The Easy Way to Identify Your Book’s Real Market
Got a book project but not exactly sure how to specifically define its target market? That’s a problem, especially since that detail is critical for pitching the thing to an agent/editor/publisher.
Not to worry. There is a fairly easy way to figure it out. Interestingly enough, it’s one of those things better to do physically rather than online:
- Go to your local Borders or Barnes & Noble (the goal is to go to the largest bookstore you can find).
- Come up with the title/author of a book that’s very similar to yours. Find it.
- Found it? Good. Chances are, your “book” will be placed next to it. So…
- Look up to see what section you’re in. Tada! You’ve just identified your market.
Now, if this doesn’t work, you’re in serious trouble. You’re either really cluelesss about your book (in which case how do you expect to sell it?), or you’re in the extremely difficult position of trying to define a brand new market (in which case, good luck selling that to the powers that be… on the other hand, you may be in serious ka-ching territory).
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2 Responses to “The Easy Way to Identify Your Book’s Real Market”
By Michael Werner on Jan 31, 2008 | Reply
Good points, E-Man.
Also, it’s worth keeping in mind that if you can’t find a competitor or two, there’s probably no market for your opus. Back in my “big publishing” days working with NY publishers, I’d run across non-fiction authors who had what I’ll call the there’s-no-competition syndrome … their book, they’d claim, would have no competition because there was nothing like it on the market.
Well, I’d learned through years of dealing with this sort of stuff, if there aren’t any other books out there like yours, there’s a reason for it and the reason is this:
There’s no viable market for your topic.
Prospective authors should keep these little understanding-your-niche ‘tips’ in mind.
Over and out,
Michael “My Ideas Are Always Original” Werner
By Wordpreneur on Jan 31, 2008 | Reply
Exactly. HOWEVER (hehehe) I still stand by my post’s very last statement. It hasn’t all been invented yet. Never will be. And the “first” stands to make the “most.” But it’s very difficult, not to mention a huge gamble.
Computer books were new once. And later on, Internet books. And even Chicken Soup-style books. Now you can’t donate your copies to public libraries, there’s so many of them.
HOWEVER (hehehe) one can argue the odds are for all practical purposes similar to winning the lottery.
Life’s fun, ennit?