Pick a Niche…Any Niche. And Then Niche Down.
To niche or not to niche? That is the question.
Should every person who writes choose a niche?
What is a niche?
Do writers who don’t write in a niche still succeed?
Or does our audience find us because of our voice, or our style?
Dictionary.com defines a niche (as a noun), meaning “a distinct segment of a market” and (as an adjective) meaning “pertaining to or intended for a market niche; having specific appeal.” A niche applied to writing would be a specific topic or subject area to write on.
Many writers choose to write in a niche so that their audience knows what to expect (within a specific range of topics) when the writer’s name pops up.
However, other writers choose to write about a wide variety of topics and find success because they have established an audience or fan base who enjoy the writer’s style or voice.
Let’s start with a house. You could write articles about different types of houses, or different styles of architecture. But let’s niche down and write about traditional housing using timber frames. No, let’s niche down even further and write about tools needed to build timber frame buildings. No, let’s niche down even further and write about the types of hammers used to build timber frame houses. Can you niche down any further?
In one of his latest articles, Joe Duncan says: Everyone tells you to “find your niche” but that’s not what well-rounded people do. Niches are inauthentic. Imagine being so one-dimensional that you can only talk about one thing.
Simone de Beauvoir didn’t have a “niche” and neither did Sartre. Voltaire did philosophy and novels. And don’t even get me started on Leonardo da Vinci.
Niches get tiring……When we put ourselves in a box we can no longer think outside of it.”
He makes an excellent case for not choosing a niche; focus on being the kind of writer who is well-rounded and can write well on any subject. You can read his entire article here:
His article got plenty of responses:
LD Perkins said: “This couldn’t have come at a more important time.. I was so worried about niches and all that listening to “influencers” that I almost lost myself in that and would have failed for it.”
Alexandria Roswick said: “I was starting to feel some doubt about my “niches” because I noticed that I had so many of them, and i found it difficult to brand. But it never felt wrong, so I just kept writing what came to mind…thanks for the push!”
If you are determined to find a niche, there’s plenty of advice.
Billy Kosko offers this advice:
Another writer, Rasmus Bak says writing about a variety of topics never worked for him:
Some writers have unique ways to find a great niche. David Ferrers uses Mind Walking to help focus on the perfect niche:
RJ Reyes says he was confused about “niching down”, but concluded: “I’m worrying about niching down when I don’t even know what readers want to read from me.
Niching down works but only if it is applied at the right time. How do you know when it’s the right time? When you write about a topic you enjoy and that it consistently gains interest from readers.
When you enjoy writing about a topic, writing it is easy — almost no planning is required.
However, if you don’t enjoy writing about a topic, there’s a high chance you’ll burn yourself out from it.”
Read his thought-provoking article here:
Joachim Guth said he was worried because he felt he had no niche. Then, he reasoned: “….I have an interest in almost everything the planet is not hiding from me. But I never go deep in my research. I scratch the surface just. Once I think I understand the concept I move on and get enthusiastic about the next big thing lined up in a queue. Could this be my strength?
I like to explore and get a glimpse of everything. That must be my niche.”
In a humorous vein, Kassondra O'Hara says niches are for the birds. Read her shortform here:
I’m with Kassondra and Joachim. There’s too much life out there that fascinates me. How could I keep myself in one tiny box?
Your future audience is going to be reading this article on niche writing, so leave your comment to let them know where they can find you.
Do you have a niche?
Do you refuse to have a niche?
Do you think people who write on a variety of topics can be just as successful?
Judy is a retired social worker who especially enjoys writing flash fiction. She loves traveling, sitting and staring at the ocean, singing and swimming, but not necessarily at the same time. She lives for months at a time with her grown son, Jon, who also serves as her IT guy and computer expert. Also in the home are Jon’s 8 cats, most of whom go by the name “here, kitty, kitty, kitty.”
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