Assess for Success

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Assess for Success

We recommend that you begin the self-publishing process by completing 'Assess for Success'. This step evaluates your book idea against the current market environment to ensure that you position your book for success.

The purpose of this section is to answer the following questions.

Why am I writing a book?
What is my book about?
Who is my book for?
How is my book unique?

These early decisions will guide you moving forward and help you to make your desired impact as an author.

Assess for Success Steps

Author’s Goals

Take some time to think about the following questions and write down your thoughts. Knowing your specific goals is the first step towards achieving them.

Your Motivation:

Why do you want to publish a book? Do you have a special story to share? Are you preserving your history, raising awareness, or passing along your expertise? Has this been a lifelong dream?

Your Vision:

What are your longer-range plans? Do you plan to write more books? Do you see yourself expanding into merchandise or public speaking? What would success look like to you?

Your Goals:

Your goals may be to:
- offer a resource tool for your business;
- have a book to sell at your speaking events;
- share your stories with future generations;
- see a book idea you’ve always dreamed of in print;
- or to create a secondary income stream.
What are your specific goals?

Book Profile

About Your Book:

What is your book about? Is your book based on a true story? Who are the main characters? Can you describe the mood of your book? Is this book part of a series?
How do you see your book benefiting the reader?
Identify your book’s genre and subgenre. Even if you do not intend to sell solely on Amazon, using Amazon categories is a great way to choose your genre and check out the competition. You can list your book in three categories on Amazon. There is a list of Amazon U.S. categories and main subcategories below for your reference. For each choice, you select the category, subcategory, and placement, for example:
- Category: Children’s Books
  - Subcategory: Animals
    - Subcategory: Farm Animals
      - Placement: Fiction

About Your Reader:

Create a profile of your ideal reader including both demographics and psychographics. Name your ideal reader and create a mini bio of them.
Referencing this bio while writing, creating, and marketing your book will keep your message on target.
- Demographics
  - Age Range (Ages 0-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, 13-17, Adult)
  - Gender
  - Relationship Status
  - Location
  - Home Life
  - Occupation
- Psychographics
  - How do they see themselves?
  - What are their needs?
  - What hopes do they have?
  - Where in the real world would you find your ideal reader?
  - How does your ideal reader engage in social media? (Tip: Search a comparable book and look at their followers on social media.)
  - How does your reader find new books to read and make their purchasing decisions?

Competitive Advantage

Competition:

Once you have chosen your categories, have a look at your competition. Let’s use the example above.

Go to Amazon.com, select books in the dropdown bar in the search bar and then press enter in the space bar. This will take you to the book’s homepage.
Under the department on the left-hand side of the pages select Children’s Books > Animals > Farm Animals
Further refine by choosing your age range. For this example, we are using Ages 3-5.
Select a book that seems similar to yours and click on the title.
Scroll down to product details to see where that product ranks in that category. We chose Little Blue Truck and it ranked #6 in Children's Farm Animal Books (Books)
From that point, you can click on the category itself to see the top 100 books in that category.
Continue to search out your competition until you have explored all the main themes of your book, for example: Farm Animals, Making Friends, and Christmas. Create a list of books that have the same similar themes as your book.

Comparison:

Create a list of 3 to 5 of your closest competitors that are selling well in your categories.

How is your book different from your competitors? What sets you apart?
What would your reader gain from your book as opposed to the competition?
Do you feel your book fulfills a gap not currently available in the marketplace?

Conclusions:

Does the market appear saturated and declining or do you see unmet needs and signs of growth?
Do you need to re-position your concept to a different audience to achieve the success you desire?
How can you differentiate your book and yourself as an author?

Amazon U.S. Categories & Main Subcategories

Arts & Photography

Architecture
Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions
Decorative Arts & Design
Drawing
Fashion
Graphic Design
History & Criticism
Individual Artists
Man-Made Objects
Music
Other Media
Painting
Performing Arts
Photography & Video
Sculpture
Themes

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature
Community & Culture
Historical
Leaders & Notable People
Professionals & Academics
Regional U.S.
Sports & Outdoors
True Crime

Business & Money

Accounting
Biography & History
Business Culture
Business Development & Entrepreneurship
Economics
Education & Reference
Finance
Human Resources
Industries
Insurance
International
Investing
Job Hunting & Careers
Management & Leadership
Marketing & Sales
Personal Finance
Processes & Infrastructure
Real Estate
Skills
Taxation
Women & Business

Children’s Books

Activities, Crafts & Games
Animals
Arts, Music & Photography
Biographies
Cars, Trains & Things That Go
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Technology
Early Learning
Education & Reference
Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths
Geography & Cultures
Growing Up & Facts of Life
History
Holidays and Celebrations
Humour
Literature & Fiction
Mysteries & Detectives
Religions
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Science, Nature & How It Works
Sports & Outdoors

Christian Books & Bibles

Bible Study & Reference
Bibles
Biographies
Catholicism
Children & Teens
Christian Denominations & Sects
Christian Living
Churches & Church Leadership
Education
History
Literature & Fiction
Ministry & Evangelism
Protestantism
Romance
Theology
Worship & Devotion

Comics & Graphic Novels

Biographies & History Graphic Novels
Graphic Novels
How to Create Comics & Manga
Manga
Publishers

