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Every niche – regardless of how small – is an important part of the book world. If there wasn’t a home for every story, why would Amazon.com – who certainly don’t need the money from niche book markets – keep them on their virtual shelves?
The answer is simple: Every author deserves the opportunity to find readership for their novels, and every reader deserves the opportunity to find it. Amazon’s reputation depends on diversity being available for both readers and writers, and this enables you to write what you want to write and then publish it to your audience.
But it isn’t just tiny niches with small audiences that can be targeted. Boiling down the categories and markets to the smallest possible niche is the best way for authors to find the right audience for their novels. It can also help to build a committed following for when their future self-published works hit the marketplace.
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Connect with Readers and Authors in Those Smaller Markets
Having a great novel available for readers to find is one thing, but if it doesn’t find the right kind of reader, it is unlikely to resonate. This is when smaller markets should be targeted, and one of the best ways to make an impact on this niche is to connect with established authors and readers in these markets.
You can do this in a variety of ways, from social media activity on the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to interacting with authors and readers on GoodReads. You can also use the giveaways option on GoodReads to get people in your market to take a chance on your novel. It could lead to market leaders (and readers) writing glowing reviews and recommendations for your novel and thus giving it the best chance of future success in its niche.
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Use Your Blog to Find Readers
Blogging is a superb way of building an audience for your writing. You can also use this platform to highlight your knowledge, experience and expertise in the market that you are writing for, and target what you write about to find readers who are interested in that niche, using keywords in the posts and sharing them via Twitter, Facebook and other social networks to get maximum publicity for them.
For example, if you are writing a romantic comedy (a niche that is almost entirely owned by female authors) that is told from the side of the male, you can use your blog to talk about your process, your love of the genre and why you have chosen to break away from convention and write a male-centric rom-com. If your blog starts to attract attention from both sexes and anticipation for your novel grows, you could be looking at maximising your books sales in a smaller niche.
The movie (500) Days of Summer garnered a lot of attention in the film world because it concentrated on the male side of the romantic comedy genre and left the female view to one side. It was a risky proposition, but an incredibly refreshing one. The film was a huge hit because it found a niche that wasn’t being exploited.
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Use the Wide Range of Genres Available to You
Within every category in the Amazon marketplace there are a variety of smaller categories that self-published authors can use to target the smallest and most appropriate niche for their novels. For example, if you go to the Romance section of the Amazon eBook store, you will see a series of sub-genres on the left-hand sidebar, including the likes of Romantic Suspense, Gay and Lesbian Romance, Romantic Comedy and more.
Even when you are within these sub-genres, there are further Themes available for readers to narrow their search even further. Authors can use these to boil down their novel to the absolute nearest market. For example, the Romantic Comedy section can be refined by Romantic Themes (Amnesia, Gambling, Love Triangle, etc.), Romantic Heroes (Cowboys, Doctors, Wealthy, etc.) and by author. If you’re writing in the same genre each time out, this is a great way to find your target audience and sell multiple books at one time.
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10 Winning Marketing Strategies for Your Self-Published Book
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Build a Narrow Niche Brand to Widen Your Opportunity
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Switch up Your Publishing Methods
Not every niche has J. K. Rowling levels of book sales and movie franchise deals waiting for you, but it is safe to say that every type of story has an audience to find, even if that audience is a small and dedicated one rather than a humongous one. Sometimes it is better to be a drop in a bath tub rather than an ocean, and your novel stands a better chance of finding an audience in a small niche than it does competing with the big boys in hugely popular genres.
When this is the case – and we can use poetry as an example of a niche that is small yet popular – sometimes it is a good idea to switch up your publishing methods and consider approaching small publishers that specialise in poetry to see if they are interested in publishing your collection using their considerable knowledge and expertise in the market.
You will find that small publishers that understand a niche market well will have great ideas on how to publicise your collection and can therefore give it the best chance of finding the desired audience. It is certainly an option, and could save you a lot of time and energy in trying to market a book that could potentially be a tough sale.
Read more:
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Writing – How To Survive Writing In A Narrow Niche: Diversify!
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Six Strategies for Successful Niche Marketing
The post Targeting the Smallest Niche for the Largest Sales appeared first on Million Pens.