Market Research — Finding Hungry Audiences
Sell What People Already Want to Buy
Open interactive version (quiz + challenge)Real-world analogy
Market research is like being a detective at a restaurant. Before you spend months developing a new dish, you walk through the dining room and listen: What are people ordering? What are they complaining about? What do they wish was on the menu? The chef who creates dishes based on what diners actually crave will always outsell the chef who cooks whatever they personally feel like eating.
What is it?
Market research is the process of systematically gathering data about what people want, need, and are willing to pay for before you create a product. In the eBook world, this means analyzing search trends, studying Amazon bestsellers, mining reader reviews, exploring online communities, and validating demand with keyword data. The goal is to find a sweet spot where strong demand meets manageable competition — a topic people are hungry for that is not already dominated by established authors.
Real-world relevance
Mark Dawson, one of the most successful self-published authors in the world (earning over $2 million per year from his John Milton thriller series), attributes his success largely to market research. Before writing his first thriller, he studied the Amazon Kindle thriller category for months. He noticed that readers loved Jack Reacher-style characters (lone wolf, ex-military, morally complex) but there were not enough quality series to satisfy demand. He created John Milton to fill that gap. His first book cracked the top 1,000 on Amazon within weeks — not because he got lucky, but because he wrote exactly what an underserved audience was already looking for.
Key points
- Google Trends — Spot What's Hot (and What's Not) — Google Trends shows you search interest over time for any topic, free. You can compare topics head-to-head, see seasonal patterns, and identify rising trends. A topic with steady or growing interest over 5 years is a safer bet than a trending spike that might fade. Check both 'Web Search' and 'YouTube Search' for a complete picture.
- Amazon Best Sellers — Your Free Market Intelligence — Amazon's Best Sellers page (bestsellers in Kindle Store) shows you exactly what people are buying right now. Check the top 100 in your target category daily. Look at BSR (Best Seller Rank) — a BSR under 10,000 in Kindle Store means the book is selling 20-50+ copies per day. The categories and subcategories reveal niche opportunities.
- Amazon Review Mining — Hidden Gold — Read the 1-star, 2-star, and 3-star reviews of bestselling books in your niche. These negative reviews reveal exactly what readers want but are not getting: 'I wish this book covered...', 'The author didn't explain...', 'This was too basic/advanced.' Each complaint is a content opportunity for YOUR book to fill.
- Reddit & Quora — Where People Ask Real Questions — Reddit communities (subreddits) and Quora are goldmines for understanding real pain points. Search your topic on Reddit to find what questions people ask repeatedly. Sort by 'Top' to see what gets the most engagement. A question with 500+ upvotes represents a problem thousands of people have — and would pay to solve.
- AnswerThePublic — Questions People Actually Search — AnswerThePublic (answerthepublic.com) generates visualizations of all the questions, prepositions, and comparisons people search around any keyword. Free for a few searches per day. It reveals the exact language your audience uses, which helps you write titles, chapters, and marketing copy that resonates.
- Finding Problems People Will Pay to Solve — Not all problems are equal. People pay the most to solve problems that are: urgent (need a solution now), expensive (costs them money if unsolved), emotional (causes stress, frustration, or embarrassment), or frequent (happens repeatedly). An eBook about 'how to stop your dog from barking at night' solves an urgent, emotional, frequent problem — that is a buyer.
- Demand Validation Before You Write — Before writing a single word, validate demand: (1) Are there at least 5-10 books on Amazon in this topic? (if zero, there may be no market), (2) Do the top books have 100+ reviews? (proves people buy and care), (3) Is the topic searched 1,000+ times/month on Google? (4) Can you find 3+ Reddit/Quora threads about this problem? If yes to all four, you have a validated market.
- Keyword Tools for Market Sizing — Use free tools like Ubersuggest (neilpatel.com/ubersuggest), Google Keyword Planner, and Keywords Everywhere ($10 one-time) to estimate monthly search volume for your topic. A keyword with 5,000-50,000 monthly searches is the sweet spot — enough demand to be profitable, not so much that competition is overwhelming.
- Trend Spotting vs. Evergreen Content — Trending topics (AI, crypto, specific diets) can generate quick sales spikes but may fade. Evergreen topics (personal finance, relationships, productivity, cooking basics) sell consistently for years. The ideal strategy: build a foundation of evergreen products, then supplement with trend-based products for quick revenue bursts.
Code example
=== MARKET RESEARCH CHECKLIST ===
STEP 1: GOOGLE TRENDS ANALYSIS
[ ] Search your topic — is interest stable or growing?
