Write A Book That Sells
The Topics People Want To Read
One of the aspects of selling a book, is writing a book that will sell. We don’t like to think about the sales side - the salesmanship side of things is a bit obscene to writers. Writers consider themselves creators, artists, not sales people. But the sad fact remains that in order to sell books we must write books that people want to buy.
How can a writer determine what topics are in demand right now to point us in the right direction of what to write that will sell?
One way is to use the ‘ole google machine.’ This weekend, while you’re sitting in front of the tv watching the March Madness Basketball, take some time to search the web to identify recent topics of interest to YOUR target market.
For example… my reader target market is essentially women - fun, practical, humorous guides for women. My first book, It Gets Easier! And Other Lies We Tell New Mothers is a fun, practical guide for the new mom. My second book, co-authored with Julie Murkette, Get Your Book Seen and Sold, is a fun, practical guide for writers who want to publish and market a book. (Gosh, I have to start coming up with shorter titles for my books!)
An idea to discover new topics interesting to women in 2024 is to use google.
Try “top podcasts for women in 2024,” for example.
What a cornucopia of topics! One post, The 15 Absolute Best Podcasts for Women, by Women by Liz Koran on the Reader’s Digest site, lists podcasts with a description of each.
The descriptions of each podcast offer topic after topic that women care about:
Life and death and everything in between
Experience from older women on career
Beauty products, self-care, celebrity gossip
True crime
Career pivots
Health - what’s really healthy and what’s not
Have fun with searching this weekend… here are some prompts that will yield a bountiful harvest of topics. After you search, re-search by adding “2024.” Cut and paste words that reflect YOUR target audience.
Topics Women want to ready about
Best-selling book topics for Women
What do women love to read
Check out this beauty of a link I found by searching “best-selling book topics for women” - Top ebook topic ideas in 2024 - Wat? It’s right there… ebook topic ideas, just waiting to be written
Or how about this one from Princeton Book Review: Women Who Read Are Amazing | Here’s Why!
Get searching and have fun. Let me know the topics that you found that came up again and again.