Determining your market viability may seem like a huge undertaking, and so many first-time authors skip the homework that will help market their book to the right readers.
If you try thinking like a traditional publisher, logically you will want to research the market before submitting your book to agents.
Here’s what you can do in three easy steps to determine if the market is ready for your manuscript:
Find out if there is an existing market
It’s super easy to run an Amazon search with your primary keyword to determine some viability. This might be “How to stop smoking,” for example. Take a look at the Amazon Best Sellers Rank of the top three titles listed. If the #2 and #3 books are selling significantly fewer copies than the #1 book, it might suggest that the market is already being well served by that top-ranking book.
Select categories where you have a chance at being a bestseller
Becoming a #1 Best Seller on Amazon has plenty of benefits, not least of all the prestige and the additional exposure that it gets you on the platform. The good news is that you only have to reach the top spot in your category to earn that title. So when selecting your categories, pick a few where the current #1 book is ranked relatively low on Amazon’s Best Sellers Rank.
Take a look at the titles and descriptions of the books you’ll be competing against and see if any words or phrases keep popping up. This will begin to give you an idea of the words that users might enter into the search bar when looking for a work just like yours.
