If you’re thinking about self-publishing a book, you probably want to know which genre gives you the best chance of selling and making a profit. The answer is simple. Romance.
Romance novels make up close to 40% of Amazon’s market share of self-published books with science fiction and fantasy following close behind.
Following these three genres, the next most popular genres are mystery, crime, and thrillers. Surprisingly, coming in last are nonfiction books, although serious literature only makes up a paltry 2% of Amazon’s ebook sales.
The fact that genre fiction is the most popular shouldn’t surprise anyone. Genres attract certain types of readers who are willing to explore different authors as long as they fit in their chosen genres. If you want a romance novel, you m ay gravitate towards your favorite authors, but you’re also likely to enjoy romance fiction from unknown authors.
On the other hand, serious literature is much harder too sell because there are no clear boundaries like romance or science fiction. Still, don’t try to write books to satisfy a particular genre because unless you enjoy writing in that genre (and reading it too), you’ll likely churn out a mediocre book. It’s far better to be excellent in your chosen field (even if it’s not as marketable as romance) than to force yourself to write solely for money.
Ideally, you ant to write for both love and money, but given a choice, write for love first and the money will follow. If you write just for the money, chances are good the money won’t even appear at all.
So decide what type of book you want to write and self-publish. Genre fiction may be the easiest to market, but don’t let that sway you if you don’t feel you’d enjoy writing in that genre. Write what you love. You may be surprised at how lucrative that could really be.
To read more about the most profitable genres, click here.