Posted by: Valerie Connelly in Untagged on Feb 14, 2010
Every day I hear this question. Every day I reply with the same answer: discover your niche and focus all your attention on developing it.
Both fiction and non-fiction are niche worthy. Take Dan Brown, for one outstanding example of niche creation in fiction. His books are designed as mystery-driven thrillers, complete with symbol-ridden secrets to be discovered in historically significant places by interestingly flawed characters. Add to that the controversial religious themes that chip away at the underpinnings of Christianity, and the recipe is rich for argument, lawsuits, and money in the bank account of the author and the publisher. Patricia Cornwell does much the same thing using her expertise in crime forensics to create a long list of chilling murder tales, all gruesome and compelling, with a crime team of brilliant yet tarnished detectives in search of themselves as much as they are in search of the criminals. Need I mention John Grisholm, or Michael Chriton or James Patterson or Ian Fleming, Agatha Christy or P.D. James or Danielle Steele or Mary Higgins Clark as fiction masters of the same niche-creating thinking?
In the non-fiction realm are the Chicken Soup for the Whatever, and the Something or Other for Dummies series which rake in oodles of bucks for the creators, the licensed authors and the publishers. Of course, there are religious gurus, doctors, and spiritual guides galore to go along with all the fitness experts, drug-abuse experts and gossip experts who sell every sort of solution to every kind of problem.
Nichedom is the realm of those who plan ahead as they write taking into account the marketplace they want to create or develop to its fullest. The reward is fame, fortune and a place in the literary or pop culture lineup.
There are four “givens” you must have to be able to search for success.
The first given is that you actually can write. This assumes you understand all the mechanics of good writing, the spelling, punctuation, syntax and grammar of the craft. If you write fiction, you must have a solid grasp on character development, plot and subplot, the ability to write natural-sounding dialog, and a flair for the genre in which you write. If you write non-fiction, you must be an expert in the subject, with a passion for the subject and the goal of sharing the subject in a way that will draw the readers out of the woodwork. And in either case, it assumes you have a great editor who guides you and keeps you in tune with your niche-Muse.
The second given is that you like to talk about your work and yourself. You must give up the notion that you won’t have to get out of the house to promote your books. You must develop the skill of speaking in public and not being embarrassed to talk about yourself in front of others. You need to create a personable author image along with the niche for your books. People will want to meet you. Be an author who likes meeting readers. You’ll sell more books.
The third given is that you never stop promoting your books. Every signing venue, every TV or radio interview, every talk or speech, every article online or in print, every time you seek to promote your books, you have a purpose and a goal in mind. You are willing to start locally, expand to regional, national and global audiences. You have a well-designed, functional website that draws people. You blog. You build a database of customers. You build a database of venues any and everywhere but in a bookstore. You come up with contests, polls, giveaways, and games to bring readers to your cyber-door. If one thing doesn’t work, you come up with another that might. You ignore the “no” and search for the “yes” in everything you do to promote your books. You learn to write press releases so you can spread the word about your events fast and often.
The fourth given is that you make and follow a plan. Your books are designed to revolve around your niche. You design your writing schedule and your promotional schedule so that you are continually creating more stories for the niche and more opportunities for the promotion of the stories. Your calendar is planned a year in advance, so you know when you’ll be writing, when you’ll be planning the promotional calendar and when you’ll be actually out the door implementing the plan itself. You define the work as a job, not as a hobby or an emotional outlet. You have a budget with clear goals, and you spend that budget wisely. You love your work, and if you have to have a day job, you spend the nights working on your books and their promotion. You work overtime, on weekends, and take few holidays. You make your passion truly your life’s work.
If you do all these things, you have a chance. But one thing to remember: no one can replace the author in the process. The author is the engine that pulls the train, the power behind the writing, the face in front of the audience, the goal-oriented person who motivates everyone around him to do their part. No one else will do this for you, so the sooner you take on the job and the responsibility of creating your niche and promoting your books, the sooner you’ll see results.