Disclosure: this post is written by the team behind KDP Quick Scout. The workflow below works with any research method. We mention our tool where it genuinely fits.
Most authors choose their niche before they research it. They have an idea, they get excited, and they start writing. The research happens afterward, if at all.
That order is backwards. Niche research takes less than 30 minutes. Writing a book takes months. Doing the research first doesn’t guarantee success, but it tells you whether the niche has the basic conditions a new book needs to compete.
What you’re trying to find out
Three questions cover most of what you need to know:
- Is there enough demand?
- Is the competition beatable?
- Can you price the book to make money?
If all three are yes, the niche is worth entering. If any one is a hard no, move on. Nothing else you find will fix a fundamental problem with demand, competition, or pricing.
Step 1: Find a seed book
Start with one book that already exists in your target niche. It doesn’t have to be the bestseller. Any book that belongs in the category you’re considering will work.
If you don’t have one in mind, go to Amazon and search for a keyword related to your niche. Open one of the first results that looks like an independently published book rather than a major publisher title. Those are the books your future readers are buying right now.
Step 2: Check BSR and estimate sales
On the Amazon page, scroll to the product details section and find the Best Sellers Rank. BSR tells you how the book is performing relative to everything else on Amazon.
On its own, BSR is just a number. What matters is what it translates to in monthly sales. Rough benchmarks (these vary significantly by category and genre):
- BSR under 10,000: roughly 200 or more sales per month
- BSR 10,000 to 50,000: roughly 20 to 150 sales per month
- BSR above 100,000: fewer than 10 sales per month, possibly much fewer
A BSR of 10,000 in a large category like Mystery means something different from the same rank in a smaller subcategory. Use these as directional guides, not hard rules.
If the books in your niche are sitting above 100,000 BSR, demand is thin. You want to see multiple books showing healthy ranks before committing.
(KDP Quick Scout shows a sales estimate directly on the Amazon page so you don’t have to do this conversion manually.)
Step 3: Check the pricing
Look at the Kindle price and the Paperback price side by side. They tell different stories.
The Kindle price reflects strategy. A $0.99 Kindle usually means the author is chasing KU page reads or using the book as a loss-leader in a series. A $3.99 to $6.99 Kindle suggests the author expects direct purchase revenue.
The Paperback price reflects what the market will bear. If the top books in your niche are priced at $13.99 to $16.99 paperback, that ceiling has already been validated by buyers. If they’re at $7.99, your print margins will be tight.
Step 4: Check the review count
Look at how many reviews the top 3 to 5 books in the niche have. This is your competition check.
- Under 50 reviews: low barrier to entry
- 50 to 300 reviews: healthy competition, beatable with a quality book and a decent launch
- Over 500 reviews: established niche, harder to rank without a strong launch
You’re not looking for a niche with no competition. Zero competition almost always means zero demand. You want enough to confirm there’s a market, but not so much that you need a large number of reviews at launch just to get traction.
Step 5: Repeat for 3 to 5 books
One book isn’t enough. Check 3 to 5 books in the same niche before drawing conclusions. You’re looking for consistent patterns, not outliers.
If 4 out of 5 books have healthy BSR and under 200 reviews, that’s a green light. If the only books with strong sales have 800 reviews each and have been on Amazon for five years, that’s a warning sign.
Step 6: Understand why the niche works (optional but useful)
The data above tells you what is happening. It doesn’t tell you why the winning books connect with readers, or what specific gap you could fill.
That’s what an AI niche analysis adds. It shows you the reader profile, what the top books have in common, and where the gaps are. It’s not a substitute for knowing your genre, but it’s a useful shortcut when you’re evaluating a niche you’re less familiar with.
KDP Quick Scout has this built in, powered by Gemini.
Making the decision
By now you should have enough to answer the three questions you started with: Is there demand? Is the competition beatable? Can you price to make money?
If yes to all three, the niche is worth a serious look. If any one is a clear no, move on and research the next niche. The research took 30 minutes. Writing the wrong book takes months.