[ ] Compare with 2-3 related topics
[ ] Check "Related queries" for rising topics
[ ] Look at 5-year trend (not just 12 months)
[ ] Check both Web Search AND YouTube Search
STEP 2: AMAZON DEEP DIVE
[ ] Find your category in Kindle Best Sellers
[ ] Analyze top 20 books: titles, covers, prices
[ ] Record BSR of top 10 (under 10,000 = strong sales)
[ ] Count average reviews (100+ = proven market)
[ ] Note average price point ($2.99-$9.99 range)
[ ] Read 30+ negative reviews (1-3 stars)
[ ] List recurring complaints and wish-list items
STEP 3: COMMUNITY RESEARCH
[ ] Search topic on Reddit (3-5 subreddits)
[ ] Search topic on Quora (top 10 questions)
[ ] Check Facebook Groups related to your niche
[ ] Note exact language and phrases people use
[ ] Identify top 5 pain points mentioned repeatedly
STEP 4: KEYWORD VALIDATION
[ ] Check monthly search volume (Ubersuggest)
[ ] Keyword difficulty score (under 40 = easier)
[ ] Related keywords and long-tail variations
[ ] Search volume trend (growing = good)
STEP 5: FINAL DEMAND SCORECARD
YOUR TOPIC: __________
Criteria | Score (1-5) | Notes
----------------------------|-------------|-------
Google Trends (stable/up) | ___ |
Amazon books exist (5-10+) | ___ |
Top books have 100+ reviews | ___ |
Monthly searches (1,000+) | ___ |
Reddit/Quora activity | ___ |
Clear pain point | ___ |
People already paying | ___ |
----------------------------|-------------|
TOTAL (21+ = strong market) | ___/35 |Line-by-line walkthrough
- 1. The checklist is organized into 5 sequential steps — Google Trends first (macro view), Amazon deep dive second (specific market proof), community research third (voice of customer), keyword validation fourth (search data), and the demand scorecard last (go/no-go decision).
- 2. The Amazon deep dive is the most critical step. BSR under 10,000, 100+ reviews on top books, and a $2.99-$9.99 price range all signal a healthy, active market that supports new entrants.
- 3. Reading negative reviews is counterintuitive but powerful. Every complaint like 'I wish this covered X' or 'Too basic' is literally telling you what to include in your book to be better than the competition.
- 4. The keyword validation step grounds your gut feelings in data. A topic might 'feel' popular, but if it only gets 200 searches per month, the addressable market may be too small to be profitable.
- 5. The demand scorecard forces a quantified go/no-go decision. A score of 21+ out of 35 means you have strong evidence of demand. Below 15, either pivot your topic or dig deeper before committing.
Spot the bug
MARKET RESEARCH RESULTS:
Topic: Underwater Basket Weaving for Cats
Google Trends: No data available
Amazon Results: 0 books found
Reddit: 0 threads found
Monthly Searches: 10
Conclusion: PERFECT! Zero competition means I'll dominate this niche!Need a hint?
Does zero competition always mean a golden opportunity?
Show answer
Zero competition almost always means zero demand, not a hidden goldmine. If nobody has written about a topic, nobody is searching for it, and no online communities discuss it, the most likely explanation is that no market exists. This is the 'empty restaurant' fallacy — an empty restaurant is not an opportunity, it is a warning. Some competition is healthy because it proves people spend money in this space. Look for markets with moderate competition (5-20 existing books) where you can differentiate, not ghost towns with zero activity.
Explain like I'm 5
Imagine you want to set up a lemonade stand. Would you just pick a random street corner and hope people walk by? No! You would find the hottest, busiest park on the sunniest day — where tons of thirsty people are already looking for something cold to drink. Market research is finding that perfect park. You figure out where the thirsty people are, what flavor they want, and how much they will pay — BEFORE you squeeze a single lemon.
Fun fact
J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter was rejected by 12 publishers before Bloomsbury accepted it. But here is the market research angle: children's fantasy was considered a 'dead' genre in the mid-1990s — publishers thought kids only wanted realistic fiction. Rowling was accidentally contrarian, and the massive untapped demand for magical adventure stories proved every publisher wrong. Sometimes the market research tells you the opportunity is in the gap everyone else is ignoring.
Hands-on challenge
Conduct full market research on a topic you are considering for your first eBook. Complete every step of the checklist in this lesson: (1) Run a Google Trends analysis and screenshot the 5-year trend, (2) Analyze the top 10 Amazon bestsellers in your target category (record titles, BSR, reviews, and prices), (3) Read 20 negative reviews and list the top 5 complaints, (4) Find 3 active Reddit threads or Quora questions about the topic, (5) Check the keyword search volume on Ubersuggest. Fill in the Demand Scorecard and decide: is this a go or a no-go?
More resources
- How to Do Market Research: A Complete Guide (HubSpot Blog)
- Amazon Keyword Research for KDP (Neil Patel)
- Finding a Profitable Niche for Your Online Business (Shopify Blog)