“Knowing your market” used to sound like a job for a spreadsheet-obsessed author, while I was just writing what felt fun and hoping readers would find me. It took a few flops to learn that paying attention to trends isn’t a creativity killer—it’s how you give your books a fighting chance.
Spotting what readers are interested in before you write can be the difference between a book that sells and one that sits. The good news? The tools are faster now, and with AI, you can turn data into real answers without needing a research degree.
Here’s how I do my market research these days: what I check, what I ignore, and how a few simple AI prompts turned the whole process from a headache into a half-hour routine.
What’s in My Toolkit (and What’s Popular with Other Authors)
I’ve tried my share of shiny new apps and services, but only a few have stuck. If I’m recommending something, it’s because I actually use it and it hasn’t made my life harder.
Kindletrends
If there’s one subscription I open every week, it’s Kindletrends. It delivers detailed, genre-specific market reports to your inbox, showing exactly which tropes and themes are climbing, what keywords are everywhere in titles and blurbs, how covers are trending, and which new authors or midlist books are breaking into the Top 100.
I can see the overall health of a category, spot shifts in pricing or KU splits, and even get visual grids of cover trends. All without spending hours tracking Amazon myself.
It’s not AI, but it’s the clearest snapshot of what’s actually happening in my market, and it makes it easy to spot patterns before they go mainstream.
KDP Spy
I don’t personally use KDP Spy in my workflow, but plenty of other authors swear by it for live Amazon category and sales data. It’s a browser extension that scrapes rankings, pricing, keywords, and subcategory movement directly from Amazon, making it easy to spot which books are climbing, what keywords top sellers are using, and how different pricing strategies are playing out.
Some authors also use the built-in AI summary tool to pull patterns from all that raw data, but even just tracking the real-time charts can help you figure out where your next release might fit.
Publisher Rocket
Publisher Rocket used to be my go-to for keyword and category research. It’s still handy for search volume and competition, especially if you’re new. But these days, I barely open it. Static data just can’t keep up with the speed of trends, and I’d rather trust live insights from tools that are scraping Amazon in real time.
Once I have the basics, it’s time to hand off the grunt work to AI.
Where AI Actually Saves My Sanity
Once I have my data from a tool like Kindletrends, I go straight to AI for the heavy lifting. You don’t need a complicated prompt; plain English works best.
I’ll upload a file or ask ChatGPT to search the internet and tell me what stands out. My questions are often as basic as:
- “Based on this file, which tropes are gaining momentum and will likely still be hot when I publish in [X weeks]?”
- “Summarize the most common hooks in these blurbs.”
- “What patterns or keywords jump out from this Top 100 list?”
If an answer is too vague, I’ll ask it to be more specific or to compare this month’s data to last month’s (provided I give it both files). The magic isn’t in the prompt; it’s in the speed and clarity you get when AI sifts through the noise for you. What used to take an afternoon of scrolling, I can now do before my coffee gets cold.
My 5-Step Market Research Workflow
- Skim the Data: I scan my Kindletrends report for my genre, noting any recurring tropes, themes, or cover styles. If a new trope appears for a few weeks in a row, I pay attention.
- Drill Down with AI: I copy a handful of blurbs or titles into ChatGPT and ask for a summary of new or emerging hooks and tropes.
- Scan the Wider Web: I use Perplexity to look for reader chatter on BookTok or Reddit, asking about new micro-tropes that might not be in my report yet.
- Do a Gut Check: I always open Amazon and scroll through the Top 100 in my categories to see if the data reflects real-world sales and rankings.
- Sanity Check My Interests: There’s no point chasing a trend I hate writing. I look for the sweet spot: what’s selling, what looks fun, and what I can deliver well.
Pitfalls and Power Tips I’ve Learned
Using AI for market research can save you hours, but here are a few traps to avoid:
- Chasing every trend: Use trends as a compass, not a command. Don’t write something you won’t enjoy.
- Trusting AI without a gut check: Always double-check AI’s take against real sales charts and your own gut instinct.
- Expecting AI to know everything: AI can’t access private Facebook groups, real-time Amazon sales data, or subscription-only reports. That’s where your manual research is still vital.
- Ignoring your own taste: If you’re bored by a trend, readers will be, too. The magic is in the overlap between what’s selling and what you love to write.
Trust Your Process
There’s no universal prompt that works for every author. Ask what you actually need to know, whether it’s which tropes will be hot next month or what readers are raving about online. AI is a tool to make your job easier, not to tell you what to write. Stay curious and keep your process flexible.
If you’re ready to deep-dive, you can get into the Mastermind through the Accelerator—and you get access from day one. That means immediate entry to our entire back catalog of workshops, advanced deep dives, and the latest marketing experiments.
If you’d rather take it slow, the Accelerator’s step-by-step classes will guide you. But if you want in-depth, up-to-the-minute resources to put AI to work in your book marketing, there’s never been a better time to jump in.
