: Strategy, tactics, and resources to refine the niche and title for a self-help book Am trying to do due diligence to find the niche for a self-help book. I "get" the general idea of whether

@Kevin153

Posted in: #Audience #NonFiction #Resources #Theme #Titles

Am trying to do due diligence to find the niche for a self-help book. I "get" the general idea of whether to piggyback or avoid popular titles, being exquisitely specific about your reader, and avoiding being a johnny-come-lately, me-too book.

My fuzzy plan is to:


Start at the Library of Congress and to research titles with words similar to those I'm thinking of incorporating, and using the LC Advanced Search to limit the parameters.
Use a spreadsheet to record titles of interest and author names.
Use titles from the spreadsheet to do research on Amazon.


What sites or books or personal experience can you offer to help me refine my plan?

Note: If the final form is relevant to your answer, then know that the book will be published in paperback. At the moment, there are no plans for Kindle.

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@Sherry594

@Sherry594

You might find it more useful to browse a bookstore. It has books currently in print, and the covers and titles represent the latest trends. Assuming you know what you're going to write about, invest plenty of time in the title, description and cover, because these are the things that have a disproportionately large influence over the book's chance of selling to casual buyers.

In self-publishing, most people have more success on Kindle than in printed form. The books are cheaper and there's less competition. A paperback will make you perhaps in royalties. A digital book makes you in royalties.

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