25 Ways to Find Best-Selling

Niche Ideas for Your

New Kindle Book
(That You Can Implement In 10 Minutes or Less Each!)

Write, Publish & Sell Series Book 2

R.T. TOLENTINO
Table of Contents
Introduction
FICTION VS NON-FICTION
Importance of Research
Why these strategies work for finding profitable niches/topic?
25 ways to choose a profitable book topic
1 – The Biggest Niches
2 – Nichifying
3 - What do you know?
4 - AMAZON BEST SELLER
5 - Find a specific problem your friend has
6 – The Opportunity Finder System
7 - Sex
8 - Magazines
9 - Write about your business
10 - Your Story
11 - Write what you want to read
12 - Library
13 - Yahoo Answers
14 - Time Machine (go back to childhood)
15 - Time Machine (future)
16 – What if
17 - Your Favorite Blogs
18 - Buzzsumo – what’s trending?
19 - Merchantwords
20 - The Niche Test
21 – Ask your customers (the 6 questions)
22 - Quora
23- Find a hole on other books
24 – Google Keyword Planner
25 – Clickbank
Conclusion
Accountability Program
About the Author
To my all of my friends who always remind me that I can do it.
You guys are the best.
 Introduction
So you want to write a book?
Maybe you have an idea for your own “future best-seller”, but you’re not quite sure if you should
pursue that idea.
You could also be in a situation where you absolutely positively want to write a book but you’re
clueless on what to write about.
Well, I will tell you one thing that will make other authors grin their teeth.
FINDING A BEST-SELLING BOOK TOPIC IS EASY!
But only if you know what you’re doing.
In this book, I’m going to show you 25 ways to do it!
Six months ago, if you told me that you got 25 ways to find a book topic idea, I might have called you
insane!
Now, you don’t have to do all of it, in fact, one idea could literally change the way you look at niche
research forever.
These 25 simple tactics can be implemented in as fast as 10 minutes each. Obviously, if you want to
go deeper then you must spend more time on the research process – but 5-10 minutes per tactic is
really all you need get a good idea on what topic you want to choose for your next book.
No Magic Pill
I would like to make it clear that what I’m going to teach you are not some out of this world tactics. In
fact, you’re already probably doing some of them. These techniques are no magic pills – merely
choosing a topic will not make you a best-selling author.
You have to actually take the time to write your book – Duhhh!
What I want you to do is to use these simple little techniques and find out what works for you.
Sounds fair? Read on.
 FICTION vs NON-FICTION
Some tactics will only apply with non-fiction and vice versa.
When you’re using these tactics, I need you to think creatively and ask yourself.
How can I apply this in my book?
Can I combine these 2 tactics to create my own research method?
Here’s an example.
(NON-FICTION)
Let’s say you have a book idea about writing a productivity book.
You decided to follow Research Method # 22 (QUORA) and you found out that people are having
problems when it comes to office productivity.
Don’t write your book immediately! – Confirm it first if it will actually make money or if it has a big
market for you to sell your book.
You’ll then combine RM#22 – Quora to RM #25 – Keyword Research and confirm if people are
really searching for keywords related to your book topic.
By doing this, you don’t have to waste your time writing a book that will not sell.
It does take a little bit more time to do research, but remember this –
An hour of research saves ten!
Ask any writer out there and they will tell you that the actual preparation (pre-production) of writing
a book is as important as writing the book itself.
Let me give you another example.
(FOR FICTION)
Note: I’ll be real honest with you, most of the examples that I’ll give you are for non-fiction – partly
because I’ve never really wrote a long novel myself. Don’t worry though, if you use your creativity,
you can still apply what you’ll learn from these techniques.
Let’s say you decided to use RM #7 – Sex.
If you’re like most authors (which I hope you’re not) – You’ll immediately write a normal EROTICA
book.
But what if you combine RM#7 with RM #14 - Time Machine (go back to childhood).
When you were just a little kid, for some reason you were fascinated with suspense, blood and
thrillers.
You can then combine Erotica, Suspense & Thrillers in your new book instead of just writing a
normal erotica book, where people were just having sex throughout the book. With your new idea,
you’ll have a killer (no pun intended) story with a touch of sensuality.
On the next few pages I’ll give you a quick word about the importance of research and why these 25
strategies works with finding a best-selling book topic.
 Importance of Research
I will try not to bore you with the importance of research but this is really important so I’ll say it
anyway. I’ll make this quick, I promise.
I think every author who wants to make a living with their books needs to know the importance of
proper research.
You can’t just write a book, publish it on Amazon and expect people to buy it. Most authors are really
selfish when it comes to writing – the old adage is, if you build it , they will come! – That’s total B.S.
If you want them to come, then you must first make sure that they are already interested in your topic.
It’s really hard to sell books to people who don’t want it in the first place.
Have you ever have that experience where people are knocking in your doors selling encyclopedia?
Are you interested in what he has to say? Probably not! – Because you don’t need a freaking
encyclopedia at that time. You have a kid crying in your lawn and the last thing you need is an
encyclopedia. What you need at that moment is a freaking pacifier, or something that will make you
kid stop crying.
It’s the same with book research, you want to sell and write something that people want and need.
Don’t sell them the encyclopedia – sell them the pacifier.
 Why these strategies work for finding profitable niches?
90% of the techniques that I will show you are not just about YOU (the author). It’s mostly about the
readers. It focuses on readers’ wants and needs.
As I’ve already told you, most writers are selfish in this regard.
For non-fiction, the new way of doing research is to find and solve people’s problems.
For fiction, the way of doing research (for you to make more book sales) is to sell something that they
are already reading.
The Snowball Effect
According to good ol’e urban dictionary, the snowball effect works like this:
An entity or situation where something once small and relatively insignificant grows exponentially
at a swift pace, engulfing everything in its path.
The same thing can be applied in your book research.
You can get started with just one topic, (let’s say PRODUCTIVITY FOR WRITERS ) – then you’re
readers will demand more from you, then you can expand with other topics such as – writing faster &
better – how to write a romance novel – how to self-publish a book etc.
The crazy thing is you don’t actually have to do an in depth pre-research for all of your book topics.
Sometimes, your current readers will tell you exactly what they want!
That’s the power of doing your research properly the first time you write a book. It can lead to other
opportunities and it will serve as a snowball for your business or writing career.
Alright, by now you’re ready to do the research. Let’s get started.
25 ways to choose a profitable
book topic
 1 – The Biggest Niches

