How to fill the 7 KDP keyword boxes without wasting characters

How the keyword boxes work

• There are seven boxes, and each holds a limited number of characters (KDP shows the limit as you type; it has been 50 characters per box).
• You can use a single word or a phrase in each box. Amazon's guidance favours phrases in the order a shopper would type them.
• Your title, subtitle and contributor names are already used for search, so repeating them in the boxes gains little.

What to put in

• Phrases shoppers actually type: who the book is for, what it helps with, the format, the setting or the theme.
• Synonyms and related terms that are not in your title.
• Specific long phrases: they bring fewer searches but buyers who want exactly your book.

What KDP's guidance says to leave out

KDP's help pages have the full and current list; check them before you publish, because Amazon updates them.

• Other authors' names, and brand or character names you do not own the rights to.
• Claims such as "bestseller" or "free", and time-limited words such as "new" or "on sale".
• Words that are already in your title or subtitle, and repeated words in general.
• Quotation marks and anything misleading about the content.

A method that does not waste space

1. Write down every phrase a buyer might type, then remove anything already in your title.
2. Put the most important phrases first.
3. Avoid repeating the same word across boxes: once a word is in any box, writing it again uses characters for nothing.
4. Fill each box close to its limit without cutting a phrase in half.

Pack your boxes in seconds, free

Our free KDP Keyword Checker packs your phrases into the seven boxes, removes repeated words, counts characters and warns about words KDP's guidance tells you to avoid. No account needed.