bookshop Reach 4 Million Readers · February 4, 2026 · 23 min

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