The genre of your book essentially defines your business niche. So, the first promotional step you need to take is determining your book’s genre. 📚🎨💬

Why does this matter?

Readers can only discover you if you feature in their favorite genre’s author list.

From readers and publishers to journalists, everyone classifies books by genre. So, to ensure your book gets noticed amid the multitude, it’s essential to pinpoint your genre.

You can find a comprehensive list of all genres on any bookstore’s website. By exploring two or three such platforms, you’ll get a better idea about where you’d like to see your book. Consider the other books within your preferred genre. Does your book seamlessly fit into this group? Would readers be thrilled to find you in this list?

Distinguishing your subgenre is also crucial – it’s not merely Fantasy, but Romantic Fantasy or Magical Realism. Keep in mind that different subgenres may appeal to different target audiences.

The more precisely you identify your niche, the smoother your promotional journey will be.

Being a renowned author with a massive reader base allows you to write just about anything, and everyone will be ecstatic. After all, readers will look up your books by your name. But if you’re just starting out, your only shot at being highlighted in the catalog is by fitting neatly into the correct genre.

✍🏻 Your genre will serve as the foundation when selecting a title, crafting a blurb, designing a cover, or writing website content – every promotional step hinges on this choice.

If you think these decisions aren’t critical and can be made along the way, I regret to inform you that that’s not how it works. It’s akin to fitting your car with mismatched wheels. 🛻 Sure, you can drive it, but it’ll be a slow, problematic ride.

Recently, one of my subscribers relayed a common predicament:

“Hello, Irina,

I write across genres, from mystery stories to children’s books, and I value them equally.

You advise that a successful author should stick to a single genre, but for me, that feels like forsaking one of my children.

What should I do?”

Here’s my advice: envision your future.

Do you aspire to earn from your books? 💵

If yes, you’ll need to build a substantial audience that will purchase your books. They’ll be fans of a specific genre, like detective stories.

Amassing an audience demands a significant investment of time and resources. If you’re dabbling in two genres, you’ll have to gather two audiences, essentially doubling your resource requirement. It’s like juggling two startups simultaneously. Is that feasible? Probably not. 🤔

In your situation, I’d recommend publishing all your books but promoting only one genre to appeal to a single audience.

Stay the course. Achieve success in one genre before contemplating whether to expand into another one.

If you have any questions about choosing a genre or promoting your books, I encourage you to bring them to our Facebook group “📚 How to Find Readers and Promote Your Books.” It’s a collaborative and supportive community where we can discuss these issues and many more. Looking forward to seeing you there! 💟