The first thing I always let my clients do when searching for a profitable book topic is to choose
between the 3 biggest niches.
The 3 biggest niches are HEALTH, WEALTH & RELATIONSHIP.
Probably 90% of bloggers, writers and information marketers make their money across these 3
different niches.
Now, you just can’t write a book about “how to be healthy”, you have to narrow it down to a deeper
topic inside that category.
Here are some of the sub-categories that you will find under each mega-niches.
Health
1. Natural Weight Loss
2. Stress Management
3. Muscle Gain
4. Easy Exercises
5. Fat Loss – Belly
6. Organic Food
7. Natural Healing
8. Any Specific Health Problems

Relationships
1. Dating Advice
2. Romantic Relationships
3. Marriage
4. Sex
5. Conflict in relationships
6. Parenting
7. Psychology Behind Relationships, Conflicts, People and Business.

Business and Money

1. Personal Finance
2. Investing
3. Starting a business
4. Marketing
5 – Job Hunting & Careers
You can choose any one of these sub-niches and I can almost guarantee that your book will sell much
better.
The reason is because most of these niches are basic human needs and wants. There’s some hoky
poky psychological stuff why these are the most profitable niches to be in, though I won’t discuss it
here in this book.
Let’s say you chose Personal Finance as your book topic. You can definitely make money writing in
that niche. But if you want to have a clearer message for your book, I suggest that you do the second
method of book research.
I call it NICHIFYING your niches.
 2 – NICHIFYING

Let’s continue our example and let us choose the niche PERSONAL FINANCE. We can write a book
about PERSONAL FINANCE and we’ll probably sell a handful of copies. But if you want to make
more money, more sales and sell more books to the right people. Then you better nichify your niche.
That fancy word simply means digging deeper into the niche and targeting a smaller niche under our
original niche.
Under PERSONAL FINANCE, there are a lot of topics that we can write a book about.
Let’s do a little bit of brainstorming.
There’s -
1 – Debt Managent
2 – Budgeting
3 – Credit Repear
4 – Retirement Planning
So instead of writing a book about a big topic like personal finance – (and competing with big time
gurus), I would rather carve my own little niche and be the authority in that topic.
I hope that you’re seeing the power of digging deeper into a big niche and choosing a small but more
targeted topic.
This could literally save your writing career!
In case you haven’t noticed it yet, this book is actually a product of this method.
How I came up with this book topic
I recently published a book about SELF-PUBLISHING for first time authors, information marketers
coaches and consultants.
The book is called “The Self-Published Entrepreneur” (you should check it out).
I realized that that book is actually still in a big niche. There are still a lot of sub-topics that can be
fully discuss in that book, that I can turn into a new book altogether.
One of those sub-topics is BOOK TOPIC RESEARCH/NICHE RESEARCH.
(Hence, this book
was born!)
In addition, I notice that readers nowadays like much shorter books that discusses a more
concentrated topic. A book that they can read in just one seating, probably in 2 hours or less.
MORE EXAMPLES
Let us do another example, say I chose the topic DATING ADVICE.
I can write a book about dating advice but it’ll be better if I will nichify the topic and choose
something more targeted.
Let’s do a bit of brainstorming again.
DATING ADVICE
1 – Dating advice for 21-25 years old
2 – Dating advice for newly divorced
3 – Dating advice for newly divorced 50 year old women
4 - Dating advice for newly divorced 50 year old men
Did you see how I dug even deeper into the topic and clearly point out the people who I want to write
for?
By doing this, you’ll be able to write a better book with your information catering specifically to your
target market.
Let me ask you a question
Imagine for a second that you are a 50 year old women, newly divorced and looking for a new
partner.
Would you buy the book –
DATING ADVICE FOR WOMEN – How to handle your dating and relationship
Or
DATING @ 50 – How to find a date and get in a relationship at 50 years old
Obviously, you will choose the second book.
That’s the reason why I want you to nichify your niche.
I want you to get a more targeted audience and sell more books in the future.
 3 - What do you know?

