Maybe You Should Write About Poop
Picking a Topic: Part 1
By: Becky Cummings
Farts, butts, and poop have been “explored” a lot in recent children’s literature and people banked some serious cash from potty humor. When your creativity is unlimited, one of the biggest challenges is to find a single idea
There are so many ingredients to writing a successful book, and just like an award-winning soup, it only takes one item to be off to spoil the batch. One of the first things most people that aspire to be a best-selling author tackle is what to write about.
Most people fall into one of two categories. You either have a book that is ready to explode from your heart. It’s personal and meaningful to you and it needs to be told. Maybe it’s a story based on your childhood or for your children, perhaps it’s a topic you feel needs to get out there. Or did an idea strike you and it calls to be told?
Other writers look to the market to see what topics are hot and write a book with that in mind. It might be based on current events or an upcoming holiday.
Either way can bring great success, there is no one right way. Let’s explore the pros and cons of each which may help you determine how you want to proceed.
Personally, I am more of the write from the heart type of gal. I’m still deciding how much I “like” writing! But I do love teaching and I find that writing is a powerful way to do it large scale. My first book came to me because I was an elementary school teacher and I felt there was much the kids weren’t being taught in school that they needed in life for real success. Everything from what you eat, school bullies, and life’s purpose – I had so many lessons swirling in my mind I decided a book would be best so I could reach more kids. I had been working for 7 years and I had been able to directly influence about 175 kids, but with books, I could reach thousands, maybe millions! I knew there wasn’t much out there like it, but I felt kids needed it, so I wrote it. That’s how the original The Magic of Me was born.
One of the best parts about writing from your heart is the satisfaction you feel from getting your story out there. Your passion is contagious and is your biggest asset to help you drive sales. If your topic has a limited audience it may be more challenging to market. For instance, I wanted to write a book for my daughter that was adopted. I wanted to tell the story of our joy to adopt. So I wrote her a book called, Keeping Our Faith: An Adoption Story. Everyone that reads it loves it, the challenge is just getting people to read it because not everyone cares about child adoption the way I do. My audience is limited and therefore sales are too. But I’m okay with that because this story wasn’t written for the world, it was for my little girl and her brothers.
If you choose to write from the heart, consider these questions before you begin.
What audience will be interested in my book?
Is there a way to broaden the audience and still be true to my topic?
How might my audience affect sales?
Am I okay with that?
How might I market to attract my target audience?
Another way to write is based on following trends. The best way to tell what is trending is to look at Amazon’s top 100 books and see what they have in common. Also head to Barnes and Noble or Target and see what is on the main shelves with the covers facing out. As mentioned above, I remember when fart and poop books were hot! I felt a little embarrassed to be part of a culture that placed so much value in potty humor. But I did ask myself, is there was a way I could incorporate some of this dirty humor in my book since kids obviously love it? Or maybe their parents enjoy it more! I was in the middle of writing a new book and decided I could tie in a poop scene. It totally worked for my book. But the drawback is, it’s not advertised on the cover. It’s a surprise in the book, so I’m not so sure how well it will work for marketing. This book, Bea Lion – Breaking Free, is being released in November 2021, so I will post an update on how it goes.
Some of the benefits of writing this way include the potential to sell large quantities if you can market your book to the top of the competing titles. The first year my Thanksgiving book, Gobble Gobble Mr. Wobble, came out I had it up there in rank and it was selling hundreds of copies a day the couple weeks before Thanksgiving. What I made in two weeks was what my other books made over the course of a year.
Finally, no matter what road you take, think big and think series. People love series and one book helps sell the others. If you’re going to write farting books, can they be about different animals that fart or different farts for the holidays? If you feel passionate about children that help others, can you tell stories about several children? How can your book have others follow it? Always be thinking about what next. The funniest part about writing a book is spending months and months perfecting it to watch a kid read it in minutes. Then they smile at you and are ready for more. If you enjoyed this article be sure to subscribe to my email list so you will get the latest blog posts. Also connect with me on social media. Look for my handle, authorbcummings, on Instagram, Facebook, and now Tik Tok! Next, I will be talking more about topics from fiction to nonfiction, characters, settings,
This can be a real plus of writing a holiday book or a book on a hot topic. The downside is the buying season may be short-lived and there will be competition. Some authors have systems set up to capitalize on hot topics. As topics warm up, they get their illustrators to do fast art and editors to clean up their texts. Many times, the quality is below average due to the speed to get it published while still hot.
If you choose to write to the market consider these questions before you begin.
Will I have time to get this book published while the topic is still trending?
Is there a way to bring my passions in and still be true to the topic?
How might I market this to compete with the other titles?
What will make mine stand out from the others?
