I have a Pre-Trip Preparation PDF that you can use to collect the information I discuss below when you do your research. Use whatever will be easy for you to refer back to later. I also suggest you grab the Marketing PDF. I’m not going to go into marketing here as I still have too much to learn about that. But what I do know is that much of the same research that you will find helpful in publishing your book will be useful to you when you market. I wish I had known this sooner.

I want you to do your research based on the categories you plan to use for your book. Do note that the categories are not necessarily the same for e-book and print for some genres, so make a note of those differences as you go along. Why should you do this? You want readers to be able to find your book. So you want your book to sit on the same shelf as similar books so that people who are interested in those books will see your book, pick it up, and hopefully fall in love. Your cover will help your book look like it fits, so make sure that the insides match the outside. Disappointed readers do not leave happy reviews, so make sure you are fulfilling your promise to your reader.

You can do research on Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes & Noble, or perhaps Kobo if you are Canadian and expect that to be a major market for you. You don’t want to spend months on this, but you want to do enough research to have a solid feel for the trends or to know that this isn’t actually the right fit for your book. While disappointing, that’s actually very helpful information.

Use as many of the sheets as you like, but keep each category on a separate page or pages. Write the title and subtitle of the book. Not all books have subtitles, so make a note of that. You may see trends appear. For example, punny titles are quintessentially cozy mystery. You often find long subtitles in nonfiction books. This information will help you conform to what’s typical for books in your genre.

Remember, trim size is the size of the print version of the book. Even if you’re not planning on doing a print version, make a note of this information in case you change your mind later. Depending on genre, print books are still popular with readers.

Book length is listed as the number of pages in the details of the book. Price is obvious. Something not so obvious is the other categories that the book may be listed in. This may give you a better idea of what categories you should use.

Also, take a screenshot of the top fifty to one hundred titles in each of your categories. This will help you understand what kind of covers people are looking for. I’ll discuss that more in the cover design section, but you should address this while you’re there as that will help you and save you time later.

Again, in all this, you are looking for trends. You want to know what’s typical for your categories so you can better succeed in all your efforts.

Market Research

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