What you personally know will not always turn out as a best-selling book topic, but you never really
know what’s gonna happen until you do a little bit more research.
Ask yourself these questions:
(these are a shit ton of questions but trust me, these are the questions you should be asking yourself if
you want to discover that best-selling book topic)
What am I interested in?
What am I good at?
What is my current job?
What do I do in my job?
Can I write about it?
What is it that I always want to write about?
If I will only write one book in my life, what would I write about?
Once you got some answers to these questions, try to go back to the method #1 and # 2
Then ask yourself again, does my interest and knowledge somehow overlaps with the biggest niches?
Yes?
Alright! You have your book topic!
Here’s a real example of how someone used this method for his own book.
My friend J.M. is a payroll specialist - that means he computes employees payroll. He wants to
leverage his job and earn extra income through his books (and maybe even get some paid speaking
gigs)
He asked the same questions to himself and came up with a book about HOW TO IMPROVE AS A
PAYROLL SPECIALIST FOR BEGINNERS.
Now you may be saying, well – that topic is not under the biggest niches. You’re wrong.
It is under JOB HUNTING & CAREERS – but it is not obvious because there’s only so much payrol
specialist in the world.
In the front end, this payroll book will probably sell less compared to the LOSE BELLY FAT niche -
that’s expected. But guess what book every single NEW Payroll Specialist will buy if they want to
improve in their job? BINGO!
And that’s the power of books! You don’t really have to become an official BEST-SELLER. Of
course, the goal is always to become a best-seller, but that’s just icing on the cake.
Your head is probably exploding right now with possibilities. That’s great! If you need to, stop
reading this book and start your own research right now!
However, if you’re not yet confident with the information that you have, continue reading and choose
your research method later.
 4 - Amazon Best-Sellers

A lot of gurus suggest to their students that they start with the Amazon best-seller. It’s probably a
good idea and at the same time, it’s not.
It’s a good idea because you’ll be able to see what topics are really selling well at the moment.
It’s a bad idea because you may chose a topic that will only sell right now but not 6 months from now.
As authors, we want our work to still be valid 4,6,10 or even 20 years from now.
Also, we want a topic that is evergreen. Something that will move volumes today and something that
will move volumes 2-3 years down the road.
We don’t want to be the flavor of the month. We want to make sure that our chosen topic will stand
the test of time.
With that being said, using Amazon best-seller is STILL a great way to choose a profitable topic.
Here’s how I would do it if I was the one doing the actual research.
First, I will compute my goal for my book.
If I want to sell at least 5 copies a day, then I need to be ranking at 30,000 or below every single day.
You can’t always expect your book to be number 1 but getting to number 20 in your category is much
more realistic.
I will now go to Amazon best-seller rankings and choose a category that I am interested in.
I will choose SELF-HELP then STRESS MANAGENT under sub-category.
I will go straight to the top 20 book and look at its ranking.
If it is under 30,000, I will go for it because it’s getting at least 5 sales a day.

It’s under 30k!

Looks like I found a niche that I could write in, in the near future.
(Everything that has a ranking of 30,000 or below is selling 5-10 copies a day)
Let’s do another example, this time for fiction.
I chose Thriller and Suspense and did the same research and I found this.

WOW, top 20 is at #66.

I dug even deeper and go for the top 100
Look, even the top 100 is ranking at 638 paid in the kindle store.

I can assure you that writing a book in the suspense category is very profitable. If you can write a
genuinely good book, then you don’t have to worry about your competition. You just have to do a
better book cover and some basic promotion and you’ll most probably sell at least 100+ copies a day
even at top 100.
 5 – Find a specific problem your friend has

Another awesome method of finding a best-selling book topic is by asking your friends about their
current problems and frustrations.
Obviously, don’t be obnoxious about it. Just ask them casually – tell them that you want to help them
solve whatever problem they are experiencing at the moment.
If you are close to your friends, sometimes, you don’t even have to ask about their current problems!
They will tell it to you even before you spoke a single word.
Once you got some ideas on what problems your friends are having, ask yourself, do I know
something in this topic that can help my friend solve his problem?
You do?
You got your new book topic.
 6 – The Opportunity Finder System

This is one of my most favorite ways to find a book topic. It’s almost the same as the 5th method
except that it’s more genuine and real. Let me explain.
When you ask your friend questions about their biggest problems and frustration, you may get a
different version of the real story. With this method, the key is to listen to anyone and let them talk
about whatever they want to talk about.
Here’s how the opportunity finder system works.
Every day, you probably hear people talk about things that they hate, things that happen to them and
pretty much everything that bothers them.
You’ll start to hear words like…
I HATE _____
This sucks!
I wish I could ________
Why wouldn’t someone invent _______
I don’t have time for __________

These statements are opportunities in disguise.

I HATE _____ - what do they hate? Can you write a book about it? Can you solve their
problem?
This sucks! – What does sucks? Can you decrease the suckage by writing a book about it?
I wish I could ________ - what do they wish? Can you do something to make that wish real? Can
you help him make that wish come true by writing a book?
I don’t have time for __________ - Can you give him a solution to get more extra time for
________?
Why wouldn’t someone invent _______ - Invent what? You probably won’t invent that
thing but can your book help as a substitute to that thing?
The key to the system is learning to listen.
Talk less and listen more.
I guarantee you that you’ll find some book opportunity if you just learn to listen more.
Just a few days ago, I saw someone on Facebook saying “I don’t have time for writing!” Thus my next
book was born! It’s about how to write a book even if you only have 60 minutes per day. I thought that
everybody has at least 60 minutes of extra time per day.
I think that’s a great idea – If you want to steal it, I won’t mind.
Again, the key is learning to listen – use this method and I promise you, you’ll be amaze at how many
ideas will flow to you on a daily basis.
 7 – Sex

There is no doubting that SEX SELLS.

