Self-Publishing FAQ: When Is the Best Time to Publish in Each Niche?

Just like retail stores sell certain products during certain times of the year, like swimsuits in June and ornaments in December, books tend to go through different seasons. Now, self-publishing can move pretty quickly, so the trends can change over time, but here we’ll address the following question: When is the best time to publish in each niche? 

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Seasonal Trends in Various Niches

Here's how one of our brilliant coaches answered this question inside our exclusive AIA Facebook group of over 35k freedom seekers from around the world: 

Just to recap, here are some general trends within the self-publishing industry: 

• Self-Help and New Year Resolutions: Books in the self-help or personal development niche often do well when published around New Year’s, tapping into resolution-making trends.
• Travel: Travel books or light summer reads are ideal for spring publication, setting the stage for upcoming summer vacations.
• Education and Back-to-School: Educational books or those appealing to students are best published in late summer, aligning with the back-to-school season.
• Holiday Themes: Books with themes around major holidays should be published a few months in advance. For instance, Christmas-themed books do well when released in early fall.
• Romance: Valentine’s Day is a great time for romance novels, so consider a January or early February release.
• Horror and Paranormal: Publishing in the late summer or early fall can capitalize on the Halloween season.
• Finance and Business: Early in the year is ideal, coinciding with fiscal planning and new business strategies.
• Gardening: This niche has really taken off over the last few years and tends to do a lot better in the spring and summer compared to fall and winter. 

You’ll notice another trend here is to publish the book slightly in advance of when readers will be searching for it. This gives you the perfect opportunity to start collecting positive reviews, which can go on to essentially sell your book for you. 

Market Research and Trends

Here’s how to stay on top of things:

• Stay Informed: Keep up with current trends in your niche. A sudden surge in a particular genre or theme can signal a good time to publish.
• Audience Behavior: Look to your KDP reports to understand your audience and their buyer behavior better. You might notice different trends in your book sales compared to the broader market. 
• Virality: See what's trending across social media and the news, but don't forget to check all your ideas against "Proof of Concept" to make sure there's actually an audience out there for the books you're planning on writing or publishing.

Disclaimer & The Biggest Trend of All 

You should be doing market research each and every time you publish a book because what was popular last month might get outshined by something else three months from now. Finding success as a publisher is all about adaptability. It’s kind of like surfing. Are you willing to get back on your board knowing that another big wave is on its way? 

AI is disrupting every industry, and publishing as well as writing books with artificial intelligence is no exception. Those who adapt and learn to integrate it are automatically going to be lightyears ahead of those who don’t. There are already so many uses for it, like coming up with book topics, creating book outlines and book descriptions, and even editing and proofreading your work. 

And the best part is it’s accessible to everyone. 

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AI can’t write, edit, and format a whole book for you with just one button. At least, even if it could, it would be missing that human touch of creativity and probably wouldn’t be very good. 

The thing is, it’s evolving every single day, and big companies like Google and Amazon are starting to notice. They’re all investing billions of dollars into AI research for a reason.

Curious about how to use AI to your advantage with publishing? We’ve mapped everything you need to know in this free webinar, and we can’t wait to share it with you. 

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