Computers & Technology

Business Technology
Certification
Computer Science
Databases & Big Data
Digital Audio, Video & Photography
Games & Strategy Guides
Graphics & Design
Hardware & DIY
History & Culture
Internet & Social Media
Mobile Phones, Tablets & E-Readers
Networking & Cloud Computing
Operating Systems
Programming
Programming Languages
Security & Encryption
Software
Web Development & Design

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Asian Cooking
Baking
Beverages & Wine
Cooking Education & Reference
Cooking Methods
Cooking by Ingredient
Desserts
Entertaining & Holidays
Kitchen Appliances
Main Courses & Side Dishes
Outdoor Cooking
Professional Cooking
Quick & Easy
Regional & International
Special Diet
U.S. Cooking
Vegetarian & Vegan

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Antiques & Collectibles
Colouring Books for Grown-Ups
Crafts & Hobbies
Gardening & Landscape Design
Home Improvement & Design
Needlecrafts & Textile Crafts
Pets & Animal Care
Sustainable Living
Weddings

Education & Teaching

Higher & Continuing Education
Schools & Teaching
Studying & Workbooks
Test Preparation

Engineering & Transportation

Automotive
Engineering
Transportation

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Addiction & Recovery
Aging
Alternative Medicine
Beauty, Grooming & Style
Children’s Health
Diets & Weight Loss
Diseases & Physical Ailments
Exercise & Fitness
Men’s Health
Mental Health
Nutrition
Personal Health
Psychology & Counselling
Safety & First Aid
Sexual Health
Women’s Health

History

Africa
Americas
Ancient Civilizations
Asia
Australia & Oceana
Europe
Historical Study & Educational Resources
Middle East
Military
Modern (16th-21st Centuries)
United States
World

Humor & Entertainment

Humour
Movies
Performing Arts
Puzzles & Games
Pop Culture
Puzzles & Games
Radio
Television
Trivia & Fun Facts

LGBTQ+ Books

Biographies & Memoirs
Comics & Graphic Novels
LGBTQ+ Demographic Studies
Literature & Fiction
Mysteries & Thrillers
Romance
Science Fiction & Fantasy

Law

Administrative Law
Business
Constitutional Law
Criminal Law
English Law
Environmental & Natural Resource Law
Estate Planning
Family Law
Health & Medical Law
Intellectual Property
Law Practice
Legal Education
Legal Theory & Systems
Rules & Procedures
Specialties
Tax Law

Literature & Fiction

Action & Adventure
Ancient & Medieval Literature
Black & African American
British & Irish
Dramas & Plays
Erotica
Essays & Correspondence
Genre Fiction
Historical Fiction
History & Criticism
Humour & Satire
Mythology & Folk Tales
Poetry
Short Stories & Anthologies
United States
Women’s Fiction
World Literature

Medical Books

Administration & Medicine Economics
Allied Health Professions
Basic Sciences
Dentistry
Medicine
Nursing
Pharmacology
Psychology
Veterinary Medicine

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery
Thrillers & Suspense

Parenting & Relationships

Aging Parents
Disabilities & Hyperactivity
Family Relationships
Parenting

Politics & Social Sciences

Anthropology
Philosophy
Politics & Government
Social Sciences
Sociology
Women’s Studies

Reference

Almanacs & Yearbooks
Atlases & Maps
Careers
Catalogs & Directories
Dictionaries & Thesauruses
Encyclopedias & Subject Guides
Etiquette
Foreign Language Study & Reference
Test Preparation
Words, Language & Grammar
Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

Religion & Spirituality

Buddhism
Christian Books & Bibles
Hinduism
Islam
Judaism
Literature & Fiction
New Age & Spirituality
Occult & Paranormal
Other Eastern Religions & Sacred Texts
Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts
Religious Studies
Worship & Devotion

Romance

Erotica
Historical
Inspirational
LGBTQ+ Romance
Paranormal
Romance in Uniform

Science & Math

Agricultural Sciences
Astronomy & Space Science
Behavioral Sciences
Biological Sciences
Chemistry
Earth Sciences
Environment
Evolution
Experiments, Instruments & Measurement
History & Philosophy
Mathematics
Nature & Ecology
Physics
Reference
Technology

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Fantasy
Gaming
Media
Science Fiction
Writing

Self-Help

Death & Grief
Drugs, Alcohol & Tobacco
Personal Transformation
Relationships
Sex

Sports & Outdoors

Baseball
Basketball
Biographies
Coaching
Field Guides
Football (American)
Golf
Hiking & Camping
Hockey
Hunting & Fishing
Individual Sports
Miscellaneous
Mountaineering
Nature Travel
Other Team Sports
Outdoor Recreation
Racket Sports
Soccer
Training
Water Sports
Winter Sports

Teen & Young Adult

Art, Music & Photography
Biographies
Education & Reference
Historical Fiction
Hobbies & Games
Literature & Fiction
Mysteries & Thrillers
Personal Health
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Social Issues
Sports & Outdoors

Test Preparation

College & High School
Graduate School
Professional
Study Guides & Workbooks

Travel

Africa
Asia
Australia & South Pacific
Canada
Caribbean
Central America
Europe
Food, Lodging & Transportation
Mexico
Middle East
Polar Regions
Reference
South America
Specialty Travel
United States

Non-Classifiable

How we can help you navigate self-publishing.