A major defining factor of a suitable topic for a book is the marketability of that topic. However, many writers and authors often struggle with selecting a topic that meets certain necessary market requirements either as a result of the absence of the needed market knowledge or the desire to write what they feel people should want to read.
The essence of writing a book would be defeated if the selected topic does not captivate and intrigue the intended readers. This is a major factor that authors of all genres of writing need to understand.
Authors of fiction and non-fiction ought to know that what attracts readers first is the uniqueness of the book topic. This is necessary as it will help the book stand out in the market.
In this blog post, we share some guidelines that will help you pick an appealing and marketable topic for your book.
- Consider the Type of Book You are Writing:
It is important to know that the book type you are writing has a major influence on what topic you should pick, as readers of such books have specific things that they consider intriguing, educative, and entertaining.
Let us consider the following types of books:
(i) Fiction
To pick an outstanding fiction topic, you have to consider topics that will compel readers to want to know what the book contains. Popular books like Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone By J. K. Rowling and The Hobbit By John Ronald Reuel Tolkien are popular because they were able to captivate readers.
When picking a fiction topic, you must be able to create curiosity in the minds of your readers without giving them a clue as to what might be in the book so that they would still want to read what is contained in it.
Fiction books must be able to build an image in the minds of readers and take them on a journey to places they have never been.
(ii) Non-fiction
Book topics for non-fiction must be able to captivate potential readers, promising to give lots of value, straight to the point, and powerful.
If, for example, you are thinking of something like Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson, then you must make sure that it is about someone people would want to read about.
But if you are going in the direction of something like; How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, then you must go for something that will solve a problem for people or make them better.
- Think of Your Target Audience:
Every book is meant for a specific group of readers. The first step to deciding on what topic to write for your target audience is to research and know what they love and what is relevant to them.
Romance book lovers want romantic books, and science fiction lovers want books about science fiction. This will guide and help you know that there are topics considered the best for every group of book lovers out there, and that means you have to choose topics that will easily get their attention.
- Trends:
Trends are not necessarily problems that need solutions. However, trends can help you craft a good character for a fiction book that would attract readers. Trends are also good memory stimulators when you need to recall things you know that can serve as solutions to a certain trend.
Trends are things that are happening that people are still interested in, which is what makes them good for book topics.
The Covid-19 of 2020 is a good example. Many authors made money selling books on Covid-19 and blogs also made money off the incident as well. You can always research to know events and things that are currently the rave of the moment and take advantage of them.
Conclusion
Picking a good topic is as important as the content of the book. Proper knowledge of book marketability, which can be accessed through research on whatever topic you are going to write on, is very important so that you can have a foreknowledge of what has been written on it and decide on how to channel your writing to benefit your readers and yourself by extension.
At Pen-Impact, we offer book writing consultancy services for both old and new authors. We can be reached today via info@pen-impact.com