Who Should You Be Reading In Your TBR Pile

Time for some recommendations if you are a writer trying to break into the market! OK, this is also a great excuse to buy some books and support some writers. Which authors should you be buying right now to truly get a feel of the market. Yes, this is all about market research my friends. 

Remember, if you want to get your books sold to reputable publishers, you want to find out what they are buying. Now, here is the key. You can easily hit your bookstores and go to to the TOP 10 books but you know who you are going to find? The big names! These are the people who can write a book in crayon and on toilet paper and all of you would buy it. Their names sell the books and the publishers know it. They are they "go to" authors. Sorry to say this readers, but you are very guilty of this. The odds are, you have gone into a book store, saw your favorite author and bought their book saying "Oh look, theirs [insert author name]'s newest book! I love this author. I have to get it." You are already priming yourself to like the book. 

But that is not who you need to be looking at in your TBR pile if you are doing market research. You need to be looking at the debut authors that the editors just bought. These are the first time authors at the publishers that you want to work for. 

Why? 

If you are paying attention, you will start to see a pattern of what the editors are really looking for at that moment. Granted, it might be 6, 8 or 12 months ago, but not much will have changed since then. They will still be in that pattern. And here is the key. If you have a finished project that fits that mold, you are in a great position. 

Now, if you think you are going to start writing that project, you may be way out of the market. That train may have left the station.

The other benefit? You have just helped that debut author get some forward momentum on their career and hopefully, when you get to that point, they will help you along too!