Even one of the oldest profession in the world is being a prostitute.
I’m not suggesting that you write about prostitution (or should you?).
What I’m trying to say is, there is money to be made in SEX.
Here are some ideas to help you get started with this method.
1 – Write about how to have better relationship by improving sex.
2 – Write about how to get more orgasm
3 – Write about erotica
4 – Write about how to get laid (picking up girls)
5 – Write about how to get laid (for virgins)
6 – Write about how to improve business success by improving sex life
7 – Write about improving productivity by improving sex life
8 – Write about the best sex positions
9 – Write about how to improve sex life for men age 50+
10 – Write about how to improve sex life for women age 50+
11 – Write about the best sex copywriting headlines
12- Write about how sex is just like running a business
These are just some ideas that I can think of at the top of my head. There are still hundreds of book
topics out there related to sex.
If you positioned your book well and you make it quite targeted, then I can guarantee you that it will
sell at least 5-10 copies a day. Not a lot, but still better than nothing.
When you use this method, it’s better to combine it with other research techniques.
Here’s an example.
Let’s say I want to write about SEX (RM #7).
I can combine it to RM# 6 – The Opportunity Finder System
I’M YOUNG AND STILL FULL OF ENERGY – BUT I’M STILL NOT HAVING GREAT SEX W
MY HUSBAND. IT FEELS LIKE THERE IS NO CONNECTION BETWEEN US.
That is an opportunity.
You can write a book about:
How to emotionally connect with your husband during sex
Simply repeat the process and combine it with other research methods.
 8 – Magazines

Physical magazines can also be great source of book topic inspiration. If you can find a physical
magazine about a certain topic in your local bookstore, then it’s safe to assume that that topic can be a
best-selling topic. Why? Because it’s pretty hard to sell physical magazines these days, and the only
one that survives are the good ones and the ones that has big markets.
If you use this method, I want you to visit your local bookstore and ask for their best-selling
magazine.
Magazines.com
Another way to research book topics is via magazines.com
They sell both physical and digital copies of different magazines under different topics. As I’ve
already told you, the only magazines that survive today are the ones that are selling well (obviously)
and the ones that are under big markets.
Go to magazines.com and look at the markets that are top sellers. I want you to dig deeper on different
niches and look at what is already selling.

The key here is to look at as many various topics as you can.

Let’s say you found a magazine about basketball.
Ask yourself, if I am a basketball enthusiast/player, what are the things that I need to do to improve as
a basketball player? What are the different aspects of improving as a basketball player?
Out of these questions, your book topics will be born!
- Dribbling
- Shooting a 3 pointer
- Free throw
- Improving as a point guard
- Ball handling
- How to be a great center
- How to be a great power forward
These are mini topics that you can write about. The process is just like the nichifying of your mega-
niche.
Instead of talking about HOW TO BE A BETTER BASKETBALL PLAYER – write a book abo
tiny little topics under it.
These books will sell better because
1. They are highly targeted
2. People are already buying stuff related to it (we found this out by doing the magazine
research method)
3. Small books are much easier to read
 9 - Write about your business

One of the best ways to bring new leads or customers to your business is by writing a book.
Let’s say that you are an SEO consultant.
If you want to attract more clients for your SEO consulting business, I suggest that you write about
different topics under your business.
Let’s do a little bit of brainstorming and think of some topics that your potential client may read.
1 – Wordpress SEO set-up
2 – Building a Private Blog Network
3 – Seo backlinking
4 – How to rank a website in Google
5 – How to rank a youtube video in Google
These are some topics anyone interested in SEO may search on Amazon.
Here’s a real life example.
A few days ago, I downloaded a book about WHY EVERY WRITER NEEDS A COPY EDITOR.

The author, Blake Atwood, simply wrote about why every writer needs an editor, and added some
information on how to hire an editor etc.
Then at the end of the book, he told them about his service. No pressure, no sales tactics. Just good
ol’e value giving and doing awesome service.
So yeah, that’s it. If you can’t think of any topic for your new book, why not write about your
business?
 10 - Your Story

One of my favorite motivational speakers, Brendon Burchard, started his career by writing a
novel/autobiography. He got into an accident that changed his life forever. And that book started it all
for him.
Now you may be saying, well R.T. – I didn’t have the same sob story. I didn’t go through any accident
that changed my life.
I understand, not all of us have this kind of dramatic experience.
The great thing is we don’t have to be in an accident to share our story. Most people underestimate
the power of their experience!
But if you come to think of it, if you live long enough – doesn’t matter if you’re 20 or 60, you will
always have something to share.
Maybe you’ve been in debt for the past couple of years and you finally pay all of it. Then you can
write a book about how to avoid the same mistakes that you did!
It can be that you are a Harvard student who just passed his entrance exam. Well, you can write a
book about that experience and help people pass their own college’s entrance exams.
You could also be a new entrepreneur who finally got his first dollar online. You can write a book
how others can do it too!
Remember, everybody is once a beginner and there are more beginners in the world compared to
experts. No matter your age or your experience is – you will always have something worth sharing
that others are willing to read.
In fact, one of the reasons why I decided to pursue writing as a profession (even though, admittedly, I
am not a great writer) is because of what happened to me 8 years ago.
When I was in high-school, I failed English twice!
Well, who would have thought that someone who failed English twice in high-school would now
become a full time writer?
My book “The Self-Published Entrepreneur” was inspired by that crazy experience.
You see, you don’t have to have that near death experience to be able to share your story.
Even a simple motivational audio course can be a source of your next book idea.
Don’t believe me?
Hal Elrod, the author of The Miracle Morning – I heard him said once on a podcast that his best-
selling book was actually written because he heard Jim Rohn talks about taking responsibility in his
own life.
After listening to Jim Rohn, Hal realized that he’s not taking care of himself and is not achieving his
full potential. He then took action, changed his life and wrote everything he learned in the book The
Miracle Morning (including his struggles and successes).
Today, he has over 5+ bestselling books all written because of his willingness to share his
knowledge and story.
 11 - Write what you want to read

