Writing to market? Let’s find your markets–and those to avoid.

I’m reading Chris Fox’s “Write to Market” and exercise #1 is going to help us find which market to write for.

I’m going to do the exercises he suggests for my Charlie Holiday series.

You can get Chris Fox’s book “Write to Market” on Amazon.

Write down 3 genres you enjoy writing in.

1. Psychic Suspense: Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Suspense > Paranormal > Psychics
2. Paranormal: Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Suspense > Paranormal
3. Psychological Thrillers: Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Psychological Thrillers

I have to be careful not to cross genres too much, but I have to admit I have a not-so-secret wish to sneak in some “psychological personal development and spirituality” into my fiction. Stuff like this:

1. Spiritual Self-Help / Mysticism: Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Religion & Spirituality > Spirituality > Personal Growth > Mysticism

For example, near the top of that list is The Alchemist. See what I mean? OK, I digress. Well, only a little.

Back to the assignment …

Top-selling books in each genre:

1. Psychic Suspense
   #1: The Land: Founding: A LitRPG Saga (rank #261)
   #20: Monster Hunt NYC: A Fantasy Harem Adventure (rank #3,084)
   #100: Sinister Summer: A Ghost Story Romance & Mystery (Wicks Hollow Book 1) (rank #16,053)
2. Paranormal
   #1: The Outsider: A Novel (rank #12)
   #20: Junkyard Druid: A New Adult Urban Fantasy Novel (The Colin McCool Paranormal Suspense Series Book 1) (rank #853)
   #100: The Broadcast (rank #3,612)
3. Psychological Thrillers
   #1: The Thinnest Air (rank #1) (number 1 in all of Amazon!)
   #20: Lord of the Flies (rank #4,370)
   #100: The Pearl (rank #26,761)

Just for kicks, here are the #1, #2, and #100 for

1. Spiritual Self-Help
   #1: The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself (rank #129)
   #20: Becoming Genevieve: An Extraordinary True Story of Believing in Magic (rank #11,997)
   #100: Opening to Channel: How to Connect with Your Guide (Earth Life Series Book 6) (rank #48,209)

Chris Fox says, “Ideally the books on the last two pages should have ranks higher than #25,000. If they do, then congratulations, you have found the right intersection.”

According to that, I should focus on:

1. Psychological Thrillers
2. Spiritual Self-Help

and focus less on (or avoid) from:

1. Paranormal
2. Psychic Suspense

This already helped me immensely and this is only Chapter One of his book!