How to Find Low Competition Categories on KDP

Low competition KDP categories are browse nodes where the top-ranked books have relatively low sales, few reviews, and weak listings. Finding them means your book can rank on page one faster, get more organic visibility, and sell copies without needing a massive launch budget. The trick is knowing where to look and what signals actually indicate low competition.

What Makes a KDP Category "Low Competition"

Not all categories are created equal. Some have thousands of books fighting for the top 10 spots. Others have a handful of mediocre listings that a well-optimized book could outrank in weeks.

Here's what you're looking for:

• Low Best Seller Rank (BSR) threshold for #1: If the #1 book in a category has a BSR above 50,000, that category isn't moving many copies. That's your opportunity.
• Few reviews on top books: When the top 5 books have fewer than 50 reviews each, the barrier to entry is low. Compare that to a category where the top books have 2,000+ reviews.
• Poor cover design or outdated listings: If you see clipart covers and keyword-stuffed titles dominating a category, you can absolutely compete with a professional listing.
• Niche depth: Amazon has over 16,000 category nodes. The deeper you go (think "Self-Help > Creativity > Journaling" instead of just "Self-Help"), the less competition you'll face.

A category where the #1 book sits at BSR 30,000 with 12 reviews is a completely different playing field than one where the top spot has BSR 500 and 4,000 reviews. Aim for the first scenario.

The Manual Method: Browsing Amazon's Category Tree

You can find low competition categories without any tools. It just takes time.

Start on the Amazon Kindle Store page and click through the category sidebar. Go deep. Don't stop at the top-level categories. Click into subcategories, then sub-subcategories. Amazon buries some incredibly specific nodes three or four levels down.

Once you're in a subcategory, look at the Best Sellers list. Open the top 10 books. Check their BSR (scroll down to the Product Details section on each listing). Write down the BSR, review count, and publication date for each one.

If most of the top 10 have BSRs above 40,000 and fewer than 30 reviews, you've found a soft category. Repeat this across 20 to 30 subcategories and you'll start to see patterns. Certain topic areas are consistently underserved.

The downside? This manual process takes hours. Sometimes full days. And Amazon's category structure changes regularly, so the data you collect today might shift next month.

Using Tools to Speed Up Category Research

The manual method works, but it doesn't scale. If you're publishing multiple books or testing niches before committing, you need something faster.

PublishRank's Category Optimizer lets you analyze KDP categories by competition level, showing you which browse nodes have weak top performers and where a new book has a realistic shot at ranking. Instead of clicking through hundreds of Amazon pages, you get the competition data organized and filterable. It saves a genuinely stupid amount of time.

Other tools like Publisher Rocket can also pull category data. The key is using any tool as a starting point, not a final answer. Always verify what you find by checking the actual Amazon listings yourself. Tools give you direction. Your judgment closes the deal.

The "20 Review" Benchmark Strategy

Here's a practical framework I use when evaluating categories.

Look at the top 5 books in any category. Count the total reviews across all five. If the combined total is under 100 reviews (averaging 20 per book), that category is soft enough to enter with a solid book and a basic launch strategy.

If the combined total is over 500, you're fighting an uphill battle unless your book has a strong unique angle or you have an existing audience.

Between 100 and 500? It's doable, but you'll need sharper positioning and a real marketing effort in the first 30 days.

This benchmark isn't perfect, but it gives you a quick gut check before you spend hours analyzing a category that's already locked up by established authors.

Don't Confuse Low Competition with No Demand

This is the most common mistake. Authors find a category with zero competition, get excited, and publish a book into a void where nobody is searching or buying.

Low competition only matters if people actually want books in that category. You need both: low competition AND proven demand.

How do you confirm demand? Look for these signals:

• At least a few books are selling: If the #1 book has a BSR of 800,000, nobody is buying in that category. You want BSRs that are high enough to indicate low competition but low enough to prove people are spending money. A sweet spot is #1 BSR between 10,000 and 80,000.
• Related keywords have search volume: Use Amazon's search bar autocomplete. Type in your topic. If Amazon suggests multiple related phrases, people are searching for it.
• Books in the category have some reviews: Even 5 to 10 reviews on a few books means real people bought and read them. Zero reviews across every listing is a red flag, not an opportunity.

The ideal target is a category with moderate demand and weak supply. That gap is where profitable KDP books live.

Picking Categories Strategically at Publishing Time

Amazon lets you choose up to three BISAC categories when you publish through KDP. But here's what most authors miss: you can request additional categories by contacting KDP support after publishing. Some authors get listed in up to 10 categories this way.

Your strategy should be layered. Pick one or two categories where you genuinely believe you can crack the top 20 within 60 days. Then pick one broader category for long-term visibility, even if the competition is higher.

Also remember that Amazon sometimes auto-assigns categories based on your keywords. Choose your seven backend keywords carefully because they influence which browse nodes Amazon places you in beyond your manual selections.

Check your category placements a week after publishing. If Amazon dropped you into an irrelevant or hyper-competitive node, contact support and request a change. You have more control over this than most authors realize.