I have been self-publishing for five years now and found that your book niche is essential to figure out the front end of things.
Sure, some years I haven’t written books during this time. And other years, I have published multiple books in a year.
Things always ebb and flow. It’s not hard to do the work. But life has gotten in the way at times. I choose different projects instead of the ones I want to be doing.
Yet, as I look back over the years, one thing has to be done. You need to choose your niche.
At least, at first. As time passes, you can add different books to your catalog of work. But to start, you must write on the same topic for at least three books. But how do you do that?
In this post, I will share my thoughts. So, let’s jump in and do it.
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3 Levels of Finding Your Book Niche
I’m not going to sugarcoat it. You are going to need to figure out your book niche in advance. Otherwise, you will be all over the place, and nobody will care what your book is about. Or your second book, for that matter. So, here are the three levels for finding your book niche.
Your Passion
This is probably the best place to start. You can easily write one to three books about something you are passionate about. Heck, that is where I started. The other great thing about your passion is that it can change and evolve over time. Which gives you options for the future.
Your Expertise
The next best place you want to go is with what you are good at. This might be different than your passion, or it might be similar. The key is being able to find one to three topics within your expertise to be able to create and publish books that people want to read.
Your Audience
This can be more challenging, but it can be more profitable too. If you take to your audience and find out what they want, you can easily find one to three books to write and publish. Best of all, the topic is pre-tested, so you know you can make sales.
Other Ways to Discover Your Book Niche
Sure, there are other ways to come up with your book niche. One of them is simply going with the big three topics: Health, Wealth, and Relationships. However, I think your best bet is to start with yourself and your audience before you dive into those three for a bunch of books.
Final Thoughts: Your Book Niche is Important
Ultimately, your book niche is important because it will determine in advance your ability for success. If you want to write about cats and the silly things they do, I hope you have a connection with the cat audience. Otherwise, it could be a hard road.
Also, picking topics to make money with is hard if you haven’t already written a book. Sure, some can do it without experience, but it is a tough way to start self-publishing books.
When picking your niche, I would stick with one of the three points above to get started. Commit to one book to start. Once that book is published, commit to two more in that niche. It will help you sell books later on. I have seen this with my devotional books.
The three I have out make up more than 70% of my total sales over the six books I have published. So, get into a niche. Write your books. Publish them. And then you can review it for your next series of books.
Learn more about Self-Publishing with J.R. Heimbigner on Substack!
J.R. Heimbigner is a #1 Bestselling Author on Amazon who loves helping people grow in their faith and helping writers become authors. You can connect with him on Medium, his website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Substack!
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It’s called Transform Your Medium Stories.
Initially written for writers on the Medium platform, the content of this book works for any online content. And it is a great short guide to help you write and publish your first book. So grab your copy today!
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