Great advice, Steph. I think you’re spot on. Authors who can connect with their readers consistently over the next few years will be the most successful in rising to the top.
Memoir is not that different from fiction. You’re still telling a story with prose, it’s just that you have facts you need to get right. So yes, the FFA would be fine for you.
As an older new writer, I'm finding it difficult to find where I fit in. My human-AI trilogy touches on grief, obsession, the nature of consciousness, AI ethics, philosophy, and, eventually, spirituality. It was easy to lose track, but through it all, it’s a love story. Finding my way around the maze of categories, keywords, marketing, and advertising has been distracting, and the mechanics have gotten in the way. Maybe it’s time to plant my flag and make my own niche.
I am writing a series, under a pen name, in a weird little micro-niche. But I am concerned about discoverability when no exact Amazon category exists for it, or there is one but it has almost no books in it. Advice?
A micro-niche should still have a parent niche it’s associated with or you will definitely get lost on Amazon. You can’t go too far out of the box because people are still looking in the box. So my suggestion is to find the parent categories that best work and then find the communities where your micro niche readers hang out and try to woo them to your work. You only need a few fans to make the whole thing worthwhile.
Thanks for replying, Steph. It would be hard to overstate how much help you have been to my pen name recent fiction writing, both here and in the FB group. I really appreciate you.
I don't think I can rely on categories and need to find my readers organically. My writing has a single through line, but it uses genre to provide different perspectives on the core idea. I write across mystery, science fiction, thrillers, and adventure, following neurodivergent protagonists who discover that the truth is more complex, more humane, and more satisfying than the easy answer.
I’ve looked hard but not found a trope-driven genre that I like to read. While it may not be as profitable, I’m writing a unique genre-adjacent series. We’ll see. Too late to turn back now.
Great advice, Steph. I think you’re spot on. Authors who can connect with their readers consistently over the next few years will be the most successful in rising to the top.
Another great newsletter. Would your future fiction academy be suitable for memoir writers? The word fiction stops me from visiting your site. :-)
Memoir is not that different from fiction. You’re still telling a story with prose, it’s just that you have facts you need to get right. So yes, the FFA would be fine for you.
Brilliant, I love this! It's great to know there's still a viable way to get in. I love Joanna as well!
I'm trying to get Claude to write copy for my dark paranormal romances (FB Ads). I think he's practically strangled himself with his pearls!!
As an older new writer, I'm finding it difficult to find where I fit in. My human-AI trilogy touches on grief, obsession, the nature of consciousness, AI ethics, philosophy, and, eventually, spirituality. It was easy to lose track, but through it all, it’s a love story. Finding my way around the maze of categories, keywords, marketing, and advertising has been distracting, and the mechanics have gotten in the way. Maybe it’s time to plant my flag and make my own niche.
I am writing a series, under a pen name, in a weird little micro-niche. But I am concerned about discoverability when no exact Amazon category exists for it, or there is one but it has almost no books in it. Advice?
A micro-niche should still have a parent niche it’s associated with or you will definitely get lost on Amazon. You can’t go too far out of the box because people are still looking in the box. So my suggestion is to find the parent categories that best work and then find the communities where your micro niche readers hang out and try to woo them to your work. You only need a few fans to make the whole thing worthwhile.
Thanks for replying, Steph. It would be hard to overstate how much help you have been to my pen name recent fiction writing, both here and in the FB group. I really appreciate you.
🩷🩷 Thank you!!
I don't think I can rely on categories and need to find my readers organically. My writing has a single through line, but it uses genre to provide different perspectives on the core idea. I write across mystery, science fiction, thrillers, and adventure, following neurodivergent protagonists who discover that the truth is more complex, more humane, and more satisfying than the easy answer.
I’ve looked hard but not found a trope-driven genre that I like to read. While it may not be as profitable, I’m writing a unique genre-adjacent series. We’ll see. Too late to turn back now.