If you are planning to write a non-fiction book, conducting effective research is critical. Without proper research, your book may lack structure, miss the target audience, and may not be successful. This makes non-fiction book research one of the essential factors before commencing the writing part. 

You can get help from various platforms like Udemy, Google, Facebook, Coursera, etc. The content available on these platforms helps to lay the foundation of the book and provides insights into your potential readership. In this guide, we will discuss the step-by-step approach to conducting effective non-fiction book research. 

Why do Non-Fiction Book Market Research?

Researching before writing non-fiction books is important as it helps to get a better idea of the kind of topics that audiences want to read. It also helps to understand about a particular niche and the right approach to attract readers. 

Therefore, market research should not be missed when deciding to write a non-fiction book. The author must have some of the major questions that one should address before diving into the book writing. Some of these questions are: 

• Who are the different readers? 

• What size is the market? 

• What kind of books do they buy? 

• How much is the reader ready to pay to buy the book? 

• Do they even buy those kinds of books? 

• What are you planning to write? 

• Is there any competition? Is there no competition? 

  
  

The basic question that lies here is how big is the particular topic. Or how many people are looking to learn about that particular topic?

Determine Book Market Size

The market size of the topic helps to identify if the non-fiction book will be a miss or fail. Let us understand this with an example. If you choose two topics, “How to write and sell a book?” and “How to cook?” You should begin by researching which topic out of the two has a bigger market. You can also research to know which has more potential readers in the market. For example, if one million people want to write a non-fiction book and 100 million people want to learn how to cook, clearly the target readers for the second topic is 100 times more than the first topic. 

There are several methods to determine the market size. So a method that you can resort to is to use the online keyword tools. Semrush and Google Keyword Planner are two major online tools that help to identify search volume for a chosen topic. 

What are Semrush and Google Keyword Planner tools? 

Semrush is a leading platform that helps you analyze keyword research, backlink tracking, website analysis, etc. Semrush has its complexities so you can go for Google Keyword Planner. It is offered by Google and is available on its ad platform. To access the tool, you will have to create an ad account for free on Google. 

How to Use Semrush and Google Keyword Planner?

Conduct simple keyword research using Semrush or Google Keyword Planner using the steps below. 

• Choose a relevant keyword for your book topic and search for it on these tools. 

• Note down its search volume to know how many people are searching for it.

• You can also search for an alternative keyword to analyse your book’s TG. 

• Both of these keyword research tools help to determine the global volume, current trend, keyword variations, questions, and keyword ad history

  
  

All of the information mentioned above helps to understand if the non-fiction topic you want to write has a potential readership or not. 

Let us illustrate this with an example. Search for the topic you wish to write about and understand how many people are searching for it. If that search per month is at least one lakh, that means that it is a trending topic. However, if there is a topic that is more than 10,000 people monthly searching for it. That means it's a viable book and it can perform well.

If you have less than 1000 searches a month then this means that the problem that the book wants to solve is not that big. With this, you can understand that the book will find it difficult to reach out to enough readers. 

Competition Evaluation

Similar Non-Fiction Books 

Amazon is a great platform to identify the potential of any non-fiction book or topic. This is very simple, do simple research with the title of the topic to know how the book on the same topic by another author is performing. You should analyse the performance to get an understanding of your chances of success. It also helps to determine the readership around that topic. 

While strong competitors might exist, their presence signifies a potential reader base. Don't consider them solely as rivals, instead, recognise their contribution to establishing the genre's popularity. 

A good indicator of a non-fiction book's potential success is the presence of several well-received titles in the same category on platforms like Amazon. 

Similar Courses in the Market

The existence of successful courses related to your book's topic strengthens your case. This indicates a substantial market seeking solutions, especially if the courses have a high enrollment rate. 

You can also go through the market reports to gain valuable insights and data on the number of individuals currently engaged in the fields. Platforms such as Udemy, Coursera, etc. can be helpful sources of this information. 

Market Analysis

What Problem your Book is Solving?

One of the effective things to consider during non-fiction book research is identifying problems that the book is trying to solve. 

For instance, if you are willing to write a book on how to cook, then the content of the book should teach readers how to cook. With your book, you have to solve the problem appropriately. You do not need to be necessarily different or better. You just need to share your experience in your book and that can be a point of difference. Exhaustive knowledge of that particular topic will help the readers engage with your content better.  

But the two questions that you should ask as an author are,

• How is your book going to solve that problem?

• What value can you add to the life of the reader?

  
  

This is because the readers will dedicate their time and money to the book that have you created. Hence, as an esteemed author, it is our responsibility to write books that solve reader's problems. 

Book Selling Quotient

Selling quotient is one of the important aspects of non-fiction book research. Although the market is huge, it is crucial to understand if the book you wish to write will find readers.  

The reader pays you twice, first money and then time. Hence, one should know if the non-fiction book they wish to write will be successful and if the audience is willing to pay for that. 

One of the best ways to know if the non-fiction book will be a success or failure is by researching similar topics on Amazon. One can easily research and check the reviews that the book has. If any book has more than a thousand reviews on Amazon, that generally means that the book is selling well. 

The higher the review the more willing audience are going to pay for that book. Next, one can research about the buying habits of your target audience. Some of the common questions that you should ask are:

• How price-sensitive are they? 

• How much disposable income do they have? 

• How important is the problem statement in their overall course of life? 

• What are they planning to solve for? 

  
  

The answer to all of these things put together will explain the willingness of people to pay for that topic. This will also give a quick idea if the audience is captivated by the topic when researching non-fiction books. 

This is one of the effective strategies for non-fiction book research as it helps to understand if the audience is willing to pay for it in the future.

Public Reach

Finally, the last step to consider before commencing a non-fiction book research understanding the need for that book. Understand the medium through which people want to learn about the subject you are writing for. 

Research a bit and know if a paperback book or a video course enthralls readers. This will help to get a clear understanding of the topic you are choosing for your non-fiction book and will cater to the audience. 

This is because some subjects are best suited for a video course or an audiobook. A perfect example of this is a topic titled how to code in Python, the topic is very popular and is available both in paperback books and online courses. Knowing about the primary form of learning helps to know if the book you have written will cater to a large group of audience.

Key Takeaways

• Conduct market research before writing a non-fiction book to understand the target audience, market size, competition, etc.

• Market size should not be ignored when deciding to write a book as it helps to determine whether the book will be a hit or fail.

• Utilise popular marketing channels like Amazon and offline channels to reach the target readers.

• Use tools like Google Keyword Planner to identify the search volume for the topic chosen and understand how many people are searching for it.