One of the reasons why I love writing about “writing” – a meta topic, is because I know how it felt
like to be a beginner.
When I was just starting out a couple of months ago, there are just too many books to read. How do I
start? Where do I get my ideas? There are too many questions lurking in my mind.
The books that I am writing today (including the books that I will write in the future) are the answers
to my own questions.
What is it that I want to read?
I first learn the “write what you want to read” method in Austin Kleon’s book “Steal Like an Artist.”
You should definitely read it!
Sometimes, the best books to learn from are the ones that you will write yourself! That seems a bit
arrogant but I’m the kind of person who would rather find a solution to my problems rather than let
others solve the problem for me.
What do you enjoy reading?
List here 10 of the last books you’ve read:
____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Are there any topics or book genres that showed up over and over again?
Well - BAM! You got your next book topic!
Here are 8 of the last books I’ve read from the top of my head:
On Writing By Stephen King
How to Write a Non-fiction Book by Steve Scott
Why People Fail by Mark Messick
Fat Vampire by Johnny Truant
Clash of Kings by George Martin
Finders Keepers by Stephen King
Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell
Nine Day Novel Writing by Steve Windsor
Did you notice the theme of what I am reading?
4 of these books are about writing a book or a novel.
The other 3 are fiction but what you probably didn’t realize is that most of these fiction authors also
teach people how to write or at least they are prolific writer themselves.
By reading fiction works by awesome writers, I’m learning how to write well and at the same time,
I’m enjoying myself while reading great stories.
What are you waiting for?
Start writing what you want to read!
 12 – Library

Ever heard of those historic places called libraries?

Well, good news! They still exist and only few people are entering those beautiful dungeons!
Go into your local library and ask for the most borrowed books.
Don’t even bother about the genre for now.
You can also ask your amazing librarian for book suggestions for guys or gals like you. Tell them a
little bit about you and your interests. I’m pretty sure they’ll be able to point you to the write book
section.
Also, be genuinely interested in what they have to say. Unfortunately, most of these people are
probably bored at their job! (Unless they are there to read books all the time – which is pretty
awesome)
In fact, don’t just ask them about the books. Ask them about the readers!
Who are the people that are always coming here?
What are they reading?
Do they visit here every day? (Okay, this sounds very stalker-like)

The library experiment

Here’s what I would do if I want to really go full berserk with this research method.
1 – Get some index cards ( a lot of index cards)
2 – Set a day up where you’ll spend your whole day in the library. From opening to closing.
3 – Skim the books that grabbed your attention.
4 – List all of the books that you skimmed
5 – Borrow 4 or 5 books that you want to read in full
6 – Look at the topics that appeared over and over again in your index cards
7 – The topic with the most # of skimmed books will be the main topic of your new book!
8 – BONUS – Since you skimmed a lot of books, you already did most of your research –
congratulations!
 13 - Yahoo Answers

This is not only a way to find a book topic but also a way to do your book research at the same time.
Yahoo Answers have compiled a lot of Q & A’s about different topics. Just be wary, cause
sometimes, you’ll come across super weird Q & A’s. If you get nothing else, at least you got a good
laugh off of those ridiculous answers.
Here’s how I would do a topic research if I’m using this method.
1 – Find out what my big idea is.
What is my main topic?
It could be the following for non-fiction:
Business
Investing
Productivity
Writing
For Fiction, pick any genre that you want to write about.
2 – Search for it on yahoo answers
https://answers.yahoo.com/
Look at some of the questions and find the sub-topic that always shows up either on the question itself
or in the answers.
In my example above, there are topics like:
How to outline
How to publish
Where to start if you’re a beginner novel writer
These are topics that people are interested in.
If someone is asking about it, then other people are most probably interested in it.
 14 - Time Machine (go back to your childhood)

It’s time to go back to 15, 30 years from now.

When you were just 7 years old, what are the things that excite you? Did you ever dream of being an
astronaut like me?
I don’t think we can make that dream come true but we can still write about the things that we want to
be when we were just a little kid.
I remember that I always wanted to be the hero of my own story – and right now – I am planning to
write my very first novel. It’s not really about me or my story, but a lot of the emotional dramas will
come from my own life or at least from my friends’ lives.
It’s about a boy who finally got the girl, but still doubt himself if he’s “worth it.” Yeah, I’m romantic
like that.
Give yourself 5 minutes and ride the time machine. Who knows? You may come back with some
awesome stories and lessons to tell.
 15 - Time Machine (future)

If you can go back in the past, why not try going to the future as well?
For fiction writers, you can write a story about what the future would look like. You know, those
aliens, robots and super advance technologies.
If you can tell a story about the Earths future while touching the sense of humanity, I’m pretty sure
you’ll have good feedback about it. Any story were you “humanize” your characters is more likely to
have a positive feedback. Readers like something that they can relate with. It doesn’t really have to be
about humans at all. It could be zombies, nuclear war etc. As long as there is a human element into it,
people will like it.
For non-fiction topics, I want you to think about the world’s biggest problem.
Can you contribute a simple solution to these problems?
It could be about our problems with water, hunger, energy, electricity, clean air, eating green foods
etc.
These kinds of books are game-changer and usually encourage a deeper message.
I’m not asking you to write another bible. But are you bold enough to write something that can
contribute to the world in its own little way?
 16 – What if

When I discovered this method just a few months ago, I shouted YEAHHHHH out of my excitement.
Why? Because I think it’s brilliant at the same time really simple.
“Why didn’t I think of that,” I said to myself.
How to use the what if method for FICTION idea generation.
If you come to think of it, you can pretty much start any idea with a simple WHAT IF?
What if a good looking guy who is trying to save his family from zombies accidentally discovers the
anti-vaccine for becoming a zombie?
Ridiculous? WORLD WAR Z
What if the son of an Italian mafia decided to get revenge for his father? – The Godfather
What if we film some kids doing drugs & party like there’s no tomorrow? – Project X
What is your own WHAT IF?
Think of a genre that you want to write for. You can also think of some of the most famous books and
movies and think of a different angle of attack for these books.
One perfect example I can give you is MALEFICENT
The story is basically about Sleeping Beauty in the perspective of the wicked fairy.

