Keywords and categories decide where your book shows up in Amazon’s search and browsing; the description decides whether a reader who finds it buys it. Below are KDP’s rules for each field, from its help pages, with what to write and what to leave out.
How many keywords can you add on KDP?
7, one word or short phrase per box. KDP’s metadata guidelines recommend phrases of 2–3 words, and its keyword page asks you to watch the character limit shown in each box. Good keywords carry what your title and description can’t: the setting, the kind of characters, the theme, the tone, the reader (“bedtime story for toddlers”, “cozy mystery in a bakery”). Put words in the order people type them, and search Amazon with each one before you publish to see what comes up. You can change keywords as often as you like; keep them consistent across formats.
What should, and shouldn’t, go in KDP keywords?
KDP’s keyword page lists what to leave out:
- anything already in your metadata (title, contributors) or in your categories;
- quality claims (“best”), time-sensitive words (“new”, “on sale”) and words common to every book (“book”);
- spelling mistakes and variants of spacing, punctuation, capitalization or plurals;
- other authors’ names, brands you don’t own and Amazon program names such as Kindle Unlimited;
- quotation marks and HTML tags.
KDP says it has zero tolerance for metadata meant to advertise, promote or mislead, so a keyword must describe what is actually in the book.
How many categories can you choose?
3 per format, from Amazon’s store categories. Set the primary audience and the primary marketplace first: the category list depends on them, and it differs between eBook and print and between marketplaces. Pick categories that describe the book; KDP removes or changes unrelated ones, and new categories can take up to 72 hours to show.
Children’s categories need a reading age of 0–2, 3–5, 6–8, 9–12; Teen and Young Adult categories use 13–17. A book marked as containing sexually explicit images or title can’t appear in Children’s categories. KDP’s support team doesn’t recommend categories for you.
How long can a KDP book description be?
Up to 4,000 characters, and KDP counts every HTML tag: a word in bold costs the word plus 7 characters for <b></b>. KDP’s advice is to describe the main plot, theme or idea, aim for about a 150-word paragraph that is easy to scan, open with a sentence that draws readers in, and make the genre clear.
KDP doesn’t accept any of these in a description:
- phone numbers, mail or email addresses, and website URLs;
- reviews, quotes or testimonials, and requests for reviews;
- advertising, prices, availability or other ways to order;
- time-sensitive information (tour dates, events) and spoilers;
- emojis and keyword lists.
Which HTML does the description accept?
KDP’s description box accepts <br>, <p>, <b>, <em>, <i>, <u>, <h4>, <h5>, <h6>, <ol>, <ul>, <li>. <h1>, <h2>, <h3> aren’t supported, so headings start at <h4>. Close every tag, use two <br> tags for an empty line, and don’t count on double spaces: the detail page collapses them. The title and subtitle together must stay under 200 characters. The free description formatter writes this HTML for you and counts the characters.
What does kdpbook draft for you?
Every book made with kdpbook comes with a listing sheet laid out like KDP’s Details page: title and subtitle, series, author, the description in KDP’s HTML with a plain-text preview, 7 keywords (one per box), up to 3 categories to pick in KDP’s category browser, the reading age, the low-content and large-print answers, the AI-disclosure answers and suggested list prices. The preflight checks the listing against the limits above before you export. You still choose the final words: it’s a draft for you to edit, not a ranking promise.
Then run the publishing checklist and answer the AI question as the AI disclosure guide explains.