Utilizing Kindle it is possible to write a book about anything, however, to increase the chances of success as a writer, the first thing I might want to ask myself is what has been selling? Are there ways I could take my idea for a book and incorporate the winning ideas which have been selling on the market into my work? Does a book have to be purely one category or style in order to sell? Or can it utilize different elements which make up multiple parts of a book?

The answer is very simple, it is best to write what has been successful, and pick up different elements. The most popular books borrow from different books and create themselves as a hybrid mix of popular categories incorporating the best elements from each category.

What are the most popular categories currently for eBooks on Kindle? The categories are as different as the authors who wrote them. In the list of the top 100 e books that were published in 2012 three of them were made into movies in 2012. Books such as Beautiful Creatures and The Silver Linings Playbook have been on the list of the top 100 e-books for more than 52 weeks.

Hollywood is also looking now among the ranks of the top 10 lists on Kindle to find their next most popular screenplays and movies. To Hollywood these books are a shoe in since they have already at that point established their audiences. Hollywood much like traditional publishers utilizes the same formula to decide what it is that they are going to produce and many classic stories which have always turned a profit are being rereleased with a new twist simply for their profitability.

Many of these titles include a retelling of fairy tales, or a complete remake of a classic film. New e-books such as The Silver Linings Playbook allow for authors to change the face of Hollywood one book at a time with suggesting to them through book sales that it is possible to in fact remake the list of selling formulas through book sales.

Paranormal Romance, books such as Beautiful Creatures and the Vampire Diaries have taken off in ways that it is hard to imagine their authors could think of at the time. For example, the Vampire Diaries when it was first published in 1993 was popular in teen circles and talked about among friends. However, L. J. Smith could not have imagined back then that it would in fact be turned into a full-fledged television show at that time.

Beautiful Creatures is the first of 4 books and is being hailed as the New Twilight, as the movie is in production now. Beautiful Creatures alone has sold over one million copies on Kindle. When a contract for a movie is signed the average production time is only a year and a half.

Many new authors are out there right now trying their hands at penning the next best paranormal romance. The category has showed its universal appeal as it frees the reader from the constraints of everyday reality by removing the elements of time, space, reality, and the physical universe. In this respect the reader is able to find themselves swept away into a world of fantasy and romance. This category is the ultimate first class ticket to a world of imagination where bills, screaming bosses, and other issues have no hold on the reader.

Erotica still thought of by some traditional publishers as taboo it is quickly becoming one of the most popular categories on Kindle. Many readers who would have been embarrassed to climb into the First Class seat on an airplane reading an erotica book are now able to sit down and read the book electronically without having to worry what the person who is sitting next to them is going to think about the topic.

E. L. James has easily proven the chops of this category with 50 Shades of Grey which started off as fan fiction for Twilight readers. Now E. L. James is projected with the first book in her series alone, and the upcoming movie to have outsold J. K. Rowling and be well on her way to surpassing the Harry Potter franchise. There is a book on Kindle for any desire and any taste.

Business Books. Have you ever thought of a concept for a business book from an organization you worked for, ever thought of how it should have been employed and things should have been executed? This may be the perfect time to get it down on paper. Right now more than ever many business books are taking off in new ways with new and simpler concepts.

Figurative books as well such as Who Moved My Cheese, have also taken hold on Kindle, as it is very easy for organizations to pass smaller books to their workers who can utilize the metaphors and easily consume the content.

Personal Branding

These days a lot of business people talk about it but there is not a lot of detail about what it is exactly. You as an author need to have a brand, a set of concepts and objectives which you believe in and represent yourself to be. When you are writing you are building that brand for your audience, it is as consumable for them as your books. If you are a romance writer for example your audience is actively building an image in their heads of who you are and how you live.

In the past the image of the author was controlled by the publisher, this is a huge part of your brand. These days it is a relationship which is owned by the author in the world of self-publishing, and the readers get to directly connect to you without any third party interference or any barriers. As a self-published author there are many things you need to take into consideration. What are you willing to share with your readers? What parts of yourself are you willing to share?

For example one way that you can connect directly with your readers is by starting a Facebook page for your book. Then you can suggest the page to friends and get the word out. If you decide that you would still like to have more followers for your page on Facebook you can also start a Facebook ad campaign which is custom designed to the needs of the creator.

With all the tools of technology available to the author it is amazing what can be produced on a small dime. With an advertising campaign on a shoe string budget of just $30 a week it is possible to generate ads with over 300 likes. And when this happens other people begin to talk about your page amongst their friends.

Facebook will also send you a customized report of how many clicks you are generating per week and how many people are seeing your ad; also it is possible to update your ad midstream in a campaign. This means that you can add new content to your advertisement, which the Facebook staff will then approve within a matter of hours. With new content constantly in your ad you are able to reach new readers who will be interested in your content.

With a Facebook page for your book and one for yourself as an author you are able to share daily progress about yourself as an author and any new milestones which you reach with your book. People inherently want to have a part in that, with a Facebook page they are able to follow your progress step by step and feel like they are actively contributing to the progress by following you and talking about it with their friends.

Constant updates to both pages are necessary, at a minimum on a daily basis and if possible much more to ensure that readers have the most current content. If you do not have any content to share which is related to your book, share something which is related to the subject matter. If you are writing a book about werewolves, share folklore about werewolves to ensure that your readers are constantly entertained. This can be other content from the internet and does not have to be directly from your site.

Your blog. Yes it is necessary to have a blog, if you write under your real name and also write under a pen name it is necessary to have two. Think of small little things to write about such as what gives you inspiration, your personal reading list, updates about where you are going with your work. All of these little things will keep your readers hungering for more as you update them. It is small little personal touches which keep a reader coming back for more so that they can learn as much as possible about the author.

YouTube. Create a YouTube channel about your book and your work, discuss what the motivation was for you to write your book. Explain the story behind your book to your fans, and tell them about the characters in the book or about your area of expertise. As you move forward with other pursuits you are more marketable with a following and a fan base to prospective agents.

As well, there is no more personal a way for your fans to be able to interact with you than by seeing you even in your home in front of your own web cam discussing your book with them. This will build a relationship with the readers that publishers would die to have because it takes out the middle man and allows you to reach the readers directly.

Your Brand. When we talk about the brand, we are talking about an image, a presence, an email template even. Take the time to understand the intricacies of your email platform, develop a template that is inherently yours. When you are talking to perspective agents, producers, writers, etc. you want to ensure that you have an email which will stand out from your competitors and from other authors.

Your brand image must be consistent across the board so people understand who you are and the image you are projecting. Brand schizophrenia is one of the worst issues that a writer can have, for example, portraying yourself as an erotica writer and as a children’s book writer can be a bit confusing for readers, agents, and anyone doing a simple Google search. That is the beauty of brand consistency, and also the need for a pen name rolled up in one simple sentence.