How to use the what if method for NON-FICTION idea generation.

For non-fiction, the process is pretty much the same.
But instead of novels, you think of some of the most famous books in your topic. Then you’ll put a
new spin into it.
THINK AND GROW RICH is one of the most famous motivational books, for like, ever.
THE SECRET came a long and it was a big hit! It’s like the new coming of Jesus. Everyone plus their
mothers are talking about it.
It’s basically the same concept with a new twist.
What if we put a new angle and brand it as THE SECRET?
Like, who wouldn’t want to know the freaking secret to success?
Let’s say you want to write about how to lose weight.
I want you to focus your book on the specific result that your readers will get if they buy the book.
Ask yourself –
What if I can give them the following results _______ without the pain of doing all what they hate
______
Your new book would now be -
How to Lose 5lbs of belly fat (result) While Still Eating Your Favorite Foods! (without the pain of
doing what they hate to do)
Sounds like scam?
Well, the premise of the book - EAT THIS, NOT THAT is pretty much the same. And people
absolutely love the book.

The authors launch their own business brands because of this book.
So start thinking about your WHAT IF’S.
What if I can write about this?
What if this happens? And that happens?
What if your next book will be the next big thing?
 17 - Your Favorite Blogs

Your favorite blogs can also be another source of inspiration for your next book. Notice what are the
blogs that you frequently visit?
Look at your browser’s history right now and you’ll immediately get a pretty good idea of what your
interests are.
In addition, if a lot of people are already visiting that website – then that niche or topic is a
guaranteed solid niche.
It’s hard enough to keep a blog running (meaning – with fresh content everyday) these days, and it’s
even harder to get thousands of people to visit your blog.
If the blog that you are visiting keeps producing awesome content, then it means that there are a lot of
readers and the potential for expansion is great! That means you can write a book in that topic.
Aside from writing, my other interest is running a business. Unlike most authors, I treat writing itself
as a business. Don’t get me wrong – the actual writing part should be an art. But once you finished
your book and it’s ready for publishing, it’s now “BUSINESS TIME.”
Anyway, as I was saying, I’m also interested in running my publishing business that’s why I’m
visiting the following websites from time to time.
http://selfpublishingpodcast.com/
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/blog/
http://stevescottsite.com/
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
Because of what I learned from publishing dozens of books and through reading these blogs, I decided
that, as part of this series, I will write a book about book marketing for beginners.
Ideas are everywhere, if not for these blogs, I may have never taught of doing a book about “book
marketing.”
Go on and make your own list of your favorite blogs.
 18 – Buzzsumo

A quick note: I’m not making money by promoting Buzzsumo, it’s just a really great tool for
discovering current trending topics that you can use for your book.
This little tool is awesome because it gives you a high level overview of what is trending right now.
If you want to be a profitable writer, then you must absolutely write about something that people
already like.
Buzzsumo solves that problem for you. If people are searching and talking about that topic, then there
is a great chance that they are willing to spend money on it.
Buzzsumo’s trending tool can help you assess the current popularity of your market.

By following current trends, you’ll know exactly if you book topic is likely to sell or not.
COMPETITION
Competition is good!
Why? Because it means that there are people making a killing in that niche. Don’t be afraid of the
competition.
If you’re confident in what you have to share, there’s no need to fear the big guys.
By using buzzsumo, you’ll also discover what you competition is up to. If they keep doing the same
strategy and they seem to keep growing, then you just have to copy their content strategy and
incorporate it in your new book!
Find & Connect
This one is not connected anymore to book topic research, but if you are serious in writing and selling
a lot of book copies, then what better way than to connect with industry leaders?
Use their INFLUENCER tool to know the guys that you should be following and doing business with.
 19 – Merchantwords
Merchantwords.com

This is probably my most favorite Amazon keyword tool.

It lets you know the volume of a search term that you want to target.
It’s only $30 per month and its well worth the price. In fact, I never start a writing project without
first looking at my keywords on merchantwords.
If you’re cheap (like me), you can easily find a 70% discount just by searching for merchantwords
70% off on Google.
By doing a 10 minute MW research, you’ll know exactly if your topic gets a lot of searches per
month. Remember, we’re not just looking for a book topic, we’re looking for a PROFITABLE book
topic.
Here are some examples on how to use MW.
FOR FICTION
Let’s say you want to write something about ZOMBIES
Just type it in MW and sort it by KINDLE STORE, then HIGHEST SEARCH VOLUME.

You’ll then get a list of search terms related to your main keyword.
This is useful because you can also use these keyword results when you upload your book on KDP.
By doing this 5 minute research, you’ll know exactly what books readers are looking for and you’ll
also know how many people are looking for that topic on a monthly basis.
Let’s do another example for NON-FICTION
Say I’m interested in writing about CAT JUGGLING
When I searched for CAT JUGGLING, I got zero results. Then obviously, I should change my topic.

