The Masses And The Niches

"My novel is for everyone."

There was a time, pre-internet, where the mass market made sense. We all watched the same TV programs, saw the same commercials, bought the same stuff. K-Tel, Ronco, Happy Days and Gilligan's Island. To increase sales, marketers and advertisers focused on finding that bulging middle ground of consumers. And if you were a writer back then, you had no choice but to do the same because the publishing world was similar.

Today is very different. If you write your novel "for everyone", you are doomed.

Instead, because we can find tiny, niche communities for just about any interest these days, our task as writers now is to find that one community that resonates with our story. We cannot be all things to all people.

Once you've found that niche community, find out what they do. What they like. What they want. And what you can give them. Write that story for them, no one else.