Book Design Made Simple

You can do it yourself.

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • BOOK
  • VIDEOS
  • BLOG
  • READERS’ BOOKS
  • MEDIA
    • About the book
    • Resources
  • SHOP
You are here: Home / BOOK / Finding your book subject categories

Finding your book subject categories

bar code with book subject categoriesBook subject categories are an integral part of marketing your book. You can help bookstores and libraries to decide where to place your book on their shelves by including the categories at the top of the back cover or near the bar code.

This short excerpt from Book Design Made Simple explains where to place book subject categories on your book cover, and how to locate official, accurate book subject categories for your book.

Where to place book subject categories

If you want to let bookstores know where to shelve your book, create a new text frame on the Text layer, type your category, and create a new paragraph style for it. Put it at the top left of your back cover or at the top left corner of your barcode box (notice the one above, and see below).

Where to find book subject categories

To find the proper book subject categories for your book, go to the website of the Book Industry Study Group, which publishes the BISAC codes. They have a simple two-step process that’ll help you choose one or more appropriate categories.

If you don’t have a barcode yet, read our advice about obtaining your book cover barcode.

Read more: How to price your book »
And more: Your field trip to the bookstore »

The excerpt above is from Book Design Made Simple, Second Edition, chapter 64, Designing your back cover, page 430. Copyright © 2017 Fiona Raven and Glenna Collett.

Need more info about book design, InDesign, and publishing? Our website, book, videos, and blog cover every aspect of how to design and publish a book, whether you’re already an experienced book designer or a complete novice. Download chapters 1 through 9 of the book by subscribing to our blog—simply fill in the form below, and click the Join Us! button.

Connect with us online

  • Amazon
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Writing your back cover copy September 11, 2023
  • Our 10-year adventure in self publishing July 10, 2023
  • InDesign book template by Book Design Made Simple April 19, 2023
  • Self-publishing and book marketing: A success story March 12, 2023
  • Crop marks and other printer’s marks January 8, 2023
  • Advanced live index features in InDesign November 7, 2022
  • Create a live index in InDesign September 12, 2022

Categories

  • Book Design (25)
    • Book Cover Design (7)
    • Book Page Design (11)
  • InDesign (19)
  • Publishing (27)

Tags

Amazon book binding Book feature book marketing book printing children's books color contents copyright ebooks editing footnotes/endnotes images InDesign updates index ISBN paragraph styles Photoshop tables text frames typesetting

Blog awards

Join our book design community! Download chapters 1 to 9 of the book for free and receive book design updates via email.

Buy the book

Book Design Made Simple, paperback edition.
Paperback: Amazon
ePDF: ebooks.com
eBook: Kindle, Apple Books

Buy the template

Book Design Made Simple, template.
Template: via PayPal
for immediate download

Copyright © 2023 - Fiona Raven and Glenna Collett

Read our privacy policy here.