I know it’s a ridiculous example but I’m trying to make a point. If not one single soul on earth is
searching for that topic, then you probably shouldn’t write a book about it.
Let’s do another example that can be much more profitable than cat juggling, say search engine
optimization or seo.
This one is a much profitable topic because thousands of people are already searching for it.
I don’t believe that the 12.7m searches is accurate, sometimes MW will have some searches like
this. Don’t get too excited.
So that’s my advice on MW, as I said, I personally don’t start a writing project unless there are
already thousands of people searching for it on MW. Maybe you shouldn’t too.
 20 – The Niche Test

A few years ago, I took a course on information marketing. The first thing the instructor (Eben Pagan)
asked me to do was to do the niche test. Inside the niche test, I get to answer some questions and by
the end of the test, if I get 4 Yes’s, it means that my niche can be a profitable niche to be in.
That test is also applicable in choosing a topic to write in.
Ask the 4 questions below when considering a niche. If you get 4 YES answers, it means that you
have a good book topic idea.
If you don’t get 4 Yes’s, keep tweaking your book topic idea until you do. Use the niche test every
time you’re planning to write a new book to dramatically increase your chances of success.
THE NICHE TEST

Question # 1 – Is my prospect experiencing Pain + Urgency, or Irrational Passion?

Is my prospect pro-actively looking for solutions?

Does my prospect have few or no perceived options?
(this doesn’t mean that your topic don’t have any competition – it only means that you should find a
book topic where you can write a new angle and where you will stand out)

Are at least 1 in 1,000 people LOOKING for a solution for this right now?
Did you have 4 Yes’s?
Awesome, you got your next best-selling book topic!
 21 - Ask your customers (the 6 questions)
(Continuation of #20 – But another tactic altogether)

If you want to find a book topic that really strikes the heart of your readers (in a good way). Then why
not ask them about it?
By asking your customers about their biggest problems and frustration, you’ll know exactly what you
should discuss in your book. You’ll also get a deeper insight about what really makes them tick, so to
speak.
When you asked the following questions, it can either be multiple-choice or an open ended question.
This technique may sound like book research itself, it probably is, but the real value of these
questions will be in knowing if you should continue with your chosen topic or not. After answering
these questions, you’ll know exactly if you should write a book in your chosen topic or if it needs
more tweaking and narrowing. In addition, you’ll get a deeper understand of your market, which is
crucial in writing your own book.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CUSTOMERS/CLIENTS

Question # 1
What are your biggest frustrations when it comes to ____________ (your topic)
Question # 2
What have you tried so far that hasn’t worked for you?
Question # 3
What’s your biggest fear when it comes to __________ (challenges someone have in your topic)
Question # 4
What worries you?
What are you afraid will happen if you don’t do something immediately?
Question # 5
What would you be willing to do to solve ________ (problem in your topic/biggest frustration)
Question # 6
If you could have one question answered about _________ (challenge/topic), what would it be?

Start asking these questions and get a clearer understanding of not only your topic, but also your
audience.

22 – Quora

If you don’t have a customer or client yet, then I have the perfect alternative for you. Quora is a
platform where you get to ask questions and members will answer it for you.
When it comes to asking questions in Quora, you have to be a little bit more specific. So you can’t
just ask what the best topic to discuss under ______.
You have to ask questions related to your topic like:
Example:
If you are 10 lbs overweight and you are looking for a solution. What would the perfect book be like?
What will it discuss? What are the sub-topics that you think should be covered?
Some people will not answer this question because they’re probably afraid that people will assume
that they are overweight (which is probably true), but nonetheless, you don’t want to put your
audience on a non-desirable situation.
You can rephrase the question to:
What if one day, you woke up 40 lbs overweight and you are desperately looking for a solution/book
about losing weight fast. What would the perfect book be like? What will it discuss? What are the
sub-topics that you think should be covered?
Now, they are more likely to answer this question instead of you assuming that they are overweight.
Here’s another example question in another niche.
Let’s say you want to write a book about making extra cash from home.
If you are in debt and want to make extra cash from home. What would the perfect book be like? What
will it discuss? What are the sub-topics that you think should be covered?
It’s basically the same question applied in to another topic.
A method of book research
Aside from book topic research, quora may also be your own personal research buddy!
If you have sub-topics that you need to expound and you happen to run out of ideas. You can use quora
to supply additional information from somebody else’s perspective.
Start using quora today and don’t forget to ask the right questions!
 23- Find a hole on other books

All books, no matter how awesome the writer is, will always have something that a few people won’t
like. With this method, we will leverage Amazon reviews to find book angle or sub-topic that needs
to be covered better in your future book.
So let’s say you want to write about CAMPING & HIKING TIPS but you’re still not sure what to
discuss in your book or you’re not sure on what book angle you want to attack.
Should you focus on hiking survival on cold places?
Should you focus on hiking survival on hot places?
Should you write about how to use the tools properly for them to survive?
What you can do is go to Amazon.com.

Then search for your topic.

Open another tab for the top 3-10 books, then start reading some NEGATIVE (1-2 stars) reviews
first.
After reading these negative reviews, you’ll know exactly what you should add in your book. Also,
you can now narrow down your topic even more, so you could appeal to your chosen audience.
You can also start reading positive reviews and take note of the topics and techniques the readers like
in the book.

