If you’ve got ideas for both a novel and a nonfiction book, you may want to write the latter first.
If only from a sales perspective, nonfiction books tend to garner more sales than novels. According to a recent Gallup poll, 46 percent of Americans have nonfiction book on their nightstands; in contrast, only 35 percent of Americans have fiction at their bedside.
Nonfiction also offers a marketing advantage for new writers. Readers of fiction will go with a book by a big, recognizable name over an unknown when choosing a title to buy. That’s not the case with nonfiction readers; while the author’s expertise plays a minor role in the decision to buy, what matters most to readers is how well the book’s topic matches their needs or interests. Given this, the competition isn’t quite as tough in nonfiction as it would be for novels.
Furthermore, there are a lot of niche topics left to exploit in nonfiction. Mainstream publishers have tended to favor topics that have wide appeal, meaning there are lot of areas in which few if any titles have been published. This means there is a thirst for books that have yet to be written – books that you could pen!
If the nonfiction topic you choose to write about is of high appeal to male readers, all the better. A National Endowment for the Arts survey showed that nearly two-thirds of male readers choose nonfiction books over novels. Women, however, generally prefer novels, with 55 percent of them opting for a fiction book.
Of course, you always should write what you’re most passionate about. Churning out nonfiction books when you dream of writing the next Great American Novel means you’re writing for the wrong reasons and probably will turn out drab, flat text.
But if your passion for either format is equal and you hope to make a little money self-publishing, then going the nonfiction route definitely is a good choice.
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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional book editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past decade, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of 80 books including the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.
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