Niche Marketing: Non-Fiction Books

If you haven’t noticed, niche marketing has become the secret password for non-fiction authors.  Why? Because more and more authors now look for niches in the market where there is a need for a book and little competition. So do publishers.

Let me give you an example. Author Chris Enss in trying to write fill in pieces for a radio show for a local station discovered there were a number of women of the old west who had accomplished a great deal.  She also discovered they were known as Mrs. So and so, and it took a lot of research to discover these women had first names.  By the time she had researched for these fill in segments she had enough material for a book.  The result was a series of Women of the West books each filled a niche.

Here are a few of her niche books. (1) Hearts West (stories of mail order brides and their exploits) (2) Love Untamed (The West’s most passionate and tempestuous romances)  Gilded Girls  (Fourteen of the liveliest, wildest and most talented female entertainers of the old West) (4) She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (Twelve brave women who served their country on the frontier) (5) How the West was Won. (Innovative clothing of the old West) (6) With Great Hope: (Stories of Twelve uncommon women, the events of their times, and the everyday life of a gold rush camp)

Realizing that sales of niche market non-fiction books were growing, Karen and I began looking for a book we could sell to a niche market. Then we realized we had already written one that could be resold. The Apartment Farmer. A book for people who lived in Condos, townhouses and apartments. These were apartment-bound “gardeners” who would still like to grow corn and tomatoes and other vegetables along with their houseplants on balconies and patios. The bonus to this was that American Demographics magazine reported that in 1975 when The Apartment Farmer was first published, about 30 million adults lived in apartments. Today there are 58 million. Kmart’s Astor Place store, located in a residential New York City apartment neighborhood does a brisk business in plant sales.

In 1975 the book sold about 50,000 copies, was a Quality Paperback Book Club selection, and an Avon paperback. So we had our niche book. Yes we can sell the same book again once it goes out of print. Now all I have to do is upgrade it.

We also have another gardening book which could become a niche book with a little work. The Postage Stamp Garden Book stressed small gardens and planting all across the bed instead of in rows. That way you can grow 144 carrots in one-square foot of soil.  It was first published in 1974, sold close to a half a million copies, was a Book of The Month Club selection and a Bantam Paperback. It was also resold to Adams in 1989 and has been remaindered.  When you look around you realize the need today is even greater. The yards in many new homes have shrunk until they are almost non-existent, perfect for Postage Stamp Gardening.

The trick is to pick a general category like self-help, or pets, or health and fitness, parenting, or whatever, and then select a niche that hasn’t been covered very well, but is something you can write about and is needed. For instance, under pets, the angle, Training Your Dog to Live in an Apartment is an important subject, we know, we lived through it. The majority of renters won’t take pets. I called dozens of apartments trying to find one that was black lab friendly. I stressed that our lab was well behaved and perfect for an apartment. “No!”  When we did find an apartment that said: yes” the poor dog had to go out at all hours of the day and night and he certainly wasn’t getting enough exercise. Oh Yes, he barked a lot and kept watch on the neighborhood from the front window.

You might start this book by interviewing other apartment dwelling dog owners. Then you will need to talk to some experts that you can probably find on the web. When finished, you will have made a contribution to a vexing problem, and written a book that is much needed. Take heart, there are hundreds of niches out there.