Incorporate this technique in your research and you’ll start to get a clearer view of what you want
your book to look like.
 24 - Google Keyword Planner

https://adwords.google.com/ko/KeywordPlanner/Home?
If you have a gmail account, then you can use this for free.
You simply type your chosen topic on the google keyword planner and search for some ideas.
So if you’re interested in writing a book about productivity, you just search for “productivity”

In the ADGROUP IDEAS, you’ll see different topics under productivity.

I don’t want you to write a book about productivity itself!
Based on these adgroup, I came up with these sub-topics (sub-niches).
A – Productivity for writers
B – Productivity softwares
C – Office productivity
Instead of choosing PRODUCITIVTY, I can now choose a more targeted topic and have a clearer
message for my book.
Here’s another example.
WRITE A NOVEL

Now, since WRITE A NOVEL group ideas only have a few thousand monthly searches – You don’t
have to dig deeper on the niche. You can teach people how to write a romance novel, a fantasy novel,
suspense novels in just one book. (or maybe you don’t!)
If you want to go even deeper, another thing that you can do is to just focus on one sub-niche first
(writing romance novel) and then expand to other topics that you see in the ad group ideas above.
 25 – Clickbank

https://accounts.clickbank.com/marketplace.htm
The great thing about searching on Clickbank is you’ll know exactly if your chosen niche is making
money or not.
Go to the clickbank marketplace and search for your topic.

If there are products being sold, that’s a pretty good indicator that there is money to be made in that
niche.
Also, the higher the GRAVITY, the better – it means affiliates are making money selling that product.

Another thing that you can do if you don’t have a topic in mind is to search for random niches and sort
via POPULARITY.

You’ll see the most popular products and niches and see if it matches your passion or your book idea.
We’re not done yet!
If you still don’t have a book topic by now – simply go to categories and search for a product that has
at least 30 in gravity.

I’ll do a random search and choose the SELF-HELP category.

These products show up.
Now I have 2 more ideas of what niche/topic to be in.
Survival (1st and 3rd product) & dating (2nd product)

Conclusion
Woooh! By now, you must have chosen your topic or at least chosen one research method that fits you
and your book idea.
Please, don’t get overwhelmed!
You don’t have to do everything that I taught you.
Just choose one or combine two of them. I can almost guarantee you that any method you choose will
always give you positive results, and a lot more book topic ideas.
I hope that you’ll take action. Also, I hope that you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed
writing this for you.
I put my heart and soul in writing this and in delivering this message to you.
Keep writing and let me know when your next book is launching!
Thank you and Good luck!
R.T. Tolentino
P.S. – Check out other books in this series. You can find them by simply typing my name (R.T.
TOLENTINO) on Amazon’s search bar.
Other Books
Hey there, if you like this book, you can also check out some of my
other books in this topic.
My Author Page.
RT TOLENTINO - AMAZON
THE POOR MAN'S WAY TO BOOK MARKETING - 39 Ways
To Market Your Books On a Bootstrap Budget... And Sell Your Books
Without Trying Really Hard
THE AMAZON KINDLE BOOK LISTING FORMULA: How to double your sales by writing a
product listing that converts into paying customers

Your First $1,000 Online: How to Make Your First $1,000 Online Via Publishing Your
Own Books Without Writing a Single Word of It
 A REVIEW REQUEST
Like this book?
Kindly give it a review on Amazon.com
 Let me help you write a book –
ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER
Some people can’t write a book without personal guidance and accountability. That’s why I decided
to open a PREMIUM service where I would help serious entrepreneurs write, publish and sell their
own books in 60-90 days.
In case you’re wondering, Nope, I will not sell you a seminar, a course or whatever. I prefer to work
one on one with clients and help them in their projects personally (via skype and email).
The coaching/consulting will be very expensive. It’s for people who already have results for their
clients but want to get their full income potential by writing a book and positioning themselves as an
authority in the market.
If you get accepted, I will help you with:
- Setting your goals for the book
- Narrowing your topic
- Outlining your book
- Finding editors and book cover artist
- Finishing your book in 90 days or less (I will not write your book but I will give you
unlimited access to my email for the next 90 days where you can ask any questions your heart
desires)
If you feel that this is right for you, kindly email me at - reddtolentino@gmail.com
Kindly use the subject line “ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER” so I’ll know that it’s about th
accountability program.
You could also add me on Facebook and message me (I’m a real person with some pretty crazy good
friends).
https://www.facebook.com/tolentinored
Don’t worry; I won’t even try to sell you the program. (I don’t even know if you are a right fit yet).
Even if you’re not interested or ready yet for coaching/consulting, add me up on FB or shoot me an
email, I would like to hear from you!
With that being said, thanks again for reading this book. I hope that I gave you a lot of actionable
ideas and I wish to hear from you soon.
To your book success,
R.T. Tolentino

P.S. – If you can’t afford to spend money on consulting, I suggest that you find a friend who can be
your accountability partner. Tell him your plans and your goals and then set a timeline for it. You’ll
be amaze at how much this can change everything for you.
About the Author
R.T. (Red) Tolentino is a freakin’ ninja.
He is a full time writer, coach and consultant.
He’s also the author of “The Self-Published Entrepreneur – 7 Easy Steps to Write, Publish & Sell
Your Own Book in 21 Days or Less.”
His passion rest in helping entrepreneurs & professionals grow their business. He also teaches
people how to write and self-publish their own books.
He lives in the beautiful island of the Philippines where he sips pina coladas in his spare time. (not
really, he just sits all day and write books)
You can contact him via his email reddtolentino@gmail.com

Other Books
You can check more books at this author page.
RT’S AUTHOR PAGE