Approach

The discipline, in detail.

Kadaxis works on one problem. Most publishers under-perform in retailer search not because their books are weak, but because the metadata describing those books is written in the language of catalogues rather than the language of readers. Closing that gap is what we do, and it is all we do.

catalogue reader search
BISAC theme comp use case query

Where publisher metadata fails

A retailer's search index is the first filter between a book and a reader. If a book is not surfaced when a reader types a query, the rest of the marketing investment cannot rescue it. The book has effectively gone missing.

Most metadata is written by people who know books. The readers who would buy those books rarely use the same vocabulary as the people who catalogue them. They search using genre adjacencies, character archetypes, situations, themes, comparable titles, emotional registers, and language that is not present in standard descriptive copy. The gap between catalogue language and search language is where sales are lost.

The problem is not solved by adding more keywords, or by pasting a back-cover blurb into a metadata field. It is solved by understanding how a specific book maps onto the queries readers are actually running, and then describing the book accordingly.

Publisher field romance · contemporary · family life
Reader query cluster small town second chance romance, single parent, found family, low spice

How we work

01.

Reader-side research

We study how readers in a book's category are searching, what language they are using, and which adjacencies and comparable titles they cluster around. Sources include retailer search data, category-level query patterns, and proprietary research methods refined over fifteen years and hundreds of thousands of titles.

02.

Title-specific synthesis

Each book is treated as a separate problem. We do not template, syndicate, or batch. The output is a set of keywords and metadata recommendations specific to one title, its category position, and its competitive set. List-level work proceeds title by title.

03.

Implementation and review

We deliver in formats that integrate with publishers' existing ONIX workflows and KDP processes. After deployment, we review performance and refine. Metadata is not a one-time event; retailer algorithms change, categories shift, and books need to be retuned across their lifecycle.

Research Synthesize Format Deploy Review

What publishers receive

A keyword and metadata recommendation specific to each title, formatted for direct inclusion in your ONIX feed or retailer dashboards. Where appropriate, supporting category placement and description copy guidance. Documentation of the reasoning behind each recommendation, so your editorial and marketing teams can interpret and extend it. Optional periodic review across a list, with re-optimization for backlist titles where retailer conditions have shifted.

Credentials

Founded in 2010. Named BookTech Company of the Year at the FutureBook Awards in 2016.

Contributor to the Book Industry Study Group's 2018 keywords best-practices standard.

Methodology refined across hundreds of thousands of titles, working with more than thirty-five publishing houses, from the Big Five to specialty independent presses.

If you are a publisher considering metadata work, or rethinking how your list performs in retailer search, we would like to hear from you.

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