Writing for the Market

Most authors write a book and then hope that it will be well-received.

What if you could plan for your book to be an in-demand source?

You can.

By doing some preliminary research before you sit down to write, you can scout out where there are literary holes in the market.

This is particularly important for nonfiction, but it also works for fiction. Getting ready to right that young adult novel about a young boy wizard and his friends? If you aren't going back in time and snaking J.K. Rowling "Harry Potter" franchise, you might want to consider a different angle.

Let's stay with that example. What is it about the Harry Potter series that is so popular? Magic, mystery, danger, wizardry, and a relatable set of characters for young and old readers.

Consider penning the next young adult novel with similar themes but taken from another angle. You can tie into the reading zeitgeist of supernatural fiction without having to compete directly with the unbeatable.

You may be saying to yourself, "OK, genius book publisher, what DO I write about then." Here is where it is pointed out that YOU are the writer...

As for nonfiction, this is a much easier task. If you are writing about a nonfiction topic, that means you are an expert in the area you are writing about. You are aware of the subject matter and what resources are out there. That means you know what is missing.

Here's an example of a market with an open niche: Riding equitation.

There are tons of books about horses, raising horses, training horses, riding horses, etc. However, there only about three books available in print about saddle seat equitation. Saddle seat is a very specific type of riding. If someone had the knowledge and resources to write a book on modern day saddle seat equitation, they'd quickly become a top seller for that niche.

This doesn't mean that you will become a millionaire. However, being a bestseller in a niche is a sure way to steady sales if there is demand for you book.

Just remember, no matter how nicely your book fills a niche, if it isn't a quality book--professionally edited and designed--you'll have a hard time convincing readers you're an expert and leading them to buy your NEXT book.

Self-Publishing Success Stories

Think you can't be successful self-publishing a book? Think again. An article posted today on Publishers Weekly runs down a list of about a dozen self-published authors that have recently found trade publishing success.

Of particular interest to me was the following quote from the article:

"Chanda says that it takes 'a special kind of drive' for a self-published author to put in the work needed to see the results Kingsley did. 'To be a successful author, self-published or otherwise, you need to know a little, if not a lot, about the market.' "

It's the last part of the quote that caught my eye. Writers "need to know a lot about the market" for their books.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately as we finish up the Beta test of Wheatmark's new marketing analysis for books. What do we do for the writers in this program?

Basically, we look at the different distribution channels independent authors have access to and provide a "grade" for their likelihood of success in those arenas. We also do some research on their books' competitive networks.

Put another way, we're exploring potential sales channels to gauge the size of their books' markets and their likelihood of success at being able to reach those markets.

I've still got a limited number of slots left in this Beta test. If you're interested in being a part of the program, please send me an email at gnorton@wheatmark.com.